• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.257-268
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• 2023

Membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) is a variation of the conventional CDI process that can improve desalination efficiency by employing an ion-exchange membrane (IEM) together with a porous carbon electrode. The IEM is a key component that greatly affects the performance of MCDI. In this study, we attempted to derive the optimal fabricating factors for IEMs that can significantly improve the desalination efficiency of MCDI. For this purpose, pore-filled IEMs (PFIEMs) were then fabricated by filling the pores of the PE porous support film with monomers and carrying out in-situ photopolymerization. As a result of the experiment, the prepared PFIEMs showed excellent electrochemical properties that can be applied to various desalination and energy conversion processes. In addition, through the correlation analysis between MCDI performance and membrane characteristic parameters, it was found that controlling the degree of crosslinking of the membranes and maximizing permselectivity within a sufficiently low level of membrane electrical resistance are the most desirable membrane fabricating condition for improving MCDI performance.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.81-92
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• 2007

Membrane-based separation processes are receiving increasing attention in the scientific community and industry since they provide a desirable alternative to processes that are not easy to achieve by conventional separation technologies. In particular, gas separation using polymeric membranes have annually grown so fast owing to advantages such as easy installation, no moving parts, small footprint and low energy process. The key element is definitely a polymer membrane exhibiting high permeability and high selectivity to compete with other gas separation technologies. Current polymer membranes used for commercial gas separation are a family of hydrocarbon polymers for hydrogen separation, air separation and carbon dioxide separation from natural gas sweetening. Relatively, gas or vapor separation properties of fluoropolymers are not known so much as compared with those of hydrocarbon polymers. Accordingly, in this study, membranes prepared from amorphous perfluoropolymers are of particular interest because of the unique properties of these polymers. The advantages offered by these amorphous perfluoropolymers for use in gas and vapor separation will be discussed. In addition, membrane properties and separation performance will be compared with other membranes available on the market.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2014

Rainwater harvesting is a process by which rainwater collected from rooftop or other catchment is purified so that the water can be directly or indirectly used by human beings for beneficial uses. As rainwater is increasingly considered for high quality purposes, membranes have gained an important place in rainwater treatment. It has advantages such as the production of high quality water, small footprint, and affordable energy consumption. Nevertheless, membrane fouling is regarded as a serious problem similar to the cases of water treatment and wastewater reclamation. In this study, we applied microfiltration (MF) membranes for rainwater treatment. In addition, a low pressure ultraviolet (UV) process was also use as a pretreatment to control notonly. To quantify the effect of UV on organic matters, both total organic carbon (TOC) and UV absorbance (UVA) were measured. Moreover, the effect of UV pretreatment on membrane fouling was investigated. Experimental results indicated that the pretreatment of membranes using LPUV was effective to control fouling of MF membranes only when the rainwater was contaminated by algae. This was attributed the reduction and modification of organics after UV treatments. It is likely that the UV/MF process is a promising option for water treatment in decentralized water treatment such as micro water grid systems.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.175-181
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• 2017

The aim of this study was to provide a basis for the molecular mechanism underlying the pharmacological action of ethanol. We studied the effects of 1-propanol on the location of n-(9-anthroyloxy)palmitic acid or stearic acid (n-AS) within the phospholipids of synaptosomal plasma membrane vesicles (SPMV). The SPMV were isolated from the bovine cerebral cortex and liposomes of total lipids (SPMVTL) and phospholipids (SPMVPL). 1-Propanol increased the rotational mobility of inner hydrocarbons, while decreasing the mobility of membrane interface, in native and model membranes. The degree of rotational mobility varied with the number of carbon atoms at positions 16, 12, 9, 6 and 2 in the aliphatic chain of phospholipids in the neuronal and model membranes. The sensitivity of increasing or decreasing rotational mobility of hydrocarbon interior or surface by 1-propanol varied with the neuronal and model membranes in the following order: SPMV, SPMVPL and SPMVTL.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.51-60
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• 2019

In order to improve gas separation properties of polymeric membranes which have been widely applied in the industry field, aluminosilicate hollow nanoparticles named as allophanes were synthesized by sol-gel method and formulated in Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) matrix to investigate the gas separation properties of PDMS membrane. Transmission electron microscope (TEM), Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Surface area and pore size analyzer (BET) and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) were carried out to characterize the synthetic allophanes. Then the PDMS mixed matrix membranes were prepared by adding different volume fraction of allophanes. To examine the effect of allophanes addition in PDMS matrix using unmodified allophane and modified ones, the gas permeation experiments were performed using oxygen, nitrogen, methane and carbon dioxide. As the volume fraction of modified allophane increased up to 4.05 Vol% the permeability of four test gases through PDMS mixed matrix membranes increased. Also, the selectivity of $O_2/N_2$ and $CO_2/CH_4$ increased with the contents of the modified allophane. Further improvement of gas separation properties of PDMS mixed matrix membranes containing higher volume percent of allophanes can be expected as long as well dispersion of allophanes in PDMS matrix can be achieved for better PDMS membranes.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.55-61
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• 2018

