• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.563-574
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• 2017

Antibacterial effective, high performanced, novel ZnO embedded composite membranes were obtained by blendig ZnO nanoparticles with polysulfone. IR, TG/DTG, XRD and SEM analysis were performed to characterize structure and morphology of ZnO nanoparticles and composite membranes. Contact angle, EWC, porosity and pore structure properties of composite membranes were investigated. Cross-flow filtration studies were performed to investigation of performances of prepared membranes. It was found from the cross section SEM images that ZnO nanoparticles dispersed homogenously up to additive amount of 2% and the membrane skin layer thicknesses increased in the presence of ZnO. Contact angle of pure PSf membranes were reduced from $70^{\circ}$ to $55^{\circ}$ after addition of 4% ZnO. Porosity of composite membrane contains 1% ZnO was higher about 22% than pure PSf membrane. BSA rejection ratio and PWF of 0.5% ZnO embedded composite membrane became 2.2 and 2.3 times higher than pure PSf membrane. It was determined from flux recovery ratios that ZnO additive increased the fouling resistance of composite membranes. Also, the bacterial killing ability of ZnO is well known and there are many researches related to this in the literature. Therefore, it is expected that prepared composite membranes will show antibacterial effect.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.433-439
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• 2017

The high temperature performance of PEM type electrolyser at $120^{\circ}C$ based on covalently cross-linked sulfonated poly ether ether ketone (SPEEK) composie membrane was investigated. Ion conductivity and other properties of SPEEK membrane were improved by adding heteropoly acid and Ceria. The membrane electrode assemblies were prepared using commercial PtC and nano-sized $IrRuO_2$ catalyst by electro-spraying and decal process. Voltage efficiency of MEA equipped with SPEEK membrane was slightly better than that of $Nafion^{(R)}$ membrane, due to its higher proton conductivity at high temperature. The cell performance of MEA with CL-SPEEK/Cs-TSiA/Ceria is 1.71 V at $1A/cm^2$ and $120^{\circ}C$.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.185-194
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• 1995

Membrane process has been employed to separate a specific substance from gas or liquid mixture, and treat wastewater. This is due to the fact that the substance of mixture can be permeated and separated selectively by membrane. Since Initial equipment and operation costs are not expensive, membrane process has been adopted in various fields such as petroleum Industry, chemistry, polymer, electronics, foods, biochemical industry and wastewater treatment. In this study, $CaCO_3$ particles impregnated in silicone rubber network were extracted by using supercritical carbon dioxide and pore distribution of silicone $rubber-CaCO_3$ was investigated with varying amount of extract. Silicone rubber has excellent mechanical properties such as heat-resistance, cold-resistance etc. and $CaCO_3$ has microporous structure. It is possible to make silicone $rubber-CaCO_3$ composite sheets via work-intensive kneading processes. In so doing $CaCO_3$ particles become distributed and impregnated in silicone rubber network. Supercritical carbon dioxide diffuse through composite sample, then sample is swollen. $CaCO_3$ in silicone rubber network Is dissolved in supercritical carbon dioxide, and its sites become pores. Pore distribution, pore shape and surface area are observed by SEM(scanning electron microscope) micrograph and BET surface area analyzer examination respectively. Pore characteristics of membrane suggest the possibilities that the membrane can be used for process of mixture separation and wastewater treatment.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.375-381
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• 2021

Chitosan powder is synthesized by a deasetylation process of chitin, obtained from processing of dried shrimp shell powder. Subsequently, chitosan (CS) membranes filled by montmorillonite (MMT) particles and phosphotungstic acid are prepared, and characterized by FT-IR and SEM. The morphology, obtained by SEM for the composite membrane, showed that MMT filler is successfully incorporated and relatively well dispersed in the chitosan polymer matrix. Water and methanol uptake for the CS/MMT composite membranes decrease with increasing MMT loadings, but IEC value increases. In all prepared CS/MMT composite membranes, the CS membrane filled by 5 wt% MMT particles exhibits the best proton conductivity, while that with 10 wt% MMT loading exhibits the lowest methanol permeability; these values are 2.67 mS·cm^-1 and 3.40 × 10^-7 cm²·s^-1, respectively. The best membrane selectivity is shown in the CS/MMT10 composite membrane; this shows that 10 wt% filled MMT is the optimum loading to improve the performance of the chitosan composite membrane. These characteristics make the developed chitosan composite membranes a promising electrolyte for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) application.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.425-433
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• 2017

As the problems related to the environmental pollution such as carbon dioxide emission are emerging, the need for the renewable energy and environmentally friendly energy is getting intense. Fuel cells are eco-friendly energy generation devices that generate electrical energy and produce water as a sole by-product. Compared to the traditional proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), anion exchange membrane alkaline fuel cell (AEMAFC) has a main advantage of possibility to use low cost metal catalysts due to its faster kinetics. The AEM, which conducts $OH^-$ ions, should possess high ion conductivity as well as high chemical stability at high pH conditions. We hereby introduce a crosslinked poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) having a spacer-type conducting group as novel AEM, and report a high ion conductivity ($67.9mScm^{-1}$ at $80^{\circ}C$) and mechanical properties (Young's modulus : 0.53 GPa) as well as chemical stability (6.8% IEC loss at $80^{\circ}C$ for 1,000 h,) for the developed membrane.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.10-16
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• 2007

