• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.427-438
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• 2023

In this study, in order to improve the performance of the reverse osmosis membrane with high water flux and high salt rejection, a study was conducted on the evaluation of characteristics according to the curing temperature and time during various additives and interfacial polymerization. The morphology of the membrane with no additives and the membrane with additives both showed a "rigid-and-valley" structure, confirming that the polyamide layer was successfully polymerized on the surface of the porous support layer. In addition, the additive of 2-Ethyl-1,3-hexanediol (EHD) had improved hydrophilicity and water flux, which was confirmed by measuring the contact angle. Finally, a highly permeable TFC membrane with NaCl and MgSO₄ salt rejection of 97.78% and 98.7% and a high water flux of 3.31 L/(m²⋅h⋅bar) was prepared.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.588-596
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• 2006

The surface of polystyrene membrane treated by Ar, $O_2$ plasma, and the effects were observed before and after the treatment and permeability of $CO_2$, $N_2$ and selectivity of $CO_2$ relative to $N_2$ was measured using continuous flow gas permeation analyzer (GPA). The mole ratio of O over C in the surface was increased from 0 to 0.179 with Ar plasma treatment and route mean square of surface was increased from $15.86{\AA}$ to $71.64{\AA}$. Therefore the contact angle was decreased from $89.16^{\circ}$ to $18.1^{\circ}$. Thus Plasma treatments made surface of membrane tend to be highly hydrophilic. The optimum condition for the $CO_2$ permeability and ideal selectivity of the plasma treated membrane was as follows: the measurement of Ar (60 W, 2 min, $70^{\circ}C$) plasma treatment was $1.14{\times}10^{-12}[m^3(STP){\cdot}m/m^2{\cdot}sec{\cdot}atm]$ and 4.22. In the case of $O_2$ plasma treatment, the contact angle was decreased at $13.56^{\circ}$ with increase of O/C ratio ($0.189{\AA}$) and route mean square of surface ($57.10{\AA}$). The optimum condition for the $CO_2$ permeability and ideal selectivity of the plasma treated membrane was as follows: the measurement of $O_2$ (90 W, 2 min, $70^{\circ}C$) plasma treatment was $7.1{\times}10^{-12}[m^3(STP){\cdot}m/m^2{\cdot}sec{\cdot}atm]$ and 11.5. After plasma treatment, the changes of membrane surface were all subtly linked with both cross-linking and etching effects. Finally, it was confirmed that the gas permeation capacity and selectivity of the modified membrane with plasma could be improved by an appropriate control of the plasma conditions such as treatment time, the power input and sort of plasma gas.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.687-693
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• 2002

The surface of polyethersulfone(PES) membrane treated by Ar, $NH_3$ plasma, and the effects were observed before and after the treatment. The membrane treated by Ar plasma was increased the O/C ratio and measured the hydrophilic group, and the one by $NH_3$ plasma was attached the amine group and the amino group. In addition, with the wettability of polyethersulfone membrane $CO_2$ and the polar functional groups of surface interacted increasingly. Thus by comparable increase of the soluble selectivity $CO_2$ to $N_2$ both the permeability and the selectivity of $CO_2$ was improved. The optimum condition for the $CO_2$ permeation and actual separation factor of the plasma treated membrane was as follows; the measurement of Ar-10 W-2 min plasma treatment was $13.19{\times}10^{-10}cm^3(STP)cm/cm^2{\cdot}s{\cdot}cmHg$ and 20.12, and the measurement of $NH_3$-50 W-2 min plasma treatment was $15.40{\times}10^{-10}cm^3(STP)cm/cm^2{\cdot}s{\cdot}cmHg$ and 20.06.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.193-200
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• 2011

