• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.63-63
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• 2011

In this tutorial session, the field of organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells based on small molecular weight materials will be presented. The previously reported studies on the fabrication, structure, and property of the cells as well as the molecular materials are included. Especially, the factors hampering further enhancement in the power conversion efficiency of the cells such as exciton recombination, light absorption and interfacial morphology between electron donor and acceptor layer will be discussed in detail. The recent progress in our group will also be presented. It includes typical materials and cell fabrication techniques we used as well as the studies on improving the light absorption in the electron donor layer and reducing the extinction of excitons formed by introducing the nanostructured interface between organic layers.

• Carbon letters
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.316-324
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• 2010

The effects of geometrical parameters on mechanical properties of graphite-vinylester nanocomposites and their constituents (matrix, reinforcement and interface) are studied using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Young's modulii of 1.3 TPa and 1.16 TPa are obtained for graphene layer and for graphite layers respectively. Interfacial shear strength resulting from the molecular dynamic (MD) simulations for graphene-vinylester is found to be 256 MPa compared to 126 MPa for graphitevinylester. MD simulations prove that exfoliation improves mechanical properties of graphite nanoplatelet vinylester nanocomposites. Also, the effects of bromination on the mechanical properties of vinylester and interfacial strength of the graphene.brominated vinylester nanocomposites are investigated. MD simulation revealed that, although there is minimal effect of bromination on mechanical properties of pure vinylester, bromination tends to enhance interfacial shear strength between graphite-brominated vinylester/graphene-brominated vinylester in a considerable magnitude.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.31 no.2 s.257
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• pp.237-244
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• 2007

In order to obtain mechanical properties of CNT/Polymer nano-composites, molecular dynamics simulation is performed. Overall system was modeled as a flexible unit cell in which carbon nanotubes are embedded into a polyethylene matrix for N $\sigma$ T ensemble simulation. COMPASS force field was chosen to describe inter and intra molecular potential and bulk effect was achieved via periodic boundary conditions. In CNT-polymer interface, only Lennard-Jones non-bond potential was considered. Using Parrinello-Rahman fluctuation method, mechanical properties of orthotropic nano-composites under various temperatures were successfully obtained. Also, we investigated thermal behavior of the short CNT reinforced nanocomposites system with predicting glass transition temperature.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.129-134
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• 2020

Understanding charge trapping at the interface between conjugated semiconductor and polymer dielectric basically gives insight into the development of long-term stable organic field-effect transistors (OFET). Here, the charge transport properties of OFETs using polymer dielectric with various molecular weights (MWs) have been investigated. The conjugated semiconductor, pentacene exhibited morphology and crystallinity, insensitive to MWs of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) dielectric. Consequently, transfer curves and field-effect mobilities of as-prepared devices are independent of MWs. Under bias stress in humid environment, however, the drain current decay as well as transfer curve shift are found to increase as the MW of PMMA decreases (MW effect). The charge trapping induced by MW effect is irreversible, that is, the localized charges are difficult to be delocalized. The MW effect is caused by the variation in the density of polymer chain ends in the PMMA: the free volumes at the PMMA chain ends act as charge trap sites, corresponding to drain current decay depending on MWs of PMMA.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.127-133
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• 2004

We have studied the surface micelle formation of polystyrene-b-poly(2-vinyl pyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) at the air-water interface. A series of four PS-b-P2VPs were synthesized by anionic polymerization, keeping the PS block length constant (28 kg/㏖) and varying the P2VP block length (1, 11, 28, or 59 kg/㏖). The surface pressure-area ($\pi$-A) isotherms were measured and the surface morphology was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) after Langmuir-Blodgett film deposition onto silicon wafers. At low surface pressure, the hydrophobic PS blocks aggregate to form pancake-like micelle cores and the hydrophilic P2VP block chains spread on the water surface to form a corona-like monolayer. The surface area occupied by a block copolymer is proportional to the molecular weight of the P2VP block and identical to the surface area occupied by a homo-P2VP. It indicates that the entire surface is covered by the P2VP monolayer and the PS micelle cores lie on the P2VP monolayer. As the surface pressure is increased, the $\pi$-A isotherm shows a transition region where the surface pressure does not change much with the film compression. In this transition region, which displays high compressibility, the P2VP blocks restructure from the monolayer and spread at the air-water interface. After the transition, the Langmuir film becomes much less compressible. In this high-surface-pressure regime, the PS cores cover practically the entire surface area, as observed by AFM and the limiting area of the film. All the diblock copolymers formed circular micelles, except for the block copolymer having a very short P2VP block (1 kg/㏖), which formed large, non-uniform PS aggregates. By mixing with the block copolymer having a longer P2VP block (11 kg/㏖), we observed rod-shaped micelles, which indicates that the morphology of the surfaces micelles can be controlled by adjusting the average composition of block copolymers.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.11
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• pp.819-826
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• 2014

