• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.549-554
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• 2002

Thermosensitive poly(organophosphazenes) bearing methoxy-poly(ethylene glycol) (MPEG) and alkylamines as substituents have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, NMR spectroscopy, GPC, and DSC. All the polymers exhibited crystallinity, which was probably induced by the MPEG side chain of the polymers. All the polymers exhibited the lower critical solution temperature (LCSTs) in the range of 28 to $94^{\circ}C$ depending on several factors such as mole ratio of the substituents, kinds of PEG and alkylamines. The higher content of MPEG and shorter chain length of alkylamines of the polymers afforded the higher LCST. The LCSTs of the polymers exhibited almost concentration-independent behavior in the range of 3-30 wt % of the polymers in aqueous solutions. The polymers showed the higher LCSTs in the acidic solutions than in the neutral and basic solutions. The ionic strength of the polymer solution affected the LCST, which decreased with increased NaCl concentration. The polymer bearing almost equimolar substitutuents with the -N-P-N- unit has shown the LCST more sensitive to NaCl and pH than that with the -N-P-O- unit. The polymers were found to degrade in acidic solution but be very stable in alkali solution as well as in the buffer solution of pH 7.4.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.453-458
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• 2009

Recently, new methods to synthesize and process polymers without toxic organic solvents are needed in order to solve environmental problems. The use of supercritical carbon dioxide as a solvent for the polymer synthesis is attractive since it is non-toxic, non-flammable, naturally abundant, and the product may be easily separated from the solvent. In this study, we developed the method using super critical $CO_2$ to prepare P(MAA-co-EGMA) hydrogel nanoparticles as an intelligent drug delivery carrier. The effects of concentrations of PtBuMA-PEO as a dispersion stabilizer and AIBN as an initiator on the particle synthesis were investigated. When PtBuMA-PEO concentration increased, the particle size decreased. However, there was no significant difference in the particle size according to the AIBN concentration. There was a drastic change of the equilibrium weight swelling ratio of P(MAA-co-EGMA) hydrogel nanoparticles at a pH of around 5, which is the $pK_a$ of PMAA. At a pH below 5, the hydrogels were in a relatively collapsed state but at a pH higher than 5, the hydrogels swelled to a high degree. In release experiments using Rh-B as a model solute, the P(MAA-co-EGMA) hydrogel nanoparticles showed a pH-sensitive release behavior. At low pH(pH 4.0) a small amount of Rh-B was released while at high pH(pH 6.0) a relatively large amount of Rh-B was released from the hydrogels.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.223-228
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• 2006

Hydrogels of semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPNs) were prepared by two step reactions. Dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAM) and poly(ethylene glycol)-dimethacrylate (PEGDM) were copolymerized to yield hydrogels, and then acrylic acid (AA) monomer were adsorbed in the hydrogels followed by polymerization of AA to produce semi-IPNs. The swelling behavior of semi-IPNs depends largely on pH of medium, showing that the degree of swelling of the semi-IPNs exhibits a minimum at pH 6.0. It is observed that the elastic modulus of semi-IPNs is closely related to its swelling behavior.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.24-29
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• 2004

Poly(vinyl alcohol)(PVA) and hyaluronic acid(HA) hydrogel membranes were prepared with varying HA contents from 10 to 50 wt% of PVA. The water contents of the resulting PVA-HA hydrogel membranes in various pH conditions were measured. And the permeation coefficient of indomethacin was determined using several PVA-HA hydrogel membranes at various pH conditions and also 37$^{\circ}C$.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.734-738
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• 2009

Biodegradable, pH-sensitive, glycol chitosan (GC) hydrogels were prepared using divinyl adipate (DVA) as a crosslinker and acetic acid as a catalyst. DVA has highly reactive double vinyl ester groups and GC contains a high density of hydroxyl groups, with two in every glucosamine unit. The transesterification reaction between vinyl esters and hydroxyl groups produced crosslinked GC hydrogels. The initial crosslinking reaction was monitored by measuring the viscosity of the reaction mixture. When DVA was added to the GC solution and heated to $50^{\circ}C$, the viscosity of the GC solution gradually increased, implying a crosslinking reaction and hydrogel formation. A new peak from the ester group was observed in the FTIR spectra of the GC hydrogels, confirming the crosslinking reaction. The synthesized GC hydrogel showed pH-dependent water absorbency, mainly due to the presence of amine groups ($-NH_2$) at the C-2 position of the glucosamine unit of GC. The water absorbency greatly increased at acidic pH and slightly decreased at alkaline pH. The GC hydrogel gradually degraded in $37^{\circ}C$ water due to hydrolysis of the ester bonds, which were intermolecular crosslinking sites. A red dye, 5-carboxyltetramethyl-rhodamine (CTMR), was entrapped in the GC hydrogels as a model compound. CTMR was released from GC hydrogels in two steps: an initial burst release mainly due to desorption and diffusion, and a second sustained release possibly due to gradual degradation.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.84-91
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• 1998

