• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.377-401
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• 2016

To study the effect of titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) nanoparticles on membrane performance and structure and to explore possible improvement of using mixed solvents in the casting solution, composite polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) ultrafiltration membranes were prepared via immersion precipitation method using a mixture of two solvents triethyl phosphate (TEP) and dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and addition of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles. Properties of the neat and composite membranes were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle and membrane porosity measurements. The neat and composite membranes were further investigated in terms of BSA rejection and flux decline in cross flow filtration experiments. Following hydrophilicity improvement of the PVDF membrane by addition of 0.25 wt.% $TiO_2$, (from $70.53^{\circ}$ to $60.5^{\circ}$) degree of flux decline due to irreversible fouling resistance of the composite membrane reduced significantly and the flux recovery ratio (FRR) of 96.85% was obtained. The results showed that using mixed solvents (DMAc/TEP) with lower content of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles (0.25 wt.%) affected the sedimentation rate of nanoparticles and consequently the distribution of nanoparticles in the casting solution and membrane formation which influenced the properties of the ultimate composite membranes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10495-10500
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• 2015

Background: To evaluate the effects of bufalin in A549 human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cells in vitro and assess the underlying mechanisms. Materials and Methods: Human A549 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells were treated with various concentrations of bufalin. Cell proliferation was measured by CCK-8 assay, apoptotic cell percentage was calculated by flow cytometry and morphological change was observed by inverted phase contrast microscopy/transmission electron microscopy. In addition, the membrane potential of mitochondria was detected by JC-1 fluorescence microscopy assay, and the related protein expression of cytochrome C and caspase-3 was analyzed by Western blotting. Results: Bufalin could inhibit the proliferation of A549 cells via induction of apoptosis, with the evidence of characteristic morphological changes in the nucleus and mitochondria. Furthermore, bufalin decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential with up-regulation of cytochrome C in the cytosol, and activation of caspase-3. Conclusions: Bufalin inhibits the proliferation of A549 cells and triggers mitochondria-dependent apoptosis, pointing to therapeutic application for NSCLC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10381-10385
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• 2015

SKI-II has been reported as an inhibitor of sphingosine kinase 1 and has been extensively used to prove the involvement of sphingosine kinase and sphingosine-1-phosphate (Sphk1) in cellular processes. In the current study, we investigated the effects of SKI-II and its potential mechanisms in human gastric cancer SGC7901 cells. After treatment with SKI-II, cell growth, cell cycle distribution, apoptosis, expression of Sphk1, NF-${\kappa}B$, Bcl-2, Bax and p27 were assessed by MTT assay, flow cytometry, electron microscopy, immunocytochemistry and Western-blot assay, respectively. Our results showed that SKI-II markedly inhibited SGC7901 cell survival in a dose-dependent manner, reduced cell proliferation with accumulation of cells in the G0/G1 phase and induced apoptosis in the tumor cells. Furthermore, Western blotting and immunocytochemistry showed that the expression of p27 and Bax was increased significantly, but the expression of NF-${\kappa}B$, Bcl-2 and Sphk1 decreased by different degrees. These results indicate that SKI-II induced cell growth arrest and apoptosis. The increased apoptotic sensitivity of SGC7901 was correlated with NF-${\kappa}B$ or Bcl-2/Bax activation.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.50 no.9
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• pp.444-449
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• 2001

In this paper, a novel ultraviolet sensor is presented based on a photoluminescent porous silicon. Porous silicon layer was formed by chemical etching of surface of pn junction in a $HF(48%)-HNO_3(60%)-H_20$ solution. Incident ultraviolet(UV) light is converted to visible light by photoluminescent porous silicon layer, and then this visible light generates electron-hole pairs in the pn junction, which produces a photocurrent flow through the device. In order to maximize detection efficiency, the peak sensitivity wavelength of the pn junction diode was matched with the peak wavelength of Photoluminescence from porous silicon layer. The porous silicon ultraviolet sensor showed a large output current as UV intensity increases and but very low sensitivity to visible light. The detection sensitivity of porous silicon sensor was calculated as 2.91mA/mW. These results are expected to open up a possibility that the present porous silicon sensor can be used for detecting UV light in a visible background, compared to silicon UV detectors which have an undesirable response to visible light.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.73-86
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• 2014

