• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.143-149
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• 2022

Membrane distillation (MD) has emerged as a sustainable desalination technology to solve the water and energy problems faced by the modern society. In particular, the surface wetting properties of the membrane have been recognized as a key parameter to determine the performance of the MD system. In this study, a novel surface modification technique was developed to induce a Janus-type hydrophilic/hydrophobic layer on the membrane surface. The hydrophilic layer was created on a porous PVDF membrane by vapor phase polymerization of the pyrrole monomer, forming a thin coating of polypyrrole on the membrane walls. A rigid polymeric coating layer was created without compromising the membrane porosity. The hydrophilic coating was then followed by the in-situ growth of siloxane nanoparticles, where the condensation of organosilane provided quick loading of hydrophobic layers on the membrane surface. The composite layers of dual coatings allowed systematic control of the surface wettability of porous membranes. By the virtue of the photothermal property of the hydrophilic polypyrrole layer, the desalination performance of the coated membrane was tested in a solar MD system. The wetting properties of the dual-layer were further evaluated in a direct-contact MD module, exploring the potential of the Janus membrane structure for effective and low-energy desalination.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.985-990
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• 1995

Grapefruit seed extracts(GFSE) have some unknown compounds which exhibit the antibiotic activities aganist microorganisms including bacteria and fungi. We have examined the effects of GFSE on the growth of Enterobacter pyrinus which was isolated from necrotic lesions of pear trees. During the cultivation, the growth of the bacteria was strongly inhibited at the low concentration(0.01%, w/w) of GFSE. Hydrophobic fraction extracted from GFSE by mixed solvents (chloroform : methanol : water, 1 : 2 : 0.8, v/v/v) had components which inhibited the growth of bacteria. There was, however, no inhibitory effect of GFSE on the activities of several enzymes including hexokinase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase and succinate dehydrogenase. $O-nitrophenyl-{\beta}-D-galactopyranoside(ONPG)$, the artificial substrate of ${\beta}-galactosidase$ was hydrolyzed in the presence of GFSE, indicating that the membrane was pertubated by the GFSE. From the results it was suggested that the antibiotic activity of GFSE is due to the change of membrane permeability of cell. GFSE was fractionated by high performance liquid chromatography equipped with $C_{18}$ reverse phase column. Among active fractions, three peaks were identified as 1-chloro-2-methyl-benzene (o-toluene), N,N-dimethyl-benzenemethaneamine, 1-[2-(2-ethylethoxy)ethoxy]-4- (1,1,3,3-tetramethyl)-bezene, respectively, while the other three remained unidentified.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.332-339
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• 2021

Recently, due to concerns about the depletion of fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases, the importance of hydrogen energy technology, which is a clean energy source that does not emit greenhouse gases, is being emphasized. Water electrolysis technology is a green hydrogen technology that obtains hydrogen by electrolyzing water and is attracting attention as one of the ultimate clean future energy resources. In this study, the surface properties of the porous transport layer (PTL), one of the cell components of the proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE), were controlled using a sandpaper to reduce overvoltage and increase performance and stability. The surfaces of PTL were sanded using sandpapers of 400, 180, and 100 grit, and then all samples were finally treated with the sandpaper of 1000 grit. The prepared PTL was analyzed for the degree of hydrophilicity by measuring the water contact angle, and the surface shape was observed through SEM analysis. In order to analyze the electrochemical characteristics, I-V performance curves and impedance measurements were conducted.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.423-431
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• 2001

Genomic and cDNA clones containing the RAT3 gene involving in Agobacterium-mediated plant transformation were identified using plant DNA flanking the righ border of a T-DNA rescued from the rat3 mutant as hy-bridization probe. Two highly homologous cDNA clones were identified; one (RAT3-1) weakly hybridized with the probe whereas another (RAT3-2) strongly hybridized with the probe. Both Rat3-1 and Rat3-2 proteins contain a putative signal peptide for secretion. The deduced molecular weights of encoded proteins are 15 kDa. The results of genomic DNA blot analysis and DNA sequencing indicated that RAT3-1 and RAT3-2 exist as single copy genes and they were arranged side by side with just 600 bp distance between them. RAT3-1 was disrupted by the integration of T-DNA into the 3 untranslated region in rat3 mutant. A BLAST search showed that both RAT3-1 and RAT3-2 proteins have homology with only the C-terminal region of $\beta$-1,3-glucanase homologues from Triticum aestivum and Arabidopsis thaliana. Thses $\beta$-1,3-glucanase homologues contain an unusually long C-terminal region with no sig-nificant homology to other $\beta$-1,3-glucanase.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.169-179
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• 2014

Intracellular antioxidants include low molecular weight scavengers of oxidizing species, and enzymes which degrade superoxide and hydroperoxides. Such antioxidants systems prevent oxidative damage to cellular component by scavenging free radicals and activated oxygen species. Hydrophobic scavengers are found in cell membrane where they interrupt chain reactions of lipid peroxidation. The three major lipophilic antioxidant classes for human health are carotenoids, vitamin E and coenzyme Q10. The biofortification of staple crops with these lipid soluble antioxidants is an attractive strategy to increase the nutritional quality of human food. Here, we have summarized the biosynthetic pathways of three lipid soluble antioxidants in plants and current status of genetic engineered plants for elevated levels of each lipophilic antioxidant.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.170-183
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• 2021

