• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.496-507
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• 2022

For the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with ammonia (NH₃-SCR), a V₂O₅WO₃/TiO₂ (VW/nTi) catalyst was prepared using V₂O₅ and WO₃ on a nanodispersed TiO₂ (nTi) support by simple impregnation process. The nTi support was dispersed for 0~3 hrs under controlled bead-milling in ethanol. The average particle size (D₅₀) of nTi was reduced from 582 nm to 93 nm depending on the milling time. The NOx activity of these catalysts with maximum temperature shift was influenced by the dispersion of the TiO₂. For the V_0.5W₂/nTi-0h catalyst, prepared with 582 nm nTi-0h before milling, the decomposition temperature with over 94 % NOx conversion had a narrow temperature window, within the range of 365-391 ℃. Similarly, the V_0.5W₂/nTi-2h catalyst, prepared with 107 nm nTi-2h bead-milled for 2hrs, showed a broad temperature window in the range of 358~450 ℃. However, the V_0.5W₂/Ti catalyst (D₅₀ = 2.4 ㎛, aqueous, without milling) was observed at 325-385 ℃. Our results could pave the way for the production of effective NOx decomposition catalysts with a higher temperature range. This approach is also better at facilitating the dispersion on the support material. NH₃-TPD, H₂-TPR, FT-IR, and XPS were used to investigate the role of nTi in the DeNOx catalyst.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2023

Microfluidic reactors have been made to achieve significant development for the generation of new functional materials to apply in a variety of fields. Over the last decade, microfluidic reactors have attracted attention as a user-friendly approach that is enabled to control physicochemical parameters such as size, shape, composition, and surface property. Here, we develop a centrifugal microfluidic reactor that can control the flow of fluid based on centrifugal force and generate multifunctional particles of various sizes and compositions. A centrifugal microfluidic reactor is fabricated by combining microneedles, micro- centrifuge tubes, and conical tubes, which are easily obtained in the laboratory. Depending on the experimental control param- eters, including centrifuge rotation speed, alginate concentration, calcium ion concentration, and distance from the needle to the calcium aqueous solution, this strategy not only enables the generation of size-controlled microparticles in a simple and reproducible manner but also achieves scalable production without the use of complicated skills or advanced equipment. Therefore, we believe that this simple strategy could serve as an on-demand platform for a wide range of industrial and academic applications, particularly for the development of advanced smart materials with new functionalities in biomedical engineering.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.45-53
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• 2019

Objectives : In present study, we investigated a therapeutic effect of Astragali Radix on hypothyroidism rat model induced by 6-Propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU). Methods : Six-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups : Group one included the normal mice. Group two was administrated PTU. Group three and four were administrated the aqueous extract of Astragali Radix 150 and 300 mg/kg before start of PTU treatment. Group five (Positive control) was administrated with levothyroxine 0.5 mg/kg. During this moment the body weight, liver $H_2O_2$ and catalase (CAT) amount, serum thyroid hormone, serum asparte aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gland weights were measured with histopathological changes of thyroid glands. These results were compared with levothyroxine 0.5 mg/kg treated rats. Results : The PTU treatment lead to marked decreases of body weight, level of thyroid hormone in serum and liver CAT activation. Also, PTU treatment increased thyroid gland weight, thyroid gland hormone TSH, liver $H_2O_2$ amount and level of AST in serum. On the other hands, the administration of Astragali Radix extract increased body weight gains and ameliorated histopathological changes of thyroid such as hyperplasia of follicular cells with of follicular colloid contents and sizes. In addition, the administration of Astragali Radix extract increased level of $T_4$ in serum, CAT activation in liver. Moreover, the administration of Astragali Radix extract decreased levels of TSH and AST in serum and $H_2O_2$ amount in liver Conclusions : This study suggests that Astragali Radix extract has therapeutic effects on hypothyroidism via promoting thyroid hormone production.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.47-55
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• 2017

Objectives : Obesity is caused by the excess accumulation of fat in the body due to energy imbalance, and it causes various diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate an anti-obesity efficacy and an antioxidant activity of water from herbal mixture extract (SM17). Methods : The antioxidant activities were evaluated through radical scavenging assays using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radicals. To evaluated anti-obesity effect of SM17, we used a high fat diet fed mouse model. The SM17 (150 mg/kg body weight/day, p.o.) was treated every day for 6 weeks to C57BL/6 mice. Body weight and food intake were measured every day. The changes of reactive oxygen species (ROS), alanine aminotransferanse (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), triglycerids (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) in serum were analyzed after experiment. Also, expression of lipid metabolism related proteins were investigated by western blot analysis. Results : It was effective in antioxidant measurements, SM17 administration inhibited the biomarkers of lipid metaboism in serum and tissues. The administration of SM17 showed a significant reduction of body and tissue weight. Morever, it decreased ROS, ALT, AST, TG and TC in serum, compared with those of the obese mice. Adipogenesis-related protein expressions increased in obese mice compared to normal mice. However, SM17 group exhibited the down-expression of these proteins. Conclusion : A SM17 aqueous extract has a great effect on the stimulation (AMPK) activation, and may have a benefit to reduce a fatty acid metabolism through inhibition of lipid accumulation.

• 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.