An amphiphilic graft copolymer comprising a poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) backbone and poly (styrene sulfonic acid) (PSSA) side chains (PVC-g-PSSA) was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Mesoporous titanium dioxide $(TiO_2)$ films with crystalline anatase phase were synthesized via a sol-gel process by templating PVC-g-PSSA graft copolymer. Titanium isopropoxide (TTIP), a $TiO_2$ precursor was selectively incorporated into the hydrophilic PSSA domains of the graft copolymer and grew to form mesoporous $TiO_2$ films, as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The performances of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) were systematically investigated by varying spin coating times and the amounts of P25 nanoparticies. The energy conversion efficiency reached up to 2.7% at 100 mW/$cm^2$ upon using quasi-solid-state polymer electrolyte.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.277-281
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• 2009

Superhydrophobic $SiO_2$ thin films were successfully fabricated on a glass substrate by sol-gel method. To fabricate $SiO_2$ thin film with a high roughness, $SiO_2$ nano particles were added into tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) solution. The prepared $SiO_2$ thin film without an addition of $SiO_2$ nano particles showed a very flat surface with ca. 1.27 nm of root mean square (RMS) roughness. Otherwise, the $SiO_2$ thin films fabricated by using coating solutions added $SiO_2$ nano particles of 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 wt% showed a RMS roughness of ca. 44.10 nm, ca. 69.58 nm, ca. 80.66 nm, respectively. To modify the surfaces of $SiO_2$ thin films to hydrophobic surface, a hydrophobic treatment was carried out using a fluoroalkyltrimethoxysilane (FAS). The $SiO_2$ thin films with a high rough surface were changed from hydrophilic to hydrophobic surface after the FAS treatment. Especially, the prepared $SiO_2$ thin film with a RMS roughness of 80.66 nm showed a water contact angle of $163^{\circ}$.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.419-424
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• 2007

According to increase of consumer's desire for clean tap water, advanced treatment processes include with membrane, ozone, and granular activated carbon(GAC) were introduced. In order to evaluate the effect of advanced treatment processes for residual chlorine decay and trihalomethane(THM) formation in water distribution system, dissolved organic matter(DOC) removal of each advanced treatment process was investigated. The residual chlorine decay and THM formation using bottle tests were also evaluated. $UV_{254}$ removal in all advanced treatment was better than DOC removal. Especially, DOC by ozone treated was removed as 4% in contrast with sand filtered water, but $UV_{254}$ was removed about 17%. This result might be due to convert from hydrophobic DOC to hydrophilic DOC by ozonation. Ozone/GAC process was most effective process for DOC removal. The residual chlorine decay constants in treated water by sand filtration, ozonation, GAC adsorption, and ozone/GAC processes were 0.0230, 0.0307, 0.0117 and 0.0098 $hr^{-1}$, respectively. The sand filtered water was produced 81.8 ${\mu}g/L$ of THM after 190 hours of reaction time, as the treated water by ozone, GAC, and Ozone/GAC was less produced 6.0, 26.2, 30.3% in contrast with sand filtered water, respectively. Consequently, the durability of residual chlorine and reduction of THM formation were improved by advanced treatment processes.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.241-251
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• 2006

In this study, crosslinked copolyimides with random (r-) and block (b-) structure were fabricated using N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid and pentanediol as crosslinkers. Linear r- and b-sulfonated copolyimides were also fabricated for comparison. Ion exchange capacities of r- and b-copolyimides were very similar to each other owing to their strong dependence of sulfonic acid content. The physical crosslinking via dimerization of carboxylic acid groups induced a reduced average interchain distance in b-copolyimide without crosslinkers. Consequently, its water uptake and methanol permeability were lower than those of r-sulfonated copolyimides. Simultaneously, the reduced interchain distance increased the content of fixed-charged ions per unit volume. The high fixed-charged ion density contributed to an enhancement of proton conductivity In the b-sulfonated copolyimide. Crosslinking caused the reduction of average interchain distance between polymer chains irrespective of types of crosslinker and polymer structure, leading to low methanol permeability. On the contrary, their proton conductivity was improved owing to formation of effective hydrophilic channels responsible for proton conduction. In particular, this trend was observed in r-copolyimide containing a fixed charged ion.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.16-34
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• 2021