With vigorous development of petroleum and chemical industry, emission of carbon dioxide has attracted tremendous attention globally due to global warming problem and abnormal climate change. To address these problems, in this study, a PEGBEM-g-POEM graft copolymer with high $CO_2$ affinity was synthesized and $CaCO_3$ was incorporated to form mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for enhancement of $CO_2$ permeance. By varying the addition weight of $CaCO_3$ in MMMs, high separation performance of $CO_2$ over $N_2$ was obtained. At 50 wt% loading of $CaCO_3$, the greatest separation performance was obtained with an enhanced $CO_2$ permeance from 22.5 to 28.16 GPU and slightly increased $CO_2/N_2$ selectivity from 44.7 to 45.42. It resulted from the increased $CO_2$ solubility of MMMs due to specific interaction between $CaCO_3$ and $CO_2$ molecules. Upon excess loading of $CaCO_3$, MMMs exhibited loss of $CO_2$ separation performance due to the formation of interfacial defects. Based on this result, it is considered that the proper addition of $CaCO_3$ is crucial for improvement of $CO_2$ separation performance.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.556-564
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• 2018

In this study, polyethylene oxide (PEO)/polyethylene-co-vinyl acetate (EVA)/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-COOH composite membranes were prepared by adding 1, 2, 3, and 5 wt% of MWCNT-COOH to PEO/EVA respectively. The gas permeation properties of $N_2$, $O_2$ and $CO_2$ at $30^{\circ}C$ and 4~8 bar pressure were investigated. In each PEO/EVA/MWCNT-COOH composite membranes, the permeability of $CO_2$ increased with increasing the pressure, but the permeability of $N_2$ and $O_2$ were independent of the feeding pressure. As the MWCNT-COOH content increased, the $CO_2$ permeability increased and then decreased above 2 wt% MWCNT-COOH content. The 2 wt% MWCNT-COOH composite membrane exhibited a $CO_2/N_2$ selectivity of 77.8 and a $CO_2$ permeability of 84 barrer at 8 bar. The high $CO_2/N_2$ selectivity and $CO_2$ permeability were due to the high affinity between the quadrupolar $CO_2$, polar ether groups of PEO, and the polar ester groups of EVA. Additionally, the strong affinity between $CO_2$ and the -COOH groups on the MWCNT surface contributed to the high permeability of $CO_2$.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.159-167
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• 2010

To provide a basis for studying the pharmacological actions of tetracaine HCl, we analyzed the membrane activities of this local anesthetic. The n-(9-anthroyloxy) stearic and palmitic acid (n-AS) probes (n = 2, 6, 9, 12 and 16) have been used previously to examine fluorescence polarization gradients. These probes can report the environment at a graded series of depths from the surface to the center of the membrane bilayer structure. In a dosedependent manner, tetracaine HCl decreased the anisotropies of 6-AS, 9-AS, 12-AS and 16-AP in the hydrocarbon interior of synaptosomal plasma membrane vesicles isolated from bovine cerebral cortex (SPMV), and liposomes derived from total lipids (SPMVTL) and phospholipids (SPMVPL) extracted from the SPMV. However, this compound increased the anisotropy of 2-AS at the membrane interface. The magnitude of the membrane rotational mobility reflects the carbon atom numbers of the phospholipids comprising SPMV, SPMVTL and SPMVPL and was in the order of the 16, 12, 9, 6, and 2 positions of the aliphatic chains. The sensitivity of the effects of tetracaine HCl on the rotational mobility of the hydrocarbon interior or surface region was dependent on the carbon atom numbers in the descending order 16-AP, 12-AS, 9-AS, 6-AS and 2-AS and on whether neuronal or model membranes were involved in the descending order SPMV, SPMVPL and SPMVTL.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.8-20
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• 2002

In this study using $N_2$-back flushing, which wwas not the general back-flushing method of membranes, the discharged wastewater from a paper plant was filtrated by 4 kinds of tubular carbon ceramic ultrafiltration membranes. We could in vestigate effects of $N_2$-back flushing period, transmembrane pressure (TMP)and flow rate and find optimal operating conditions. The $N_2$-back flushing time (BT) was fixed at 40 sec, filtration times (FT) were changed in 4~32 min, TNP in $1.0~3.0kg_f/cm^2$ the flow celocities in 0.53~1.09cm/s. The optimal conditions were discussed in the viewpoints of dimensionless permeate flux ($J/J_0$), toal permeate volume ($V_T$) and resistance of membrane fouling ($R_f$). Optimal back-flushing period was BT/FT=0.167 (FT=8 min ), in which more $V_T$ was obtained than that in BT/FT=0.083 (FT=4 min) which was the most friquent back-flushing condition. Then rising TMP should increase the driving force, and more $V_T$ could be accumulated. And rising flow rate should decrease membrane fouling increase permeate flux, and more $V_T$could be produced. Average rejection rates of pollutants were higher than 95% for turbidity and 45~83% for $COD_{Cr}$, but rejection rates of total dissolved solid (TDS) were lower than 10%.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.161-169
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• 2005

Numerical simulation and experiments were carried out on the absorption of carbon dioxide using PVDF hollow-fiber membrane contactor. Water or monoethanolamine (MEA) aqueous soluton was used as absorbents. Simulation results showed that the concentration profile of carbon dioxide was less affected by the flow rate of MEA than that of water absorbent. The absorption rate and mass transfer coefficient of carbon dioxide increased as the concentration of MEA increased. The mass transfer coefficients obtained by experiments coincided with those obtained by numerical simulation and theoretical results for $CO_2-water$ system. However, for $CO_2-MEA$ system, the mass transfer coefficients obtained by experiments were lower than those obtained by simulation, while the simulation results agreed well with theoretical results. The durability of plasma-treated hollow fiber membranes was better than that of no plasma-treated ones.