• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.447-452
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• 2016

It is imperative to develop an effective pathway to depolymerize lignin into liquid fuel that can be used as a bioheavy oil. Lignin can be converted into liquid products either by a solvent-free thermal cracking in the absence air, or thermo-chemical degradation in the presence of suitable solvents and chemicals. Here we show that the solvent-assisted liquefaction has produced promising results in the presence of metal-based catalysts. The supercritical ethanol is an efficient liquefaction solvent, which not only provides better solubility to lignin, but also scavenges the intermediate species. The concentrated sulfuric acid hydrolysis lignin (CSAHL) was completely liquefied in the presence of solid catalysts (Ni, Pd and Ru) with no char formation. The effective deoxy-liquefaction nature associated with scEtOH with aid hydrodeoxygenation catalysts, resulted in significant reduction in oxygen-to-carbon (O/C) molar ratio up to 61%. The decrease in oxygen content and increase in carbon and hydrogen contents increased the calorific value bio-oil, with higher heating value (HHV) of $34.6MJ{\cdot}Kg^{-1}$. The overall process is energetically efficient with 129.8% energy recovery (ER) and 70.8% energy efficiency (EE). The GC-TOF/MS analysis of bio-oil shows that the bio-oil mainly consists of monomeric species such as phenols, esters, furans, alcohols, and traces of aliphatic hydrocarbons. The bio-oil produced has better flow properties, low molecular weight, and high aromaticity.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.14-19
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• 2002

PVC sheet was treated in O~10M NaOH solutions at $80~150^{\circ}C$ for O~7 hour, in order to study the leaching phenomena of plasticizer. The yield of phthalic acid produced by hydrolysis of DOP was increased greatly with increasing temperature and NaOH concentration by accelerating of alkali catalyst. The yield of phthalic acid was reached ca. 100% in 10M NaOH at $150^{\circ}C$ over 3 hours. Therefore, the plasticizer containing 30% in PVC sheet could be hydrolyzed in alkali solutions before the occurrence of dehydrochlorination. Besides, in the thermal reaction, the pores were produced in the PVCsheet by the hydrolysis of DOP.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.48-53
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• 2013

Pretreatment of wastepaper using aqueous glycerol was investigated to enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis. The effects of four factors (solid/liquid ratio, glycerol concentration, acid concentration, and reaction time) on the dissolution yield, the removal of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, and the enzymatic digestibility were examined at $150^{\circ}C$. The 1/8 of solid/liquid was determined to perform the reaction uniformly, and the 93% of glycerol concentration was found to be a minimum concentration to conduct the reaction under atmospheric pressure. Also, it was found that the acid concentration and reaction time were strongly related to the dissolution yield and the removal of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, but moderately to the enzymatic digestibility. At an optimum condition of $150^{\circ}C$, 1 h and 1% acid concentration, 56% and 49% of hemicellulose and lignin, respectively, were removed, while only 4% of cellulose was removed. The enzymatic digestibility at this condition was 86%, meaning that 83% of the glucan present in the initial substrate was converted to glucose. Compared to glycerol with ethylene glycol as a pretreatment solvent, glycerol is much cheaper than ethylene glycol, but ethylene glycol is superior to glycerol in delignification.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.232-242
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• 2017

The objective of this study was to examine changes in the porosity and internal structure of wood as it goes through the process of saccharification (extraction of fermentable sugars). This study also examined the use of different drying methods to prepare samples for characterization of internal pores, with particular emphasis on the partially disrupted cell wall. Aspen wood flour samples after dilute acid pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis were examined for nitrogen adsorption. The resulting isotherms were analyzed for surface area, pore size distribution, and total pore volume. Results showed that freeze drying (with sample pre-freezing) maintains the cell wall structure, allowing for examination of saccharification effects. Acid pretreatment (hemicellulose removal) doubled the surface area and tripled the total volume of pores, which were mostly 10-20 nm wide. Subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis (cellulose removal) caused a 5-fold increase in the surface area and a ~ 11-fold increase in the total volume of pores, which ranged from 5 to 100 nm in width. These results indicate that nitrogen adsorption analysis is a feasible technique to examine the internal pore structure of lignocellulosic residues after saccharification. The information on the pore structure will be useful when considering value-adding options for utilizing the solid waste for biofuel production.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.249-255
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• 2016

Exogenous nucleic acids induce an innate immune response in mammalian host cells through activation of the retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I). We evaluated RIG-I protein for RNA binding and ATPase stimulation with RNA ligands to investigate the correlation with the extent of immune response through RIG-I activation in cells. RIG-I protein favored blunt-ended, double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) ligands over sticky-ended dsRNA. Moreover, the presence of the 5'-triphosphate (5'-ppp) moiety in dsRNA further enhanced binding affinity to RIG-I. Two structural motifs in RNA, blunt ends in dsRNA and 5'-ppp, stimulated the ATP hydrolysis activity of RIG-I. These structural motifs also strongly induced IFN expression as an innate immune response in cells. Therefore, we suggest that IFN induction through RIG-I activation is mainly determined by structural motifs in dsRNA that increase its affinity for RIG-I protein and stimulate ATPase activity in RIG-I.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.511-514
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• 2015