• Composites Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.98-105
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• 2022

In this study, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/graphene oxide (GO)/iron oxide (Fe₃O₄) magnetic microgels were prepared using a microfluidic approach and the dye adsorption capacity of the microgels was confirmed. The adsorption capacity (q_e) of the gels was evaluated by varying the dye concentration, pH, and contact time with the microgels. The dyes used in this work were methylene blue (MB), crystal violet (CV), and malachite green (MG), and microgels showed the highest adsorption capacity (191.1 mg/g) in methylene blue. The microgels exhibited the highest adsorption capacity in the dye aqueous solution at pH 10 due to the presence of atomic nitrogen ions (N⁺) on the dye molecules. The adsorption isotherm studies revealed that the Langmuir isotherm is the best fit isotherm model for the dye adsorption on the microgels, indicative of monolayer adsorption. The kinetic analysis exhibited that the pseudo-second order model fits better than the pseudo-first order model, confirming that the adsorption process is chemisorption. In addition, the magnetic microgels showed good reusability and recovery efficiency. It was confirmed that the adsorption capacity of the gels maintains more than 70% of the initial capacity after 5 times of cycle experiments.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.232-237
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• 2022

Biorefineries, in which renewable resources are utilized, are an eco-friendly alternative based on biomass feedstocks. Alginic acid, a major component of brown algae, which is a type of marine biomass, is widely used in various industries and can be converted into value-added chemicals such as sugars, sugar alcohols, furans, and organic acids via catalytic hydrothermal decomposition under certain conditions. In this study, ruthenium-supported activated carbon and magnesium oxide were mixed and applied to the depolymerization of alginic acid in a batch reactor. The addition of magnesium oxide as a basic promoter had a strong influence on product distribution. In this heterogeneous catalytic system, the separation and purification processes are also simplified. After the reaction, low molecular weight alcohols and organic acids with 5 or fewer carbons were produced. Specifically, under the optimal reaction conditions of 30 mL of 1 wt% alginic acid aqueous solution, 100 mg of ruthenium-supported activated carbon, 100 mg of magnesium oxide, 210 ℃ of reaction temperature, and 1 h of reaction time, total carbon yields of 29.8% for alcohols and 43.8% for a liquid product were obtained. Hence, it is suggested that this catalytic system results in the enhanced hydrogenolysis of alginic acid to value-added chemicals.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.386-393
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• 2022

In this study, the surface modification of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) nanoparticles by a silane coupling agent, octyltrimethoxysilane (OTMS), was investigated and characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) analysis. Both floating tests and contact angle measurements were also conducted to study the effect of OTMS concentration on the hydrophobicity of CaCO₃ nanoparticles. It was found that the active ratio for the CaCO₃ nanoparticles modified by 1 wt% of OTMS was 97.0 ± 0.5%, indicating that OTMS is a very effective silane coupling agent in enhancing the hydrophobicity of the CaCO₃ nanoparticle surface. The most stable foam was generated with 1 wt% of CaCO₃ nanoparticles in aqueous solutions at 1 wt% of OTMS, where the contact angle of water was found to be 91.8 ± 0.7°. It was also found that the most stable emulsion drops were formed at the same OTMS concentration. These results suggest that CaCO₃ nanoparticles modified by a silane coupling agent OTMS are a powerful candidate for a foam stabilizer or an emulsifier in many industrial applications.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.431-435
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• 2022

The reduction of nitrogen-containing compounds (NC) containing the model crude methylnaphthalene oil (CMNO) of 5 compounds system was experimentally studied by solvent extraction. The model CMNO consisting of 3 kinds of NC including quinolone (QU), iso-quinoline (IQU), indole(IN) and 2 kinds of bicyclic aromatic compounds such as 1-methylnaphthalene (1MNA), 2-methylnaphthalene (2MNA) as raw materials, as well as the aqueous solution of formamide as a solvent, were used. The increase in the volume fraction of water to the solvent at the initial state (y_w,0) sharply decreased, but the distribution coefficient and the yield of NC conversely increased the selectivity of NC based on 2MNA, and an increase in the volume fraction of solvent to feed (S/F) simultaneously increased the distribution coefficient, yield and selectivity of NC. The yields of QU, IQU and IN under constant conditions (y_w,0 = 0.1, S/F = 1, equilibrium temperature 303 K) were 30%, 31% and 10%, respectively, and selectivity was 15, 15 and 20, respectively. From the excellent yield and selectivity of NC, the formamide extraction method of this study was expected as a method for reducing the NC contained in the model CMNO.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.65 no.6
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• pp.433-440
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• 2021

Surfactants are organic compounds that have both hydrophilic and non-polar parts in one molecule, classified as non-ion, anion, cation, and amphoteric surfactants according to the charge of hydrophilic parts in aqueous state. A trace amounts may remain when vegetables and fruits are washed using type1 detergent (Vegetable and fruit detergent), and there is a possibility of exposure to the human body through ingestion. This study developed the simultaneous analysis method for 5 surfactants with LC-MS/MS for analysis of detergent residues after washing vegetables and fruits with detergent. The mobile phase used distilled water and acetonitrile containing 50 mM ammonium formate and 0.1% formic acid and was analyzed using a gradient method using XBridge BEH C8 column. The accuracy of the established method was 83.9-112.1%, and the precision was less than 20%. The detection limit was 7.0 (SLS) to 29.0 (SLES-N3) ㎍/L, and the correlation coefficient (r²) of calibration line regression was greater than 0.99, it is considered suitable for the analysis of trace amounts of surfactant components remaining in vegetables and fruits.