• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.415-421
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• 2002

A sulfonated PP-g-styrene ion-exchange hollow fiber membrane was prepared by pre-irradiation method with E-beam followed by sulfonation reaction. Degree of grafting increased with the increase of styrene monomer concentration and showed the maximum value of 128% at 80% of styrene monomer composition. Sulfonation yield increased with the degree of grafting. At 100% degree of grafting, sulfonation yield showed the maximum value of 13.4%. Ion exchange capacity of sulfonated HPP-g-styrene of 3.42 meq/g was attained, resulting in the remarkable increase of adsorption ability BET analysis proved that the surface area of sulfonated HPP-g-styrene was 62.54 $m^2/g$ and the mean pore size was 25 $\AA$. From the BSA adsorption experiments, the adsorption amount of BSA was increased with sulfonation. At 13.4% sulfonation yield the adsorption amount of BSA was maximum as 3.8 mg/g. Sulfonated HPP-g-styrene was synthesized successfully and suitable for the adsorption and separation of BSA.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.564-572
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• 2012

A terpolymer of vinylbenzyl chloride-co-ethyl methacrylate-co-styrene (VBC-EMA-St) was prepared for membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) by radical polymerization and amination reaction of various amination times. Nonfluoro aminated VBC-EMA-St anion-exchange membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry. Molecular weight, polydispersity and thermal stability were obtained by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The basic properties such as water uptake, ion exchange capacity, electrical resistance and CDI charge-discharge current were measured. The optimal values of ion exchange capacity, water uptake, electrical resistance and molecular weight of synthesized anion-exchange membrane were 1.69 meq/g, 23.7%, 1.61 ${\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ and $3.4{\times}10^4$ g/mol, respectively. As compared with conventional membrane, the pattern of cyclic charge-discharge current of synthesized anion-exchange membrane indicated efficient electrosorption and desorption.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.176-182
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• 2011

Liquid crystalline aromatic polyesters (LCPs) are representative examples of thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers, whose structure-property relationships have been the subject of many researches. In this study, we synthesized organo-soluble liquid crystalline aromatic polyesters, and their composites with acetylene-terminated thermoset resins were prepared and characterized. Soluble LCPs were synthesized by employing 6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid, terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, and 4-aminophenol as monomers via condensation polymerization based on transesterfication and transamidation. Acetylene-terminated thermoset resins were synthesized by the reaction of 4-ethynylaniline with terephthaloyl dichloride, isophthaloyl dichloride or 4,4'-biphenyldicarbonyl dichloride. We prepared the soluble LCP/thermoset composites by solution blending followed by thermal treatment. The thermal stability, thermal expansion coefficient, and dielectric properties of the composite were studied.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2005

In this study, a series of highly swelling hydrogels based on sodium alginate (NaAlg) and polymethacryl­amide (PMAM) was prepared through free radical polymerization. The graft copolymerization reaction was performed in a homogeneous medium and in the presence of ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator and N,N'-methylenebis­acrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker. The crosslinked graft copolymer, alginate-graft-polymethacrylamide (Alg-g­PMAM), was then partially hydrolyzed by NaOH solution to yield a hydrogel, hydrolyzed alginate-graft-poly­methacrylamide (H-Alg-g-PMAM). During alkaline hydrolysis, the carboxamide groups of Alg-g-PMAM were converted into hydrophilic carboxylate anions. Either the Alg-g-PMAM or the H-Alg-g-PMAM was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy. The effects of the grafting variables (i.e., concentration of MBA, MAM, and APS) and the alkaline hydrolysis conditions (i.e., NaOH concentration, hydrolysis time, and temperature) were optimized systematically to achieve a hydrogel having the maximum swelling capacity. Measurements of the absorbency in various aqueous salt solutions indicated that the swelling capacity decreased upon increasing the ionic strength of the swelling medium. This behavior could be attributed to a charge screening effect for monovalent cations, as well as ionic cross-linking for multivalent cations. Because of the high swelling capacity in salt solutions, however, the hydrogels might be considered as anti-salt superabsorbents. The swelling behavior of the superabsorbing hydrogels was also measured in solutions having values of pH ranging from 1 to 13. Furthermore, the pH reversibility and on/off switching behavior, measured at pH 2.0 and 8.0, suggested that the synthesized hydrogels were excellent candidates for the controlled delivery of bioactive agents. Finally, we performed preliminary investigations of the swelling kinetics of the synthesized hydrogels at various particle sizes.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.43-48
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• 2008

In this study, the hyper branched poly (styrene-co-divinylbenzene) (PSD) was synthesized by bulk polymerization and the cationic exchanger with high ion exchange capacity was prepared by sulfonation. The structure of hyper branched PSD ion exchanger was investigated by FT-IR, $^1H-NMR$ spectroscopy, and GPC analysis. The molecular weight, viscosity of hyper branched PSD increased with DVB content, which have the maximum values of 9410g/mol and 338 cP, respectively. And the reaction rate also increased with cross-linker content. As DVB content increased, the solubility of PSD decreased having the maximum value of 22 g with 0.1 mol% DVB. The water content and ion exchange capacity of the hyper branched PSD ion exchanger increased with the amount of sulfuric group. Their maximum values were 18.2% and 4.6 meq/g, respectively. The adsorption of copper and nickel ion was completed within 40 min.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.496-503
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• 2018