Water supplies are decreasing in comparison to increasing clean water demands. Using nanofiltration is one of the most effective and economical methods to meet the need for clean water. Common methods for desalination are reverse osmosis and nanofiltration. However, pristine membranes lack the essential features which are, stability, economic efficiency, antibacterial and antifouling performances. To enhance the properties of the pristine membranes, graphene oxide (GO) is a promising and widely researched material for thin film composites (TFC) membrane due to their characteristics that help improve the hydrophilicity and anti-fouling properties. Modification of the membrane can be done on different layers. The thin film composite membranes are composed of three different layers, the top filtering active thin polyamide (PA) layer, supporting porous layer, and supporting fabric. Forward osmosis (FO) process is yet another energy efficient desalination process, but its efficiency is affected due to biofouling. Incorporation of GO enhance antibacterial properties leading to reduction of biofilm formation on the membrane surface. Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is an excellent process to generate clean energy from sea water and the biofouling of membrane is reduced by introduction of GO into the active layer of the TFC membrane. Different modifications on the membranes are being researched, each modification with its own advantages and disadvantages. In this review, modifications of nanofiltration membranes and their composites, characterization, and performances are discussed.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.438-443
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• 2011

In order to enhance water permeability through the improvement of fouling phenomena and wettability of hydrophobic porous membranes, various adsorption materials, i.e., poly(vinyl amine), poly (styrene sulfonic acid), poly(vinyl sulfonic acid), and poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) were adsorbed onto the surface of polyethylene (PE) porous membrane. The concentration of adsorption solutions, adsorption time, the sort of salts and their ionic strength were varied, and the pure water permeability of their resulting adsorbed membranes was measured. In general, water permeability increased with an initial increase in the concentration of adsorption solution, adsorption time, and ionic strength and then decreased with a further increase. The pure water permeability of 375 $L/m^2h$(LMH), 35% enhancement, was obtained at a condition of poly(vinyl sulfonic acid) 1000 ppm, $Mg(NO_3)_2$ ionic strength(IS) 0.1, and adsorption time 150 sec, while the 50% (411 LMH) and 35% (374 LMH) enhancements were obtained at conditions of poly(styrene sulfonic acid) 1000 ppm, adsorption time 60 sec, and NaCl IS 0.1 and 0.2, respectively.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.102-108
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• 2002

Background: This study was aimed to differentiate two forms of CTLA-4 (CD152) in activated peripheral blood lymphocyte and clarify the mechanism how cytoplasmic form of this molecule is targeted to cell surface. Methods: For this purpose we generated 2 different anti-human CD152 peptide antibodies and 5 different N'-terminal deletion mutant CTLA4Ig fusion proteins and carried out a series of Western blot and ELISA analyses. Antipeptide antibodies made in this study were anti-CTLA4pB and anti-CTLA4pN. The former recognized a region on extracellular single V-like domain and the latter recognized N'-terminal sequence of leader domain of human CD152. Results: In Western blot, the former antibody recognized recombinant human CTLA4Ig fusion protein as an antigen. And this recognition was completely blocked by preincubating antipeptide antibody with the peptide used for the antibody generation at the peptide concentration of 200 ug/ml. These antibodies were recognized human CD152 as a cytoplasmic sequestered- and a membrane bound- forms in phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL). These two forms of CD152 were further differentiated by using anti-CTLA4pN and anti-CTLA4pB antibodies such that former recognized cytosolic form only while latter recognized both cytoplasmic- and membraneforms of this molecule. Furthermore, in a transfection expression study of 5 different N'-terminal deletion mutant CTLA4Ig, mutated proteins were secreted out from transfected cell surface only when more than 6 amino acids from N'-terminal were deleted. Conclusion: Our results implies that cytosolic form of CTLA-4 has leader sequence while membrane form of this molecule does not. And also suggested is that at least N'-terminal 6 amino acid residues of human CTLA-4 are required for regulation of targeting this molecule from cytosolic- to membrane- area of activated human peripheral blood T lymphocyte.