Random copolymers of N-isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAAm) and acrylic acid (AAc) which exhibit temperature- and pH-responsive behavior were synthesized by free-radical polymerization. The copolymers were characterized by means of FT-IR spectrometry and titration. The influence of polyelectrolyte on the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of pH/temperature-sensitive polymers was investigated in the pH range of 2-12. The LCSTs of PNIPAAm/water in poly(NIPAAm-co-AAc) were determined by cloud-point measurements. A polyelectrolyte complex was prepared by mixing poly(NIPAAm-co-AAc) with poly(allylamine) (PAA) or poly(L-lysine) (PLL) solutions as anionic and cationic polyelectrolytes, respectively. Back titration was performed to determine the content of AAc and to study the effect of comonomer ionization on the LCST. The LCSTs of PNIPAAm/water in the copolymers were strongly affected by pH, presence of polyelectrolyte, AAc content, and charge density on the polymer. The polyelectrolyte complexes were formed at neutral condition. The influence of more hydrophobic PLL as polyelectrolyte on the cloud-point of PNIPAAm/water in the copolymer was stronger than that of poly(allylamine) (PAA).

• KSBB Journal
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.389-395
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• 1999

Bifidobcterium spp. can provide human being with several beneficial physiological. Therefor, there has been a considerable interest in products Bifidobcterium spp. dietary supplements or as starter cultures for probiotic products that may assint in the improvement of health on the human. But indusrial applications have been limited because Bifidobcterium spp. are sensitive to acidic pH due to organic acid produced by themselves and various conditions. The objective of this study was to establish new method for improvement of Bifidobcterium viability by entrapment im calcium alginate beads. We have a plan to select the most suitable polymer through the comparison with acid tolerance oxygen tolerance and theological properties of polymer. Increase of the viable number of Bifidobcterium induced increasing acid tolerance and oxygen tolernce trough the development of entrapment technique. The 4%, 3030mm diameter) sodium alginate beads led to the best survivability under acid condition. Especially, addition of 6% mannitol, 6% glycerol or 6% sorbitol to the sodium alginate helped a beneficial effect on viability against acid, bile salt, hydrogen peroxide and cold strage. The number of viability of entrapeede cells by retreatment was 96 fold higher than non-entrapeed cells after 5 hours of storage under pH 3 acidic condition. These experimental data clearly demonstrate that a whole cell immobilization by entrapment in calcium alginate beads is an important survival mechanism enable to withstand environmental stresses as the acidic condition, hydrogen peroxide toxicity and frozen state.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1996 no.11
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• pp.281-285
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• 1996

Pulsatile swelling behaviors and their application to drug delivery system were studied by using interpenetrating polymer networks(IPN) hydrogels constructed with poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(acrylic acid). The PVA/PAAc IPNs hydrogels were symthesized by UV irradiation tallowed by repetitive freezing and thawing method. These hydrogels showed pH and temperature sensitive swelling behaviors. From the release experiment, the release amount of model drug incorporated into these hydrogels showed pulsatile patterns. Permeability coefficients obtained by various solutes differed in response to changes of permeation conditions.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.106-112
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• 2000

A FET-type reference electrode(REFET) is an effective method to eliminate typical problems with ISFET(ion sensitive field-effect transistor) such as drift, temperature, light-dependence and miniaturization of reference electrode. However, it is difficult to make the highly reliable REFET with excellent long-term stability and reproducibility. In this paper, an ion-blocking membrane was applied to the REFET for the PET-type electrolyte sensors(pH, pNa-ISFET). The fabricated REFET indicated the stable sensitivity (55.4 mV/pH, 53.5 mV/decade) and good linearity in the pH and pNa measurement. In the measurement, ISFET/Pt/REFET configuration showed excellent stability and reproducibility.

• Biomaterials and Biomechanics in Bioengineering
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.47-59
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• 2015

A bioactive and multifunctional elastin-like polymer (ELP) was produced by genetic engineering techniques to develop new artificial matrices with the ability to mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM). The basic composition of this ELP is a thermo- and pH-sensitive elastin pentapeptide which has been enriched with RGD-containing domains, the RGD loop of fibronectin, for recognition by integrin receptors on their sequence to promote efficient cell attachment. Hydrogels of this RGD-containing polymer were obtained by crosslinking with hexamethylene diisocyanate, a lysine-targeted crosslinker. These materials retain the "smart" nature and temperature-responsive character, and the desired mechanical behavior of the elastin-like polymer family. The influence of the degree of crosslinking on the morphology and properties of the matrices were tested by calorimetric techniques and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Their mechanical behavior was studied by dynamical mechanical analysis (DMA). These results show the potential of these materials in biomedical applications, especially in the development of smart systems for tissue engineering.