• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.39 no.9
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• pp.698-704
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• 1995

The ion-selective membrane fabricated with 33 wt% PVC, 66 wt% o-NPOE and 1 wt% 4'-benzothiazolylbenzo-15-crown-5 (TB15C5) as a neutral carrier exhibited an enhanced selectivity to potassium ion over sodium ion compared to those prepared with other 15-crown-5 or 18-crown-6 derivatives. The potentiometric properties (response slope, selectivity, detection limits and lifetime) of TB15C5-based ISE membranes along with those based on valinomycin, benzo-15-crown-5 (B15C5), 4'-aminobenzo-15-crouwn-5 (AB15C5), benzo-18-crown-6 (B18C6), dibenzo-18-crown-6 (DB18C6) and bis[(benzo-15-crown-5)-4'-ylmethyl]pimelate (PI-Ⅱ) ionophores were carefully examined under the same experimental conditions. The enhanced selectivity of TB15C5-based membrane to potassium is explained in terms of the effect of the benzothiazol functional group and the distribution coefficients of metal ions.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.603-611
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• 2014

The lectins were separated from Korean and Chinese mung bean seeds finally via chromatography using Sephadex G-100 and their biochemical features were studied and compared. They showed no hemagglutination with human red blood cells regardless of trypsin treatment and showed hemagglutination with only trypsin treated rabbit red blood cells. The molecular weights of two lectins were identified as 54 kDa and 28 kDa by SDS-PAGE. It was found that while the optimal reaction temperature of the lectin from Korean mung bean was $60^{\circ}C$, that of the lectin from Chinese mung bean seeds was $50^{\circ}C$. It was found also that the most thermal stable temperature of the seed lectin from Korean mung bean seeds was $50^{\circ}C$ and the lectin from Chinese mung bean was $40-50^{\circ}C$. The lectin from Korean mung bean seeds showed the highest activity at pH 3.2 and the lectin from Chinese mung bean showed the highest activity at pH 6.2. It was identified that when treating a denaturant, thiourea and guanidine-HCl resulted in no hemagglutination, so they induced denaturalization. It was identified also that there was no hemagglutination with urea, so it did not induced denaturalization. They showed no septicity to 6 types of carbohydrates including D-glucose. In addition, the lectins from the two mung bean seed had specificity to metal ions.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.597-610
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• 2018

This study observed particulate matter ($PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{10}$) in the downtown area of Jeju City, South Korea, to understand the chemical composition of particulates based on an analysis of the water-soluble ionic species contained in the particles. The mass fraction of the ionic species in the sampled $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ was 44.3% and 42.2%, respectively. In contrast, in Daegu City and Suwon City, the mass fraction of the ionic species in $PM_{2.5}$ was higher than that in $PM_{10}$. The chloride depletion percentage of $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ in Jeju City was higher than 61% and 66%, respectively. The contribution of sea-salt to the mass of $PM_{10}$ (5.9%) and $PM_{2.5}$ (2.6%) in Jeju City was similar to that in several coastal regions of South Korea. The mass ratio of $Cl^-$ to $Na^+$ in the downtown area of Jeju City was comparable to that in some coastal regions, such as the Gosan Area of Jeju Island, Deokjeok Island, and Taean City. The mass fraction of sea-salt in $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ was very low, and the concentration of sodium and chloride ions in $PM_{10}$ was not correlated with those in $PM_{2.5}$ ($R^2$ < 0.2), suggesting that the effects of sea-salt on the formation of particulate matter in Jeju City might be insignificant. The relationship between $NH_4{^+}$ and several anions such as $SO_4{^{2-}}$, $NO_3{^-}$, and $Cl^-$, as well as the relationship between the measurement and calculation of ammonium ion concentration, suggested that sea-salts may not react with $H_2SO_4$, and $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ may be a major secondary inorganic aerosol component of $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{10}$ in Jeju City.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.15-23
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• 2004

