• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.963-968
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• 2009

Liquid crystal (LC; E7 and/or ML-0249)-embedded, poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-co-HFP)-based, polymer electrolytes were prepared for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The electrolytes contained 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide (PMII), tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI), and iodine ($I_2$), which participate in the $I_3^-/I^-$ redox couple. The incorporation of photochemically stable PVdF-co-HFP in the DSSCs created a stable polymer electrolyte that resisted leakage and volatilization. DSSCs, with liquid crystal(LC)-embedded PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolytes between the amphiphilic ruthenium dye N719 absorbed to the nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ photoanode and the Pt counter electrode, were fabricated. These DSSCs displayed enhanced redox couple reduction and reduced charge recombination in comparison to that fabricated from the conventional PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolyte. The behavior of the polymer electrolyte was improved by the addition of optimized amounts of plasticizers, such as ethylene carbonate (EC) and propylene carbonate (PC). The significantly increased short-circuit current density ($J_{sc}$, $14.60\;mA/cm^2$) and open-circuit voltage ($V_{oc}$, 0.68 V) of these DSSCs led to a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.42% and a fill factor of 0.65 under a standard light intensity of $100\;mW/cm^2$ irradiation of AM 1.5 sunlight. A DSSC fabricated by using E7-embedded PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolyte exhibited a maximum incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 50%.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2013

Acetylated Cellulose Ether (ACE), cellulose-based amphiphilic polymer with hydrophilic and hydrophobic, was synthesized and investigated in terms of its solubility and wettability for organic solvents and water. Acetyl group was substituted to the cellulose ether in a hydrophilic polymer by esterification. As a result of FT-IR, the peak corresponding to the hydroxyl group decreased and carboxyl acid peak increased with increasing reaction time and temperature, which signified the increase in the degree of acetylation of the ACE. There were similar thermal decomposition behaviors before and after esterification reaction until $800^{\circ}C$ so that the reaction occurred without significant structural changes of cellulose backbones. The solubility parameter of the ACE had a range of 18.5~26.4, and its viscosity and turbidity were controlled according to the solubility parameter of organic solvents. The ACE showed the hydrophilicity because the contact angle of the ACE was higher than the cellulose ether. These results confirmed that the ACE had the hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity due to the ether which was glucosidic bonding between the glucose units and un-reacted hydroxyl functional groups in the ACE.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.29-32
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• 2004

Inhibition of the early N-glycosylation process in the endoplasmic reticulum prevents the activation of tyrosinase, a key enzyme for melanin biosynthesis. This work aims at evaluating the increased activity of N-glycosylation inhibitors in vitro b, employing a nano-sized pH-sensitive liposome as a delivery carrier. Melexsome, a pH-sensitive nano carrier loaded with glycosylation inhibitos, was prepared by the hydration method with phospholipids and cholresterol-based amphiphiles. Inhibitory effects of Melexsome on the N-glycosylation process were evaluated by EndoH ＆ PNGaseF digestion and the western blotting. Melanin synthesis was also monitored after treatment with Melexsome Interestingly, Melexsome effectively increased the efficacy of N-glycosylation inhibitors. Melexsome was also much more efficiently translocated into the cytoplasm as observed in CLSM. These results demonstrated that the amphiphilic lipid-based pH-sensitive nano-carriers could be, used as an efficient delivery system for N-glycosylation inhibitor to enhance the effects of skin whitening cosmetics.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.496-502
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• 2015