Membrane fouling is a major challenge limiting the use of membrane applications. In this study high induced shear rates were utilized at the membrane surface in order to reduce the organic and inorganic scaling by using the torsional vibration of flat sheet membranes. The performances of a vibratory shear-enhanced processing (VSEP) system for the ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane filtration of industrial dairy wastewater were investigated. The vibration and non-vibration methods were compared with the same membrane and operational parameters during the purification of real dairy industrial process wastewater. In the initial experiments, short-term tests were carried out in which the effects of vibration amplitude, recirculation flow rate and transmembrane pressure were measured and compared. The permeate flux, turbidity, conductivity and chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction of dairy wastewater were investigated by using UF, NF and RO membranes with vibration and non-vibration methods. In the subsequent experiments, concentration tests were also carried out. Finally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the vibration method gave a better performance, which can be attributed to the higher membrane shear rate, which reduces the concentration of solids at the membrane, and the transmission.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.38-42
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• 2016

Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), which is glassy polymer to have amide functional group, was induced to fabricate the facilitated olefin transport membranes for olefin/paraffin separation. Separation performance for the mixed gas consisting of propylene and propane (50 : 50 vol%) was measured by gas chromatography and bubble flow meter. The properties of membranes were confirmed by scanning electron microscope and FT-IR. The results of long-term separation tests showed the selectivity of 15 and permeance of 1.3 GPU. The membranes was compared with poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) $(POZ)/AgBF_4/Al(NO_3)_3$ membranes and the characteristics were confirmed as polymer matrix for facilitated transport membranes.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1965-1968
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• 2008

The effects of carbon-coated silicon/graphite (Si/Gr.) composite anode on the electrochemical properties were investigated. The nanosized silicon particle shows a good cycling performance with a reasonable value of the first reversible capacity as compared with microsized silicon particle. The carbon-coated silicon/graphite composite powders have been prepared by pyrolysis method under argon/10 wt% propylene gas flow at $700{^{\circ}C}$ for 7 h. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis indicates that the carbon layer thickness of 5 nm was coated uniformly onto the surface silicon powder. It is confirmed that the insertion of lithium ions change the crystalline silicon phase into the amorphous phase by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The carbon-coated composite silicon/graphite anode shows excellent cycling performance with a reversible value of 700 mAh/g. The superior electrochemical characteristics are attributed to the enhanced electronic conductivity and low volume change of silicon powder during cycling by carbon coating.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.605-608
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• 2008

The preparation and characteristics of flexible indium tin oxide electrodes grown on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates using a specially designed roll-to-roll sputtering system for use in flexible optoelectronics In spite of low a PET substrate temperature, we can obtain the flexible electrode with a sheet resistance of 47.4 ohm/square and an average optical transmittance of 83.46 % in the green region of 500~550 nm wavelength. Both x-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) analysis results showed that all flexible ITO electrodes grown on the PET substrate were an amorphous structure with a very smooth and featureless surface, regardless of the Ar/$O_2$ flow ratio due to the low substrate temperature, which is maintained by a cooling drum. In addition, the flexible ITO electrode grown on the Ar ion beam treated PET substrates showed more stable mechanical properties than the flexible ITO electrode grown on the wet cleaned PET substrate, due to an increased adhesion between the flexible ITO and the PET substrates.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.331-339
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• 2017

Porous alumina-based ceramics are of special interest due to their outstanding mechanical properties and their thermal and chemical stability. Nevertheless, the high electrical resistance of alumina-based ceramics, due to the generation of static electricity, leads to difficulty in applying a vacuum chuck in the semi-conductor process. Therefore, development of alumina-based ceramics for applications with vacuum chucks aims to have primary properties of low electrical resistance and high air permeability. In this study, we tailored the electrical resistance of porous alumina-based ceramics by adjusting the amount of $MnO_2$ (with $TiO_2$ fixed at an amount of 2 wt%) and by using coarse alumina powder for high air permeability. The characteristics of the specimens were studied using scanning electron microscopy, mercury porosimeter, capillary flow porosimetry, universal testing machine, X-ray diffraction and high-resistance meter.

• Proceedings of the Korea Association of Crystal Growth Conference
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• 1999.06a
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• pp.271-284
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• 1999

As a semiconductor material for electronic devices operated under extreme environmental conditions, silicon carbides (SiCs) have been intensively studied because of their excellent electrical, thermal and other physical properties. The growth characteristics of single-crystalline 4H-SiC homoepitaxial layers grown by a thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) were investigated. Especially, the successful growth condition of 4H-SiC homoepitaxial layers using a SiC-uncoated graphite susceptor that utilized Mo-plates was obtained. The CVD growth was performed in an RF-induction heated atmospheric pressure chamber and carried out using off-oriented substrates prepared by a modified Lely method. In order to investigate the crystallinity of grown epilayers, Nomarski optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence(PL), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and other techniques were utilized. The best quality of 4H-SiC homoepitaxial layers was observed in conditions of growth temperature 1500$^{\circ}C$ and C/Si flow ratio 2.0 of C3H3 0.2sccm & SiH4 0.3sccm. The growth rate of epilayers was about 1.0$\mu\textrm{m}$/h in the above growth condition.