• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.228-241
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• 2020

Separators, which produces physical layer between a cathode and anode, are getting enormous attention as the quality of the separator determines the performance of lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Porous membranes based on polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) are generally utilized as the separator of LIBs because of their high electrochemical stability and suitable mechanical strength. However, low thermal resistance and wettability of PE and PP membranes limited the potential of LIBs. Operating at the temperature exceeding the melting point of membranes, the separators change their structures which lead to short circuit of LIBs. Low wettability of the separators corresponds to low ionic conductivity which increases the cell resistance. To overcome these weaknesses of PE and PP separators, different types of separator were prepared by co-electrospinning, applying coating layer, forming core shell around membrane, and papermaking method. The synthesized separator greatly enhanced the heat resistance and wettability of separator and mechanical properties like flexibility and tensile strength. In this review different type of polymer membrane used as separator in lithium ion battery are discussed.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2016

Highly porous polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) microspheres impregnated by $TiO_2$ powder were prepared by spray drying method. The particle size and the porosity were controlled by optimizing the co-solvent ratio and the polymer concentration. $TiO_2$ powder was impregnated into the microspheres upto 74.6 wt% content based on the weight of the resultant $PMMA/TiO_2$ microspheres. SEM images showed that $TiO_2$ powder was well distributed throughout the inside of the microsphere. EDX mapping showed that the Ti signal was well detected from every part of the microspheres, which was the evidence of the formation of the $PMMA/TiO_2$ composite. Hg porosimetry result showed that the porosity was found to be over 50% regardless of the $TiO_2$ contents. The final product was found to have high oil-absorbing capacity and great hiding power, both of which are key properties in designing the microsphere materials for make-up cosmetics application.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.32-39
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• 2024

The key components of a Phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) are an electrode catalyst, an electrolyte matrix and a gas diffusion layer (GDL). In this study, we introduced a microporous layer on the GDL of PAFC to enhance liquid electrolyte management and overall electrochemical performance of PAFC. MPL is primarily used in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells to serve as an intermediate buffer layer, effectively managing water within the electrode and reducing contact resistance. In this study, electrodes were fabricated using GDLs with and without MPL to examine the influence of MPL on the performance of PAFC. Internal resistance and polarization curves of the unit cell were measured and compared to each other to assess the impact of MPL on PAFC electrode performance. As the results, the application of MPL improved power density from 170.2 to 192.1 mW/cm². MPL effectively managed electrolyte and water within the matrix and electrode, enhancing stability. Furthermore, the application of MPL reduced internal resistance in the electrode, resulting in sustained and stable performance even during long-term operation.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.120-124
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• 2008

Carbon-coated $LiFePO_4$ and $LiMn_{0.4}Fe_{0.6}PO_4$ cathode materials for lithium batteries were synthesized by a sol-gel method. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy data showed that the cathode materials are pure crystalline and are surrounded by porous carbon. The initial discharge capacities of $LiFePO_4$ and $LiMn_{0.4}Fe_{0.6}PO_4$ with the liquid electrolyte of 1M $LiPF_6$ in EC/DMC are 132 mAh/g and 145 mAh/g, respectively, at current density of 0.1 C-rate. $LiFePO_4$ and $LiMn_{0.4}Fe_{0.6}PO_4$ with an electrospun polymer-based electrolyte exhibit initial discharge capacities of 114 and 130 mAh/g at 0.1 C-rate at room temperature, respectively.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.163-168
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• 2008

Biomedical scaffold for tissue regeneration was fabricated by one of rapid prototyping processes, bioplotting system, with a biodegradable and biocompatible poly($\varepsilon$-carprolactone)(PCL). Through dynamic mechanical test, it was observed that the PCL scaffold manufactured by the bioplotting process has the superior mechanical properties compared to the conventional scaffold fabricated by a salt-leaching process, and the plotted scaffold could be employed as a potential scaffold to regenerating hard and soft tissue. The plotted scaffold was consisted of porous structures. which were interconnected with each pore to help cells be easily adhered and proliferated in the wall of pore tunnels, and metabolic nutrients can be transported within the matrix. By using the plotting system, we could adjust the pore size, porosity, strand pitch, and, strand diameter of PCL scaffolds, which were important parameters to control mechanical properties of the scaffolds, and consequently we could determine that the mechanically controlled scaffolds could be used as a matching scaffold for any required mechanical properties of the target organ. The fabricated 3D PCL scaffold showed enough possibility as a 3D biomedical scaffold, which was cell-cultured with chondrocytes.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.187-195
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• 2018