Facilitated transport is one of the possible solutions to simultaneously improve permeability and selectivity, which is challenging in conventional polymer-based membranes. Olefin/paraffin separation using facilitated transport membrane has received much attention as an alternative solution to the conventional distillation process. Herein, we report olefin separation composite membranes based on the polymer blends containing $AgBF_4/Al(NO_3)_3$ mixed salts. Free radical polymerization process was used to synthesize an amphiphilic graft copolymer of poly(dimethyl siloxane)-graft- poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PDMS-g-POEM). In addition, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) was introduced to the PDMS-g-POEM graft copolymer to form polymer blends with various ratios. The propylene/propane mixed-gas selectivity and permeance reached up to 5.6 and 10.05 GPU, respectively, when the PEO loading was 70 wt% in polymer blend. The improvement of olefin separation performance was attributed to the olefin facilitating silver ions as well as the highly permeable blend matrix. The stabilization of silver ions in the composite membrane was achieved through the introduction of $Al(NO_3)_3$ which suppressed the reduction of silver ions to silver particles.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.1023-1029
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• 2023

Biosurfactants reduce surface and interfacial tension due to their amphiphilic properties and are an eco-friendly alternative for chemical surfactants. In this study, a new yeast strain JAF-11 that produces a biosurfactant was selected using drop collapse method, and the properties of the extracts were investigated. The nucleotide sequences of the strain were compared with closely related strains and identified based on the D1/D2 domain of the large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. Neodothiora populina CPC 39399^T, the closest species with strain JAF-11, showed a sequence similarity of 97.75% for LSU and 94.27% for ITS, respectively. The result suggests that the strain JAF-11 represents a distinct species that cannot be assigned to any existing genus or species in the family Dothideaceae. Strain JAF-11 produced a biosurfactant reducing the surface tension of water from 72 mN/m to 34.5 mN/m on the sixth day of culture and the result of measuring the critical micelle concentration (CMC) by extracting the crude biosurfactant was found to be 24 mg/l. The molecular weight 502 of the purified biosurfactant was confirmed by measuring the fast atom bombardment mass spectrum. The chemical structure was analyzed by measuring ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), ¹³C NMR, and two-dimensional NMRs of the compound. The molecular formula was C₂₆H₄₆O₉, and it was composed of one octanoyl group and two hexanoyl groups to myo-inositol moiety. The new biosurfactant is the first report of a compound produced by a new yeast strain, JAF-11.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.315-324
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• 2015

In this study, we prepared liquid crystal emulsion composed of amphiphilic substance $C_{14-22}$ alcohol, $C_{12-20}$ alkyl glucoside, behenyl alcohol and studied liquid crystal emulsion of properties and in vitro skin permeation. The results of formulation experiments, the clear liquid crystalline structure was observed in the ratio of $C_{14-22}$ alcohol 0.8%, $C_{12-20}$ alkyl glucoside 3.2%, behenyl alcohol 4% in the formulation. The results of physical property measurements, the viscosity of liquid crystal emulsion and O/W emulsion applied as a control group was respectively $1871.26{\sim}1.15Pa{\cdot}s$, $1768.69{\sim}1.14Pa{\cdot}s$ and the shear stress of O/W emulsion was 178.68 ~ 909.18 Pa, that of liquid crystal emulsion was 190.45 ~ 919.38 Pa. The storage modulus of O/W emulsion was 3428.53 ~ 9157.45 Pa, that of liquid crystal emulsion was 4487.82 ~ 8195.59 Pa. The tan (delta) value of O/W emulsion which means a ratio of viscosity to elasticity was 0.43 ~ 0.19, and that of liquid crystal emulsion was 0.23 ~ 0.25. The water content value on the skin for liquid crystal emulsion was significantly higher from 1 h to 6 h compared with that of O/W emulsion and the transepidermal water loss on the skin was significantly superior in skin moisture loss suppression from 30 min to 4 h compared with that of O/W emulsion. The results of skin permeation using glycyrrhizic acid, the result of skin permeation amount of liquid crystal emulsion for 24 h was $64.58{\mu}g/cm^2$, that of O/W emulsion was $37.07{\mu}g/cm^2$, that of butylene glycol solution was $41.05{\mu}g/cm^2$. Hourly permeability results, it is showed that skin penetration effect of the liquid crystal emulsion increases after 8 h. These results suggest that liquid crystal emulsions are effective for skin moisturizing effect and function as potential efficacy ingredient delivery system for the transdermal delivery.