Background: Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng) plays an anti-inflammatory role in a variety of inflammatory diseases such as gastritis, hepatitis, and colitis. However, inflammation-regulatory activity of the calyx of the P. ginseng berry has not been thoroughly evaluated. To understand whether the calyx portion of the P. ginseng berry is able to ameliorate inflammatory processes, an ethanolic extract of P. ginseng berry calyx (Pg-C-EE) was prepared, and lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophages and HEK293 cells transfected with inflammation-regulatory proteins were used to test the anti-inflammatory action of Pg-C-EE. Methods: The ginsenoside contents of Pg-C-EE were analyzed by HPLC. Suppressive activity of Pg-C-EE on NO production, inflammatory gene expression, transcriptional activation, and inflammation signaling events were examined using the Griess assay, reverse transcription-polymerization chain reaction, luciferase activity reporter gene assay, and immunoblotting analysis. Results: Pg-C-EE reduced NO production and diminished mRNA expression of inflammatory genes such as cyclooxygenase-2, inducible NO synthase, and tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ in a dose-dependent manner. This extract suppressed luciferase activity induced only by nuclear factor-${\kappa}B$. Interestingly, immunoblotting analysis results demonstrated that Pg-C-EE reduced the activities of protein kinase B (AKT)1 and AKT2. Conclusion: These results suggest that Pg-C-EE may have nuclear-factor-${\kappa}B$-targeted anti-inflammatory properties through suppression of AKT. The calyx of the P. ginseng berry is an underused part of the ginseng plant, and development of calyx-derived extracts may be useful for treatment of inflammatory diseases.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.455-460
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• 2012

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogel has been studied as an important drug delivery system due to its volume transition or temperature-responsive swelling properties, whose phase separation temperature is similar to the body temperature. However, because of hydrophilic PNIPAM, hydrophobic drugs are difficult to be uniformly loaded in the networks. Antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid (LA) can be prepared as a polymer(polylipoic acid, PLA) by ring opening polymerization, which is hardly developed as a material due to its low molecular weight and easy depolymerization. To overcome this limitation, a hydrophobic active ingredient, LA was reacted with NIPAM into stable hydrogels. Simple thermal radical reaction successfully resulted in a hydrogel (PNIPAM/PLA), which was confirmed by DSC, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy. The PNIPAM/PLA showed temperature-responsive properties, and their volume swelling decreased with an increase in lipoic acid content. These hydrogels can carry hydrophobic drugs with PNIPAM and the hydrogels could be useful as final drug delivery systems having lipoic acid as an antioxidant.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.193-205
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• 1998

The Urechis unicinctus sperm and spermatogenic cells prepared from the testis are investigated to identify $\alpha-tubulin$ of axoneme microtubules using mouse monoclonal $anti-\alpha-tubulin$ as the first Ab and Gold(10nm) conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG as the Ab marker. The Ag-Ab reaction analyzed excellently the localization of $\alpha-tubulin$ and the gold particles incorporated with the proximal and distal centrioles, manchette microtubules, and flagellum. The gold particles can be also observed in the spermatogenic cells while the cells are still in sperm ball which is composed of a somatic cell and spermatogenic cells. The sperm ball is the functional unit of sperm production in U unicinctus testis. The spermatids are developed from the spermatogenic cells in the sperm ball and released into the testis cavity through a cortical cytoplasmic opening. The spermatid architectures are similar with the mature sperm of the testis cavity in aspects of shape of discoid acrosome, degree of nuclear condensation and ring type of mitochondrion. However, the distal centriole connecting with the flagella can be observed from the mature sperm while the both proximal and distal centrioles reveal only in the spermatids. The proximal centriole is directly connected with nuclear outer membrane during the stage of nuclear condensation and oriented perpendicularly to the distal centriole whose axis coinciding with the longitudinal axis of the spermatozoon. There are indications that the distal centriole is intimately associated with the polymerization of the flagellum. The manchette microtubules appear during spermatid development but the mature sperm have round head and no conspicuous middle piece.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.549-554
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• 2008

Proton conducting crosslinked membranes were prepared using polymer blends of polystyrene-b-poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate)-b-poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PS-b-PHEA-b-PSSA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). PS-b-PHEA-b-PSSA triblock copolymer at 28:21:51 wt% was synthesized sequentially using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). FT-IR spectroscopy showed that after thermal ($120^{\circ}C$, 2 h) and chemical (sulfosuccinic acid, SA) treatments of the membranes, the middle PHEA block of the triblock copolymer was crosslinked with PVA through an esterification reaction between the -OH group of the membrane and the -COOH group of SA. The ion exchange capacity (IEC) decreased from 1.56 to 0.61 meq/g with increasing amount of PVA. Therefore, the proton conductivity at room temperature decreased from 0.044 to 0.018 S/cm. However, the introduction of PVA resulted in a decrease in water uptake from 87.0 to 44.3%, providing good mechanical properties applicable to the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of fuel cells. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the membrane was microphase-separated with a nanometer range with good connectivity of the $SO_3H$ ionic aggregates. The power density of a single $H_2/O_2$ fuel cell system using the membrane with 50 wt% PVA was $230\;mW/cm^2$ at $70^{\circ}C$ with a relative humidity of 100%. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) also showed a decrease in the thermal stability of the membranes with increasing PVA concentration.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.276-285
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• 2006

Acid-doped sulfonated poly(aryl ether benzimidazole) (S-PAEBI) copolymers were synthesized by a direct polymerization technique and a doping with phosphoric acid as a dopant, and the polymer electrolyte membranes were fabricated from them by a solution casting method. To optimize the reaction condition, the degree of sulfonation and doping level were varied in the ranges of $0{\sim}60%\;and\;0.7{\sim}5.7$, respectively. Physiochemical properties of the doped membranes were investigated by AFM, TGA and the measurement of proton conductivity. It was found that proton conductivities depend on doping levels of membranes. Conductivity determined at the condition of $130^{\circ}C$ and no humidity was $7.3{\times}10^{-2}S/cm$ for the $H_3PO_4$-doped PAEBI membrane with a doping level of 5.7.