A pretreatment process of cellulose decomposition to a monosaccharide plays an important role in the cellulosic ethanol production using the lignocellulosic biomass. In this study, a cellulosic ethanol was produced by using acidic hydrolysis and enzymatic saccharification process from the lignocellulosic biomass such as rice straw, sawdust, copying paper and newspaper. Three different pretreatment processes were compared; the acidic hydrolysis ($100^{\circ}C$, 1 h) using 10~30 wt% of sulfuric acid, the enzymatic saccharification (30 min) using celluclast ($55^{\circ}C$, pH = 5.0), AMG ($60^{\circ}C$, pH = 4.5), and spirizyme ($60^{\circ}C$, pH = 4.2) and also the hybrid process (enzymatic saccharification after acidic hydrolysis). The yield of cellulosic ethanol conversion with those pretreatment processes were obtained as the following order : hybrid process > acidic hydrolysis > enzymatic saccharification. The optimum fermentation time was proven to be two days in this work. The yield of cellulosic ethanol conversion using celluclast after the acidic hydrolysis with 20 wt% sulfuric acid were obtained as the following order : sawdust > rice straw > copying paper > newspaper when conducting enzymatic saccharification.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.451-453
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• 2002

Alkali treatment following acidic hydrolysis (ATAH) of defatted soybean is currently used to reduce the level of 3-chloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD), a known carcinogen, in commercial Korean soy sauce. 3-MCPD concentrations in commercial soy sauces made by ATAH were compared with those made only by acidic hydrolysis, and products that combine soy sauce made by acid hydrolysis (followed by alkalinization) and enzymatic methods. The four soy sauces made by ATAH had lower 3-MCPD concentrations (below 0.078 ppm) than 4 commercial products (0.147∼0.481 ppm) made only by acidic hydrolysis. On the other hand, 3-MCPD concentrations in 4 commercial products made by combining soy sauces made enzymatically with that made from acid (with alkali treatment)-hydrolyzed soybean protein in varying ratios were in a range of 0.016∼0.053 ppm. The 3-MCPD concentrations in commercial Korean soy sauces, with the exception of 2 of the soy sauces made only by acidic hydrolysis, were lower than allowable limit of 0.3 ppm in Korea. These results demonstrated that currently produced commercial soy sauces on the Korean market hate toxicologically save 3-MCPD concentrations. It is also provides evidence that ATAH is an effective process for reducing 3-MCPD concentrations in commercial soy sauce.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.581-587
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• 2009

PLA/PEG blend fibers composed of poly (lactic acid) (PLA) and poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) were prepared via melt blending and spinning for bioabsorbable filament sutures. The blend fibers hydrolyzed with the immersion in a phosphate buffer solution at pH 7.4 and $37\;^{\circ}C$ for 1~8 weeks. The effects of blending time, blend composition, and hydrolysis time on the weight loss and tensile strength of the hydrolyzed blend fibers were investigated. After hydrolysis, the weight loss of the blend fibers increased with increasing PEG content, blending time, and hydrolysis time. The tensile strength and tensile modulus of the blend fibers decreased with increasing PEG content, blending time, and hydrolysis time. Therefore, it can be concluded that the weight loss of the PLA/PEG blend fibers was less than 0.9% even at hydrolysis time of 2 weeks and their strength retentions were over 90%.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.81-90
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• 1992

The effect of acid treatment of cellulose on the substitution charateristics of carboxymethylation was studied in this paper. Five samples of hydrocellulose(HC), all prepared from ${\alpha}$-cellulose by hydrolysis with five reaction times and determined on average molecular weight and polydispersity, were carboxymethylated to carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The CMCs from HCs were examined upon degree of substitution(DS), distribution of carboxymethyl groups in anhydroglucose units of the cellulose, and unsubstituted anhydroglucose(USAG) content. The DS of CMCs increased with increasing the hydrolysis time except CMC from HC at 1 hour hydrolysis time. In carboxymethylation the availability of hydroxyl groups on anhydroglucose units in HCs was the highest on OH(2), and the relative availability of OH(6) increased with the increasing of the hydrolysis time. The USAG contents were more deviated than that calculated based on Spurlin's model, and had a strong tendency of decreasing with increasing the hydrolysis time. The reactivity of HC was lower than that of ${\alpha}$-cellulose and the relative availability of OH(6) in HC increased with the hydrolysis time.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.60-64
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• 1985

To utilize microbial lipases for hydrolysis of milk fat, optimum reaction conditions and characteristics of enzymatic reactions of lipases originated from Rhizopus delemar, Mucor sp., and Candida cylindracea were investigated. Optimum pH and temperature were pH 5.6 and $45^{\circ}C$ for Rhizopus delemar lipase, pH7.5 and $35^{\circ}C$ for Mucor sp. lipase, and pH7.5 and $35^{\circ}C$ for Candida cylindracea lipase. Optimum lipase concentration and optimum substrate concentration were $600{\sim}800\;units/ml$ and 20% milk fat, regardless of their origin. Km values were 6.06% milk fat for Rhizopus delemar lipase, 7.69% for Mucor sp. lipase and 7.99% for Candida cylindracea lipase. Rate of lipid hydrolysis was Rhizopus delemar lipase>Mucor sp. lipase>Candida cylindracea lipase. As the reaction time was extended, liberation of short chain fatty acids was increased. After 8 hours reaction, capric acid content significantly increased with Candida cylindracea lipase, palmitic acid with Mucor sp. lipase and butyric acid with Rhizopus delemar lipase.