• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.255-261
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• 2010

Pluronic as pharmaceutical excipients are listed in the US and British Pharmacopoeia. In particular, Pluronics exist as different compositions and display abundant phases as self-assembling into polymeric micelles with various morphologies depending on the aqueous solvent quality, the composition of structure, and hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB). Pluronics were also known as a P-gp modulator, which was exploited as a reversal molecule of multi-drug resistant (MDR) cancers. We selected a lamella forming Pluronic L92 which has high hydrophobicity and relatively long PEO block among L series of Pluronics. The dispersion of L92 showed great size particles and low stability. To increase the stability and to decrease the particle size, secondary Pluronics (F68, F88, F98, F127, P85, P105, and P123) with relatively long PEO chain were added into 0.1 wt% Pluronic L92 dispersion. The stability of binary systems was increased due to incorporated long PEO chain. Their particle sizes slightly decreased to over 200~400 nm and their solubilization capacity of binary systems didn't change except Pluronic L92/P123 mixtures. The L92/P123 systems showed ca. 100 nm sizes and lowest turbidity among the all systems. The solubilization capacity of 0.1 wt% L92/0.1 wt% P123 was slightly increased compared to 0.1 wt% L92 mono system and other binary systems. These nano-sized binary systems may have potential as alternative drug delivery systems with simple preparation method and overcome the drawbacks of mono systems such as low stability and loading capacity.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.183-190
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• 2010

Biogenic Mn oxides are expected to have great potential in the control of water pollution due to their high catalytic activity, although information on biological Mn oxidation is not currently sufficient. In this study, the growth of a Mn oxidizing microorganism, Pseudomonas putida MnB1, was examined, with the Mn oxides formed by this strain characterized. The growth of P. putida MnB1 was not significantly influenced by Mn(II), but showed a slightly decreased growth rate in the presence of Pb(II) and EE2, indicating their insignificant adsorption onto the cell surface. Mn oxides were formed by P. putida MnB1, but the liquid growth medium and resulting biogenic solids were poorly crystalline, nano-sized particles. Biogenic Mn oxidation by P. putida MnB1 followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics, with stoichiometric amounts of Mn oxides formed, which corresponded with the initial Mn(II) concentration. However, the formation of Mn oxides was inhibited at high initial Mn(II) concentration, suggesting mass transfer obstruction of Mn(II) due to the accumulation of Mn oxides on the extracellular layer. Mn oxidation by P. putida MnB1 was very sensitive to pH and temperature, showing sharp decreases in the Mn oxidation rates outside of the optimum ranges, i.e. pH 7.43-8.22 and around 20-$26^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.201-212
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• 2011

Nanotechnology is the applied science which develops new materials and systems sized within 1 to 100 nanometer, and improves their physical, chemical, and biological characteristics by manipulating on an atomic and molecular scale. This nanotechnology has been applied to wide spectrum of industries resulting in production of various nanoparticles. It is expected that more nanoparticles will be generated and enter to natural water bodies, imposing great threat to potable water resources. However their toxicity and treatment options have not been throughly investigated, despite the significant growth of nanotechnology-based industries. The objective of this study is to provide fundamental information for the management of nanoparticles in water supply systems through extensive literature survey. More specifically, two types of nanoparticles are selected to be a potential problem for drinking water treatment. They are carbon nanoparticles such as carbon nanotube and fullerene, and metal nanoparticles including silver, gold, silica and titanium oxide. In this study, basic characteristics and toxicity of these nanoparticles were first investigated systematically. Their monitoring techniques and treatment efficiencies in conventional water treatment plants were also studied to examine our capability to mitigate the risk associated with nanoparticles. This study suggests that the technologies monitoring nanopartilces need to be greatly improved in water supply systems, and more advanced water treatment processes should be adopted for better control of these nanoparticles.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.187-192
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• 2014

In this article, we report the fabrication and characterization of $CNT/Co_3O_4$ nanocomposite for lithium ion batteries. We expected that the composition with CNT is effective method to compensate for the low electronic conductivity of $Co_3O_4$ and suppress the stress from phase transition of $Co_3O_4$ during cycling. $CNT/Co_3O_4$ nanocomposites were composed of nano-sized $Co_3O_4$ particles, which were homogeneously distributed on the surface of CNTs. The $CNT/Co_3O_4$ electrode presented higher capacity than commercial graphite, good rate capability and stable cyclic performance. This implies that the $CNT/Co_3O_4$ could be a promising anode material for lithium ion batteries.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.322-326
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• 2018

The hydrogen reduction behavior of $MoO_3-CuO$ powder mixture for the synthesis of homogeneous Mo-20 wt% Cu composite powder is investigated. The reduction behavior of ball-milled powder mixture is analyzed by XRD and temperature programmed reduction method at various heating rates in Ar-10% $H_2$ atmosphere. The XRD analysis of the heat-treated powder at $300^{\circ}C$ shows Cu, $MoO_3$, and $Cu_2MoO_5$ phases. In contrast, the powder mixture heated at $400^{\circ}C$ is composed of Cu and $MoO_2$ phases. The hydrogen reduction kinetic is evaluated by the amount of peak shift with heating rates. The activation energies for the reduction, estimated by the slope of the Kissinger plot, are measured as 112.2 kJ/mol and 65.2 kJ/mol, depending on the reduction steps from CuO to Cu and from $MoO_3$ to $MoO_2$, respectively. The measured activation energy for the reduction of $MoO_3$ is explained by the effect of pre-reduced Cu particles. The powder mixture, hydrogen-reduced at $700^{\circ}C$, shows the dispersion of nano-sized Cu agglomerates on the surface of Mo powders.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.233-240
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• 2020

