• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.137-146
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• 2018

Soil washing is one of the most frequently used remediation technologies for heavy metal-contaminated soils. Inorganic and organic acids and chelating agents that can enhance the removal of heavy metals from contaminated soils have been employed as soil washing agents. However, the toxicity, low removal efficiency and high cost of these chemicals limit their use. Given that humic substance (HS) can effectively chelate heavy metals, the development of an eco-friendly, performance-efficient and cost-effective soil washing agent using a nano-scale chelator composed of HS was examined in this study. Copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) were selected as target heavy metals. In soil washing experiments, HS concentration, pH, soil:washing solution ratio and extraction time were evaluated with regard to washing efficiency and the chelation effect. The highest removal rates by soil washing (69% for Cu and 56% for Pb) were achieved at an HS concentration of 1,000 mg/L and soil:washing solution ratio of 1:25. Washing with HS was found to be effective when the pH value was higher than 8, which can be attributed to the increased chelation effect between HS and heavy metals at the high pH range. In contrast, the washing efficiency decreased markedly in the low pH range due to HS precipitation. The chelation capacities for Cu and Pb in the aqueous phase were determined to be 0.547mmol-Cu/g-HS and 0.192mmol-Pb/g-HS, respectively.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.925-933
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• 2020

To develop eco-friendly microbial inoculants, siderophore-producing bacteria were isolated and identified, and their production characteristics and plant growth-promoting abilities were investigated. A strain S21 was isolated from rhizosphere of Korean perilla (Perilla frutescens) and identified as Enterobacter amnigenus by phenotypic properties and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The highest siderophore production was obtained in a medium containing 0.5% fructose, 0.1% urea, 0.5% K₂HPO₄ and 0.1% succinic acid. By using this improved medium, siderophore production increased by 2.5 times compared to that of basal medium. The strain S21 showed insoluble phosphate solubilizing, ammonification and antifungal activities, and also produced hydrolytic enzymes (protease and lipase), indoleacetic acid and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase. Our data suggest that E. amnigenus S21 is a potential candidate that can be used as eco-friendly biocontrol agent and biofertilizer.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.115-121
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• 2017

Demands for nylon suede as an artificial leather are increasing due to its functionality and aesthetics. To achieve high value added nylon suede based on green technology, this study was carried out in order to obtain useful data for the nylon suede fabrics with eco-friendly dyeing process by a pad-steam method instead of a dip dyeing process using sulphur black dye to reduce the industrial waste of water. The dyeability of the nylon suede was investigated according to reducing temperatures, dye concentrations, and reducing agent's concentrations. Throughout the results of the CIE $L^*a^*b^*$ and Munsell values, the optimized dyeing conditions of the nylon suede using sulphur black dye are $70^{\circ}C$ of dyeing temperature, 30% o.w.f. of dye concentration, and $9g/{\ell}$ of reduction agent concentration, respectively. Furthermore washing colorfastness, light colorfastness and perspiration colorfastness were achieved in the range of 4-5 grades.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.227-235
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• 2016

Plant disease caused by root-knot nematode is a major problem in crop production. Using of chemical pesticides, one of the most efficient methods to control nematodes, have raised issues in toxicity to humans and animals and environmental pollution. In this study, to select actinomycete strains that have potential to serve as a microbial agent for control of nematodes, we investigated nematicidal activity of culture broth from 670 Streptomyces isolates. A culture filtrate of KRA15-528 isolate that was identified as S. flavogriseus on the basis of 16S rRNA sequence analysis, showed strong nematicidal activity against second stage of juveniles of Meloidogyne incognita and inhibited egg hatching; exposure to 10% of culture filtrate resulted in 71% juvenile mortality at 48 hours afters treatment and suppressed egg hatching by 54% at 9 days after treatment. When the KRA15-528 culture filtrate was partitioned with ethyl acetate and butanol, ethyl acetate layer exclusively showed strong activity; 91%, 53%, 30% of mortality at 1,000, 500, $250{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. Additionally, the culture filtrate suppressed gall formation on cucumber plant by M. incognita with no phytotoxicity. These results suggest that S. flavogriseus KRA15-528 has potential to serve as a microbial nematicide for the control of root-knot nematode disease.