Deicer operations provide traffic safety during winter driving conditions in urban areas. Using large quantities of de-icing chemicals (i.e., $CaCl_2$ and NaCl) can cause serious environmental problems and may change behaviors of heavy metals in roadside sediments, resulting in an increase in mobilization of heavy metals due to complexation of heavy metals with chloride ions. To examine effect of de-icing salt concentration on the leaching behaviors and mobility of heavy metals (cadmium, zinc, copper, lead, arsenic, nickel, chromium, cobalt, manganese, and iron), leaching experiments were conducted on roadside sediments collected from Seoul city using de-icing salt solutions having various concentrations (0.01-5.0M). Results indicate that zinc, copper, and manganese in roadside sediments were easily mobilized, whereas chromium and cobalt remain strongly fixed. The zinc, copper and manganese concentrations measured in the leaching experiments were relatively high. De-icing salts can cause a decrease in partitioning between adsorbed (or precipitated) and dissolved metals, resulting in an increase in concentrations of dissolved metals in salt laden snowmelt. As a result, run-off water quality can be degraded. The de-icing salt applied on the road surface also lead to infiltration and contamination of heavy metal to groundwater.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.367-376
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• 2007

Aenigmatite, $Na_4(Fe^{2+},Ti,Fe^{3+}){_{12}}(Fe^{3+},Si){_{12}}O_{40}$, is a common constituent of sodium-rich alkaline igneous rocks and is classified a an open-branched single-chain silicate. $M\ddot{o}ssbauer$ spectroscopy of three natural aenigmatite specimens were done and the detailed crystal chemistry was obtained. Fitting of $M\ddot{o}ssbauer$ spectra led to the resolution of nine peaks. They consist of three doublets of $Fe^{2+}/oct$ and one merged peak at low velocity matching to two small peaks at high velocity which were assigned to $Fe^{3+}/tet\;and\;Fe^{2+}/oct$, respectively. Using the peak area for $Fe^{2+}\;and\;Fe^{3+}$ peaks, analytical data were recalculated. Precise assignment of $Fe^{2+}\;and\;Fe^{3+}$ ions in tetrahderal and octahedral sites revealed detailed crystal chemistry of aenigmatite. The existence of significant amounts of $Fe^{3+}/tet$ indicates that $Fe^{3+}$ has preference over $Al^{3+}$ for the tetrahedral sites. Crystal chemistry of aenigmatite (AEN1) yields the formula of $(Na_{3.97}Ca_{0.03})(Ca_{0.11}Mn_{0.59}Fe^{2+}{_{8.07}}Ti_{2.07}Mg_{0.70}Fe^{3+}{_{0.43}}Al_{0.04})(Fe^{3+}{_{0.56}}Al_{0.18}Si_{11.26})O_{40}$.

• Clean Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.270-278
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• 2020

Palladium (Pd) has been widely used in various industrial applications such as jewelry, catalyst, and dental materials despite its limited resources. It has been gaining attention to recover Pd with high purity from the spent materials. This study investigated the optimum conditions for the leaching and recovery of metallic Pd. The leaching parameters are HCl concentration, temperature, time, concentration of oxidants, and pulp density. 97.2% of Pd leaching efficiency was obtained in 3 M HCl with 3 vol% oxidants at 80℃ for 60 min. The ratio of hydrogen peroxide to sodium hypochlorite played a critical role in the leaching efficiency due to the supply of Cl- ions in the leachate. Moreover, the complete recovery of Pd in the leachate was achieved at 80℃ with 0.3 formic acid/leachate after adjusting the pH value of 7. This situation was ascribed to the decomposition of formic acid into hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide at 80℃. ICP-AES and XRD characterized the recovered Pd powder, and the purity of the recovered powder was found to be 99.6%. Consequently, the recovered Pd powder with high purity could be used in circuits, catalyst precursors, and surgical instruments.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.105-110
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• 2018