Nano-sized ZnSe particles are successfully synthesized in an aqueous solution at room temperature using sodium borohydride (NaBH₄) and thioglycolic acid (TGA) as the reducing agent and stabilizer, respectively. The effects of the mass ratio of the reducing agent to Se, stabilizer concentration, and stirring time on the synthesis of the ZnSe nanoparticles are evaluated. The light absorption/emission properties of the synthesized nanoparticles are characterized using ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, and particle size analyzer (PSA) techniques. At least one mass ratio (NaBH4/Se) of the reducing agent should be added to produce ZnSe nanoparticles finer than 10 nm and to absorb UV-vis light shorter than the ZnSe bulk absorption wavelength of 460 nm. As the ratio of the reducing agent increases, the absorption wavelengths in the UV-vis curves are blue-shifted. Stirring in the atmosphere acts as a deterrent to the reduction reaction and formation of nanoparticles, but if not stirred in the atmosphere, the result is on par with synthesis in a nitrogen atmosphere. The stabilizer, TGA, has an impact on the Zn precursor synthesis. The fabricated nanoparticles exhibit excellent photo-absorption/discharge characteristics, suggesting that ZnSe nanoparticles can be alloyed without the need for organic solutions or high-temperature environments.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.781-785
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• 2011

In this work, a nano-sized samaria-doped ceria(SDC) was prepared by a urea-based hydrothermal method and characterized by XRD, FESEM and TEM. It was observed that the increase in synthesis time and temperature gave rise to crystallity and particles size. Moreover, the synthesised powders had a excellent ion-conductivity(0.1 S/cm at 600~$800^{\circ}C$) which is suitable for electrolyte of intermediate temperature-solid oxide fuel cell(IT-SOFC). Subsequently for use as electrolyte for anode-supported IT-SOFC, we tried to deposit the SDC powder on a porous NiO-SDC substrate by electrophoretic deposition(EPD) method. From the FESEM observation, a compact

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.997-1002
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• 2013

The article is aiming to investigate the thermal-fluidic characteristics of magnetic fluid in a cavity using GSMAC (generalized-simplified marker and cell method). The transport equations of the magnetic fluid are including the continuity equation, momentum equation and energy equation for natural convection and Maxwell equation and magnetization equation of magnetite nano-sized particles motion. In addition, the heat transfer characteristics such as temperatures and Nusselt numbers and flow characteristics such as streamlines and isotherms of the magnetic fluid were analyzed with the intensity and direction of the magnetic fields. As a result, the thermal-fluidic characteristics of the magnetic fluid in a cavity were could be controlled by the intensity and direction of the magnetic fields.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.362-368
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• 2009

Ti scaffolds with a three-dimensional porous structure were successfully fabricated using powder metallurgy and modified rapid prototyping (RP) process. The fabricated Ti scaffolds showed a highly porous structure with interconnected pores. The porosity and pore size of the scaffolds were in the range of 66$\sim$72% and $300\sim400\;\mu$m, respectively. The sintering of the fabricated scaffolds under the vacuum caused the Ti particles to bond to each other. The strength of the scaffolds depended on the layering patterns. The compressive strength of the scaffolds ranged from 15 MPa to 52 MPa according to the scaffolds' architecture. The alkali treatment of the fabricated scaffolds in an aqueous NaOH solution was shown to be effective in improving the bioactivity. The surface of the alkali-treated Ti scaffolds had a nano-sized fibre-like structure. The modified surface showed a good apatite forming ability. The apatite was formed on the surface of the alkali treated Ti scaffolds within 1 day. The thickness of the apatite increased when the soaking time in a simulated body fluid (SBF) solution increased. It is expected that the surface modification of Ti scaffolds by alkali treatment could be effective in forming apatites in vivo and can subsequently enhance bone formation.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.541-546
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• 2021

Hydrated liquid crystalline vesicles containing a high content of ceramide were prepared by constituting an optimal composition in which ceramides can be mutually self-associated with phospholipid and cholesterol. From the result of manufacturing various vesicles with different component composition, when the edge activator sodium deoxycholate (SDOC) and the solubilizer PEG-60 hydrogenated castor oil (HCO 60) were mixed to form vesicles, the smallest nano-sized particles were produced and the vesicle dispersion solution was weakly acidic and maintained the most stable state. In addition, it was confirmed through polarized light microscopy and thermal analysis that the addition of SDOC and HCO 60 had an effect on the inhibition of crystallinity of lipid components such as ceramide. The stability of the vesicle dispersion solution was maintained without change in appearance and viscosity even after long-term storage at high temperature for eight weeks.