In this study, we examined the preparation and hydrolysis property of immobilized urease membrane to decompose harmful urea in the body and remove ammonia which was produced by its decomposition. Urease immobilized membrane was prepared by introducing anion-exchange group DEA into porous hollow-fiber membrane by radiation graft polymerization method, and immobilization of urease. When urease was immobilized at membrane introduced with anion-exchange group, the more increasing grafting rate, the more increasing immobilization amount. The result originates from the fact that a greater amount of protein was immobilized by forming a multilayer on the longer grafted chain. Meanwhile, the addition of the cross-linker was possible not only to suppress separation phenomenon produced during a washing process of immobilized urease membrane but also to enable the recycling of membrane. Urease Immobilized membrane with no separation phenomenon was prepared by cross-linking reaction for 5 h, and the hydrolysis rate of prepared urease immobilized membrane was over 98% and 50%, respectively, in 1 mol and 4 mol urea solutions.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.382-387
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• 2008

$Ba_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}Co_{0.8}Fe_{0.2}O_{3-{\delta}}$ oxide was synthesized by polymerized complex method. Dense membrane of perovskite oxide was prepared using as-prepared powder by pressing and sintering at $1080^{\circ}C$. Leakage test was conducted on the membrane sealed by gold ring, Pyrex ring or Pyrex powder as a sealing material. The oxygen permeation flux of $Ba_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}Co_{0.8}Fe_{0.2}O_{3-{\delta}}$ membrane increased with increasing temperature and was $0.74mL/min{\cdot}cm^2$ at $900^{\circ}C$. In the case of the membrane applied by sealing material, oxygen permeation flux of the membrane using gold ring at $950^{\circ}C$ was higher than that using Pyrex materials because the undesired spreading of Pyrex glass materials in the membrane led to the reduction of effective permeation area. Microphotograph analysis results for the membrane after permeation test confirmedthe diffusion of Pyrex glass seal into the membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.147-154
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• 2019

The permeate flux increments of a natural convection instability flow (NCIF) caused by the change of inclined angles ($0{\sim}180^{\circ}$) to gravity of the commercial membrane module were tested in the dead-end membrane filtration of BSA protein solution. The NCIF are more generated as the inclined angle increased from $0^{\circ}$ to $180^{\circ}$, and the occurred NCIF enhances permeate flux. However, the commercial module can only generate NCIF by completely removing the air gap in module. Since the custom design module designed in this study is permeated in a crossward direction ($90^{\circ}$), NCIF is always generated even if there is the air gap in module. The results of membrane filtration of BSA and dextran solutions using a custom design module showed that the flux in the crossward direction is increased to about 3.8 times for BSA solution and 1.8 times for dextran solution after two hours of operation due to the occurrence of NCIF. Also, NCIF generation is continued during 20 hours filtration of BSA solution, increasing the permeate flux to about 7.5 times. Since the custom design module with a permeation in the crossward direction and NCIF is always generated within the module, so it is possible to expect an increase in permeate flux due to the suppression of fouling formation, and thus to be utilized as a superb dead-end membrane module.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.1143-1148
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• 2010

We investigated the separation of nitrogen heterocyclic compound (NHC) contained in a model coal tar fraction comprising four kinds of NHC [indole (In), quinoline (Q), iso-quinoline (iQ), quinaldine (Qu)], three kinds of bicyclic aromatic compound (BAC) [1-methylnaphthalene (1MN), 2-methylnaphthalene (2MN), dimethylnaphthalene (DMN) mixture with ten structural isomers (DMNs; regarded as one component)], biphenyl (Bp) and phenyl ether (Pe) by liquid membrane permeation (LMP). A batch-stirred tank was used as the permeation unit. An aqueous solution of saponin and n-hexane were used as the liquid membrane and the outer oil phase, respectively. Yield and selectivity of individual NHC was much larger than that of BAC, Bp and Pe. Increasing the initial mass fraction of the saponin to the membrane solution ($C_{sap,0}$) and the initial volume fraction of O/W emulsion to total liquid in a stirred tank (${\phi}_{OW,0}$) resulted in deteriorating the yield of individual NHC, but increasing the stirring speed (N) resulted in improving the yield of each NHC. With increasing $C_{sap,0}$, the selectivity of each NHC based on DMNs increased. Increasing ${\phi}_{OW,0}$ and N resulted in decreasing the selectivity of individual NHC based on DMNs. At an experimental condition fixed, the sequence of the yield and selectivity in reference to DMNs for each NHC was Q > Qu = iQ > In. Furthermore, we compared LPM method with methanol extraction method in view of the separation efficiency (yield, selectivity) of NHC.

• Mycobiology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.25-30
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• 2017

Metal-based drugs, such as 1,10-phenanthroline, have demonstrated anticancer, antifungal and antiplasmodium activities. One of the 1,10-phenanthroline derivatives compounds (1)-N-2-methoxybenzyl-1,10-phenanthrolinium bromide (FEN), which has been demonstrated an inhibitory effect on the growth of Candida spp. This study aimed to explore the in vitro antifungal activity of FEN and its effect on the membrane integrity of Candida albicans. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of FEN against planktonic C. albicans cells were determined using the broth microdilution method according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. Cell membrane integrity was determined with the propidium iodide assay using a flow cytometer and were visualized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Planktonic cells growth of C. albicans were inhibited by FEN, with an MIC of $0.39-1.56{\mu}g/mL$ and a MFC that ranged from 3.125 to $100{\mu}g/mL$. When C. albicans was exposed to FEN, the uptake of propidium iodide was increased, which indicated that membrane disruption is the probable mode of action of this compound. There was cells surface changes of C. albicans when observed under SEM.