Objectives : We tried to observe the fluorescence anisotropy and intensity of ethidium ion in the intercalating binding interaction between DNA and ethidium ions in the presence of berberine, and then tried to explain the effect of berberine on the intercalating interaction of ethidium ion with DNA. Methods : DNA(calf thymus DNA), berberine and ethidium bromide(EtBr) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Co. Proper amount of each compound was dissolved in 20 mM sodium phosphate buffer(pH 7.0) containing 100 mM of NaCl to prepare stock solutions. Collections of the fluorescence anisotropy and intensity data were performed on JASCO FP-8300 spectrofluorometer equipped with a polarizer and a Peltier temperature controller. The excitation of ethidium ion was done at 550 nm and the emission data were collected at 600 nm. For Stern-Volmer plot, the fluorescence data were collected at $18^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$. Results : According to the results of this research, the weak competitive binding pattern between ethidium ion and berberine appeared in binding with DNA at low ratio of DNA to ethidium ion. But at high ratio of DNA to ethidium ion, this weak competition disappeared. Instead, berberine might bind to DNA by intercalating way. In other words, berberine could de-intercalate ethidium ion from DNA at low concentration of DNA relative to ethidium ion, but could not at high concentration of DNA relative to ethidium ion. In addition, the mechanism of fluorescence quenching of ethidium ion could also proceed differently, depending on the ratio of the amount of DNA to that of ethidium ion. Conclusions : The effect of berberine on the DNA-ethidium ion intercalating interaction could work differently, depending on the relative ratio of the amount of DNA to that of ethidium ion. This study also showed that fluorescence anisotropy analysis is very useful method to obtain detailed information for investigation of the complex binding interactions. In order to fully understand the mechanism of action of the pharmacological effect by berberine, studies on the effect of berberine on the action of proteins such as various enzymes closely related to berberine-induced medicinal effects should be continued.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.40-48
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• 2022

In this study, the effects of solution components were investigated in the recovery of vanadium as ammonium metavanadate from vanadium-ore-salt roasting-water leaching solution. The vanadium-containing solution is strongly alkaline (pH 13), so the pH must be lowered to 9 or less to increase the ammonium metavanadate precipitation efficiency. However, in the process of adjusting the solution pH using sulfuric acid, aluminum ions are co-precipitated, which must be removed first. In this study, aluminum was precipitated in the form of an aluminum-silicate compound using sodium silicate, and the conditions for minimizing vanadium loss in this process were investigated. After aluminum removal, the silicate was precipitated and removed by adjusting the solution pH to 9 or less using sulfuric acid. In this process, the concentration and addition rate of sulfuric acid have a significant influence on the loss of vanadium, and vanadium loss was minimized as much as possible by slowly adding dilute sulfuric acid. Ammonium metavanadate was precipitated using three equivalents of ammonium chloride at room temperature from the aluminum-free, aqueous solution of vanadium following the pH adjustment process. The recovery yield of vanadium in the form of ammonium metavanadate exceeded 81%. After washing the product, vanadium pentoxide with 98.6% purity was obtained following heat treatment at 550 ℃ for 2 hours.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.445-453
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• 2020

Background and objective: Calcium chloride (CaCl₂) and sodium chloride (NaCl) are commonly used as a deicing agent in South Korea and penetrate the soil on the roadside, causing damage to plants. This study was conducted to investigate the salinity reduction effect of Pennisetum alopecuroides and the chemical characteristics of soil leachate. Methods: The plants were treated with five different concentrations of CaCl₂ (0, 1, 2, 5, and 10g·L^-1) and were grouped into the Cont., C1, C2, C5, and C10 groups. CaCl₂ of 200 m·L^-1 was sprayed to each plant once every two weeks. The growth of P. alopecuroides (plant height, leaf length, leaf width and the number of leaves) was measured. The level of EC and pH, and exchangeable cations (K⁺, Ca²⁺, Na⁺, and Mg²⁺) in the leachate of soil was monitored. Results: The pH of soil leachate decreased as the CaCl₂ concentration increased, and the EC increased significantly. The content of K⁺ did not change significantly until the concentration of CaCl₂ reached 5 g·L^-1, but the content of Ca²⁺, Na⁺, and Mg²⁺ significantly increased. The plant height, leaf length, and leaf width of P. alopecuroides showed the highest value in CaCl₂ 1 g·L^-1 followed by CaCl₂ 2 g·L^-1 and the control group. Root fresh weight was the highest in CaCl₂ 2 g·L^-1. On the other hand, there was no change in the shoot fresh weight, dry weight and root dry weight, and P. alopecuroides growth inhibition at the concentration of 5 g·L^-1 or higher in the plant height and leaf length. Conclusion: P. alopecuroides is relatively highly salt-tolerant and can improve the salt damaged soil by lowering the content of the salt-based exchangeable K⁺ ions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.2-4
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• 1998