• Clean Technology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.232-240
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• 2014

The significance of thermoplastic polyolefin polypropylene (PP) lies in its potential to replace polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the most widely used material for automobile interiors (door trim, dash board), which discharges harmful compounds in certain conditions. Another benefit of PP (0.855 amorphous - 0.946 crystalline $g/cm^3$) is its low density compared to that of PVC ($1.1-1.45g/cm^3$), which reduces vehicle weight. Market demand for eco-friendly water-based adhesive/coating material is rising significantly as a substitute for solvent-based adhesive/coating material which emits VOC and causes harmful working conditions. Under such context, in this study, a series of eco-friendly waterborne polyurethane-urea primer (a paint product that allows finishing paint to adhere much better than if it were used alone) for hydrophobic PP were prepared from different mix of DMPA content, NCO/OH molar ratio, various wt% of silicone diol and various soft segment content, among which DMPA of 21 mole %, NCO/OH molar ratio of 1.2, modified silicone diol of 5 wt% and soft segment content of 73 wt% led to good adhesion strength. Additionally, the incorporation of optimum content of additives (0.5 wt% dispersing agent, 0.5 wt% levelling agent, 1.5 wt% antifoaming agent, 3.0 wt% matting agent) into the optimum waterborne polyurethane-urea also enabled good stability, levelling, antifoaming and non-glossy.

• Carbon letters
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• v.26
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• pp.25-30
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• 2018

The dielectric medium used in electrophoretic displays (EPDs) is required to be an environmentally friendly solvent with high density, low viscosity, and a large electric constant. Hydrofluoroether, a highly fluorinated solvent with eco-friendly characteristics, is regarded as a viable alternative medium for EPDs, owing to the similarity of its physical properties to those of the conventional EPD medium. Surface modification of particles is required, however, in order for it to disperse in the charged solvent. Also, positive/negative charges should be present on the particle surface to enable electrophoretic behavior. In this study, carbon black particles wrapped with positively charged nitrogen (N-CBs) were fabricated by a simple hydrothermal process using a poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) solution as a black coloring agent for the EPD. The dispersion behavior of N-CBs was investigated in various solvents.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.622-627
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• 2012

This study focuses on mechanical property enhancement and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) reduction characteristic of environmentally-friendly waterborne coatings. We synthesized a series of organic-inorganic hybrid waterborne polyurethanes by using poly(tetramethylene glycol) 2000, polycarbonate diol 2000, isophorone diisocyanate, dimethylolpropionic acid and titanium dioxide. The study on the effects of the R ratio([NCO]/[OH]) and inorganic contents on environmentally-friendly waterborne coatings showed that the R ratio with more than 1.5 is appropriate due to arrangement of hardsegments. The applied $TiO_2$ on films reduced volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.35-39
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• 2019

Four different polymer compounds were prepared from four kinds of plasticizers, viz. di-2-ethylhexyl azelate (DOZ), di-2-ethylhexyl adipate (DOA), di-2-ethylhexyl sebacate (DOS), and di-2-butyl sebacate (DBS), for making cable sheaths for ships. Ethylene-vinyl acetate and ethylene-propylene-diene-copolymer as matrix polymers and ethylene-vinyl acetate grafted maleic anhydride as a coupling agent were compounded with a flame retardant, crosslinking agent, filler, and other additives, besides the plasticizer to obtain the polymer compounds. The polymer containing DOZ showed the highest MH and ${\Delta}T$ in the rheology test, while that containing DBS was found to have the lowest tensile strength and highest elongation because of low ${\Delta}T$. The four polymers showed similar values (31.7-31.9) for flame resistance, while the polymer containing DOZ showed the highest value for cold resistance.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.118-122
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• 2019

Four different polymer compounds were manufactured to make cable sheaths for the shipping industry. Two kinds of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) as the main matrix polymers and EVA-grafted maleic anhydride (EVA-g-MAH) as the coupling agent were selected for compounding with fire retardant, crosslinking agent, filler, plasticizer, and other additives. The properties of the four compounded materials were investigated with different contents of the fire retardant, silanecoated magnesium dihydroxide (S-MDH). In the rheology evaluation, the $t_{60}$ and ${\Delta}T$ values increased with increasing S-MDH contents. On the other hand, the tensile strength decreased with increasing S-MDH content due to a relative decrease in binder polymers. With increasing S-MDH content, fire resistance increased, but cold resistance showed no obvious enhancement due to the polar effect of vinyl acetate in EVA.

• Composites Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.41-49
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• 2009

Natural fiber reinforced composites are emerging as low-cost, lightweight, recyclable, and eco-friendly materials. These are biodegradable and non-abrasive. Due to eco-friendly and biodegradable characteristics of natural fibers, they are being considered as potential candidates to replace the conventional fibers. The chemical, mechanical, and physical properties of natural fibers have distinct features depending upon the cellulose content of the fibers which varies from fiber to fiber. The mechanical properties of composites are influenced mainly by the adhesion between matrix and fibers. Several chemical and physical modification methods of fiber surface were incorporated to improve the tiber-matrix adhesion resulting in the enhancement of mechanical properties of the composites. This paper outlines the works reported on natural tiber reinforced composites with special reference to the type of fibers, polymer matrix, processing techniques, treatment of fibers, and fiber-matrix interface.