Protein modifications of recombinant pharmaceuticals have been observed both in vitro and in vivo. These modifications may result in lower efficacy, as well as bioavailability changes and antigenicity among the protein pharmaceuticals. Therefore, the contents of modification should be monitored for the quality and efficacy of protein pharmaceuticals. The interface of EPO and its receptor was visualized, and potential amino acids interacting on the interface were also listed. Two different types of modifications on the interface were identified in the preparation of rHu-EPO BRP. A UPLC/Q-TOF MS method was used to evaluate the modification at those variants. The modification of the oxidized variant was localized on the Met54 and the deamidated variants were localized on the Asn47 and Asn147. The extent of oxidation at Met54 was 3.0% and those of deamidation at Asn47 and Asn147 were 2.9% and 4.8%, respectively.

• BMB Reports
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• v.56 no.11
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• pp.606-611
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• 2023

The main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 cleaves 11 sites of viral polypeptide chains and generates essential non-structural proteins for viral replication. Mpro is an important drug target against COVID-19. In this study, we developed a real-time fluorometric turn-on assay system to evaluate Mpro proteolytic activity for a substrate peptide between NSP4 and NSP5. It produced reproducible and reliable results suitable for HTS inhibitor assays. Thus far, most inhibitors against Mpro target the active site for substrate binding. Mpro exists as a dimer, which is essential for its activity. We investigated the potential of the Mpro dimer interface to act as a drug target. The dimer interface is formed of domain II and domain III of each protomer, in which N-terminal ten amino acids of the domain I are bound in the middle as a sandwich. The N-terminal part provides approximately 39% of the dimer interface between two protomers. In the real-time fluorometric turn-on assay system, peptides of the N-terminal ten amino acids, N10, can inhibit the Mpro activity. The dimer interface could be a prospective drug target against Mpro. The N-terminal sequence can help develop a potential inhibitor.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.514-521
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• 2015

In this study, we would like to describe peel strength and dynamic shear property on various substrates of multi-layered structural double-sided adhesive tape with or without adhesive (AD) prepared by UV curing for an automobile, construction, and display junction. According to adapt the adhesive, the peel and dynamic shear strength of adhesion tape prepared with acrylic foam or various plastic substrates increased with increasing molecular weight, however, decreased over 650000 molecular weight. The adhesion property shows high value at the thin AD layer with decreasing temperature. The interface property shows highest at MW 615000 (AD-4), and the interface junction below MW 615000 resulted to divide from acrylic foam and adhesive layer. From this study, the multi-layered structural double-sided adhesive tapes seem to be a useful for industrial area such as a low surface energy plastic material and curved substrate.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.17-23
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• 2004

In this study, we prepared the polycarbonates with various molecular weights by melt polymerization and investigated the crystallization by solvent induced crystallization. Effects of the types and compositions of solvents, crystallizing temperatures and molecular weights on crystallinity and melt temperatures of polycarbonates were evaluated by DSC, XRD and SEM. In case of low molecular weight polycarbonates and high crystallization temperature, the crystallinity of the polycarbonate was increased. As the increase of the crystallization temperature and the solution concentration, relatively uniform crystalline structures were obtained. Also, by treating with mixed solvents, the control of desired surface areas and crystallinity could be possible.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.855-861
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• 2012

A pioneering version of an on-line management system for high-energy molecules (MS-HEMs) was developed by the ADD and BMDRC in Korea. The current system can manage the physicochemical and explosive properties of virtual and existing HEMs. The on-line MS-HEMs consist of three main routines: management, calculation, and search. The management routine contains a user-friendly interface to store and manage molecular structures and other properties of the new HEMs. The calculation routine automatically calculates a number of compositional and topological molecular descriptors when a new HEM is stored in the MS-HEMs. Physical properties, such as the heat of formation and density, can also be calculated using group additivity methods. In addition, the calculation routine for the impact sensitivity can be used to obtain the safety nature of new HEMs. The impact sensitivity was estimated in a knowledge-based manner using in-house neural network code. The search routine enables general users to find an exact HEM and its properties by sketching a 2D chemical structure, or to retrieve HEMs and their properties by giving a range of properties. These on-line MS-HEMs are expected be powerful tool for deriving novel promising HEMs.