In this work, the morphology of polyvinylidene-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-co-HFP) membranes were systemically investigated using phase inversion technique, to target membrane contactor applications. As the presence of macrovoids degrade the mechanical integrity of the membranes and jeopardize the long-term stability of membrane contactor processes (e.g. wetting), a wide range of dope compositions and casting conditions was studied to eliminate the undesired macrovoids. The type of solvent had significant effect on the membrane morphology, and the observed morphology were correlated to the physical properties of the solvent and solvent-polymer interactions. In addition, to fabricate macrovoid-free structure, the effects of different coagulation temperatures, inclusion of additives, and addition of nonsolvents were investigated. Due to the slow crystallization rate of P(VDF-co-HFP) polymer, it was found that obtaining porous membrane without macrovoids is difficult using only nonsolvent-induced phase separation method (NIPS). However, combined other phase inversion methods such as evaporation-induced phase separation (EIPS) and vapor-induced phase separation (VIPS), the desired membrane morphology can be obtained without any macrovoids.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.227-235
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• 2019

This study monitored Daecheong 1-bo, Daecheong-stream, which carried out the project in 2014, from 2015 to 2016. The technology applied to the stream was evaluated using Periphytic Algae to check contamination indicators and ecological health of the area with an integral river-bed protection using non-toxic materials. The water quality of the monitoring section was confirmed to be above the river environment standard (II), and it was confirmed that the Saproxenic taxa of the river bed protection were higher than the upper and downstream sections. The TDI, which is an index of attachment algae, was shown in the average 51.03 and 52.15 for the pilot project sections in 2015 and 2016, confirming that the index is of the "normal" grade. This is the other sections in the upstream and downstream sections showed higher than "bad", which is thought to have a positive effect on the habitat of the river ecosystem components, especially the microbial population in river bed protection.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.323-328
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• 2015

Poly(${\varepsilon}$-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers and PCL/silica membranes were synthesized by sol-gel derived electrospinning and casting, respectively. Smooth PCL nanofibers were obtained from the precursor containing N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF). PCL/silica membranes were prepared by varying the tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) contents from 0 to 40 vol% to investigate the effect of silica addition on mechanical properties and cytotoxicity of the membranes. Although the strength of the membranes decreased from 12 to 8 MPa with increasing the silica content, the strength remained almost constant 7 weeks after dipping in phosphate buffered saline solution (PBS). The strength reduction was attributed to the presence of a patterned surface pores and micro-pores present in the walls between pores. The crystal structure of the membranes was orthorhombic and the crystallite size decreased from 57 to 18 nm with increasing the silica content. From the agar overlay test, the PCL/silica membranes exhibited neither deformation and discoloration nor lysis of L-929 fibroblast cells.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.345-350
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• 2006

This study investigated the removal of recalcitrant organics in dyeing wastewater using a fluidized bed reactor(FBR) that contained cell-immobilized pellets. The pellets were manufactured and condensing the gel phase by mixing PEG-polymer and cells to form micro-porous PEG-polymer pellets whose size were ${\Phi}\;4mm{\times}H\;4mm$ on average. An industrial activated sludge without any pre-adaptation was used for the cell immobilization because it gave an equivalent removal efficiency to a pre-adapted sludges. The feed was obtained from an effluent of a biological treatment plant, which contained $SCOD_{Cr}$ of 330 mg/L and $SBOD_5$ of 20 mg/L. The $SCOD_{Cr}$ removal efficiency was over 45% and the effluent $COD_{Mn}$ concentration was less than 100 mg/L at HRTs from 6 to 24 hrs. The optimum HRT in the FBR was determined as 12 hrs considering the removal efficiency and cost. When a raw wastewater containing 768 mg/L of $COD_{Cr}$ was fed to the FBR, the effluent $COD_{Cr}$ concentration increased only slightly, giving a 70% of $COD_{Cr}$ removal or a 97% of $BCOD_5$ removal. This indicated that the FBR had an excellent capability of biodegradable organics removal also. In conclusion, the FBR could be applied to textile wastewater treatment in place of an activated sludge process.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.259-266
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• 2010

Porous poly(propylene) supported gel polymer electrolytes (GPE) were synthesized by thermal polymerization of DEGDMA [Di(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate] in electrolyte solutions (1 M solution of $LiPF_6$ in EC/DEC 1 : 1 mixture) at $70^{\circ}C$. AC impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry were used to evaluate its ionic conductivity and electrochemical stability window of the GPE membranes. Lithium ion battery (LIB) cells were also fabricated with $LiNi_{0.8}Co_{0.2}O_2$/graphite and GPE membranes via thermal polymerization process. Through the thermal polymerization, self sustaining GPE membranes with sufficient ionic conductivities (over $10^{-3}\;S/cm$) and electrochemical stabilities. The LIB cell with 5% monomer showed the best rate-capability and cycleability.