Proliferation of Nocardia amarae cells in activated sludge has often been associated with the generation of nuisance foams. Despite intense research activities in recent years to examine the causes and control of Nocardia foaming in activated sludge, the foaming continued to persist throughout the activated sludge treatment plants in United States. In addition to causing various operational problems to treatment processes, the presence of Nocardia may have secondary effects on the fate of heavy metals that are not well known. For example, for treatment plants facing more stringent metal removal requirements, potential metal removal by Nocardia cells in foaming activated sludge would be a welcome secondary effect. In contrast, with new viosolid disposal regulations in place (Code o( Federal Regulation No. 503), higher concentration of metals in biosolids from foaming activated sludge could create management problems. The goal of this research was to investigate the metal sorption property of Nocardia amarae cells grown in batch reactors and in chemostat reactors. Specific surface area and metal sorption characteristics of N. amarae cells harvested at various growth stages were compared. Three metals examined in this study were copper, cadmium and nickel. Nocardia amarae strain (SRWTP isolate) used in this study was obtained from the University of California at Berkeley. The pure culture was grown in 4L batch reactor containing mineral salt medium with sodium acetate as the sole carbon source. In order to quantify the sorption of heavy metal ions to N amarae cell surfaces, cells from the batch reactor were harvested, washed, and suspended in 30mL centrifuge tubes. Metal sorption studies were conducted at pH 7.0 and ionlc strength of 10-2M. The sorption Isotherm showed that the cells harvested from the stationary and endogenous growth phase exhibited significantly higher metal sorption capacity than the cells from the exponential phase. The sequence of preferential uptake of metals by N. amarae cells was Cu>Cd>Ni. The specific surFace area of Nocardia cells was determined by a dye adsorption method. N.amarae cells growing at ewponential phase had significantly less specific surface area than that of stationary phase, indicating that the lower metal sorption capacity of Nocardia cells growing at exponential phase may be due to the lower specific surface area. The growth conditions of Nocardia cells in continuous culture affect their cell surface properties, thereby governing the adsorption capacity of heavy metal. The comparison of dye sorption isotherms for Nocardia cells growing at various growth rates revealed that the cell surface area increased with increasing sludge age, indicating that the cell surface area is highly dependent on the steady-state growth rate. The highest specific surface area of 199m21g was obtained from N.amarae cell harvested at 0.33 day-1 of growth rate. This result suggests that growth condition not only alters the structure of Nocardia cell wall but also affects the surface area, thus yielding more binding sites of metal removal. After reaching the steady-state condition at dilution rate, metal adsorption isotherms were used to determine the equilibrium distributions of metals between aqueous and Nocardia cell surfaces. The metal sorption capacity of Nocardia biomass harvested from 0.33 day-1 of growth rate was significantly higher than that of cells harvested from 0.5- and 1-day-1 operation, indicatng that N.amarae cells with a lower growth rate have higher sorpion capacity. This result was in close agreement with the trend observed from the batch study. To evaluate the effect of Nocardia cells on the metal binding capacity of activated sludge, specific surface area and metal sorption capacity of the mixture of Nocardia pure cultures and activated sludge biomass were determined by a series of batch experiments. The higher levels of Nocardia cells in the Nocardia-activated sludge samples resulted in the higher specific surface area, explaining the higher metal sorption sites by the mixed luquor samples containing greater amounts on Nocardia cells. The effect of Nocardia cells on the metal sorption capacity of activated sludge was evaluated by spiking an activated sludge sample with various amounts of pre culture Nocardia cells. The results of the Langmuir isotherm model fitted to the metal sorption by various mixtures of Nocardia and activated sludge indicated that the mixture containing higher Nocardia levels had higher metal adsorption capacity than the mixture containing lower Nocardia levels. At Nocardia levels above 100mg/g VSS, the metal sorption capacity of activate sludge increased proportionally with the amount of Noeardia cells present in the mixed liquor, indicating that the presence of Nocardia may increase the viosorption capacity of activated sludge.