Fouling has continued to be a problem that hinders the effectiveness of membrane properties. To solve this problem of reducing fouling effects on membrane surface properties, different and innovative types of membrane patterning has been proposed. This article reviews on the progress of patterned membranes and their separation process concerning the fouling effects of membranes. The types of separation processes that utilize the maximum effectiveness of the patterned membranes include nanofiltration (NF), reverse osmosis (RO), microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), and pervaporation (PV). Using these separation processes have shown and prove to have a major effect on reducing fouling effects, and in addition, they also add beneficial properties to the patterned membranes. Each patterned membrane and their separation processes gave notable results in threshold towards flux, salt rejections, hydrophilicity and much more, but there are also some unsolved cases to be pointed out. In this review, the effects of patterned membrane for separation processes will be discussed.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.43-49
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• 2022

Solid-state supercapacitors with high safety and robust mechanical properties are attracting global attention as next-generation energy storage devices. As an electrode of a supercapacitor, an economical carbon-based electrode is widely used. However, when an aqueous electrolyte is introduced, the charge transfer resistance increases because the interfacial contact between the hydrophobic electrode surface and aqueous electrolyte is not good. In this regard, we propose a method to obtain higher electrochemical performance based on improved interfacial properties by treating the electrode surface with oxygen plasma. The surface hydrophilization induced by the enriched oxygen functionalities was confirmed by the contact angle measurement. As a result, the degree of hydrophilization was easily adjusted by controlling the power and duration of the oxygen plasma treatment. As the electrolyte of the supercapacitor, PVA/H₃PO₄, which is a typical solid-state aqueous electrolyte, was used. Free-standing membranes of PVA/H₃PO₄ electrolyte were prepared and then pressed onto the electrode. The optimal condition was to perform oxygen plasma treatment for 5 seconds with a low power of 15 W, and the energy density of the supercapacitor increased by about 8%.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.10 no.12
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• pp.825-830
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• 2000

The copolymers with various composition of vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC), methyl methacrylate (MMA), and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate(HEMA) were synthesized as a humidity sensitive material and quaternized with N, N, N', N'-tetraethylene diamine.. Resistance versus relative humidity decreased with increase in the content of MMA in the copolymer. The introduction of HPMA increased the resistance of the humidity sensor as well as enhanced the adherence to the alumina substrate. In the case of VBC/MMA/HEMA=80/10/10, the hysteresis and temperature dependency coefficient were $\pm$2%RH and -0.46~0.42%RH/$^{\circ}C$. The average resistance at 30%RH, 60%RH and 90%RH were 3.0M$\Omega$ ,200k$\Omega$ and 9k$\Omega$, respectively.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.12 no.4 s.37
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• pp.275-280
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• 2005

We propose a new approach to greatly simplify the fabrication of conventional nanoimprint lithography (NIL) by combined nanoimprint and photolithography (CNP). We introduce a hybrid mask mold (HMM) made from UV transparent material with a UV-blocking Cr metal layer placed on top of the mold protrusions. We used a negative tone photo resist (PR) with higher selectivity to substrate the CNP process instead of the UV curable monomer and thermal plastic polymer that has been commonly used in NIL. Self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on HMM plays a reliable role for pattern transfer when the HMM is separated from the transfer layer. Hydrophilic $SiO_2$ thin film was deposited on all parts of the HMM, which improved the formation of SAM. This $SiO_2$ film made a sub-10nm formation without any pattern damage. In the CNP technique with HMM, the 'residual layer' of the PR was chemically removed by the conventional developing process. Thus, it was possible to simplify the process by eliminating the dry etching process, which was essential in the conventional NIL method.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.221-228
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• 1998

Enhancement of adhesion between polymer films and metal films are obtained by forming the hydrophilic functional groups on the polymer surfaces by ion assisted reaction which uses ion beam in reactive gas environments. In ion assisted reaction, ion dose, blown gas flow rate and ion energy were changed from $5\times 10^{14}$ to $1\times 10^{17}\textrm{ions/cm}^2$, from 0 to 8 sccm, and 0.3 to 1.2 kV, respectively. Wetting angle of water on polymer films modified by $ Ar^+$ ion without blowing oxygen decreases to ~$40^{\circ}$. Contact angle of water on polymer films modified by $ Ar^+$ ion with blowing oxygen decreases to ~$20^{\circ}$, and the surface free energy increases to ~70 dyne/$\textrm{cm}^2$. However, contact angle of water on polytetraflouroethylene (PTFE) modified by ion assisted reaction increases with ion dose. The adhesion strength of metal film deposited on the polymer surface was investigated. In the case of the metal film deposited on the untreated polymers, the metal films are detached from the polymer surface. While, In the case of the metal film deposited on the polymers treated by ion assisted reaction, the metal films are strongly adhere to the polymer surfaces.