• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.769-779
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• 2020

This study investigates the selective fractionation of lignin with uniform structures and lower molecular weight. Lignin solubilization was first performed using a solution of acetic acid (AA) and hydrogen peroxide (HP) (4:1, (v/v)) to form peracetic acid (PAA), which is a strong oxidant. After the PAA-induced solubilization that occurred at 80℃, totally soluble lignin was extracted by ethyl acetate (EA) and divided into organic- and water-soluble fractions. The EA fraction was then fractionated by open-column using three solutions (chloroform-ethyl acetate, methanol, and water) sequentially. With an increase in the solvent polarity during the fractionation step, the molecular weight of the lignin-derived compounds in the fraction increased. Remarkably, some lignin fractions did not have aromatic structures. These fractions were identified as carboxylic acid-containing polymers like poly-carboxylates. These results conclude that the selective production of lignin-derived polymers with specific molecular weight and structural characteristics could be possible through open-column fractionation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.379-379
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• 2010

Recent technical advances in OLEDs (organic light emitting devices) requires more and more the improvement in low operation voltage, long lifetime, and high luminance efficiency. Inverted top emission OLEDs (ITOLED) appeared to overcome these problems. This evolved to operate better luminance efficiency from conventional OLEDs. First, it has large open area so to be brighter than conventional OLEDs. Also easy integration is possible with Si-based driving circuits for active matrix OLED. But, a proper buffer layer for carrier injection is needed in order to get a good performance. The buffer layer protects underlying organic materials against destructive particles during the electrode deposition and improves their charge transport efficiency by reducing the charge injection barrier. Hexaazatriphenylene-hexacarbonitrile (HAT-CN), a discoid organic molecule, has been used successfully in tandem OLEDs due to its high workfunction more than 6.1 eV. And it has the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level near to Fermi level. So it plays like a strong electron acceptor. In this experiment, we measured energy level alignment and hole current density on inverted OLED structures for hole injection. The normal film structure of Al/NPB/ITO showed bad characteristics while the HAT-CN insertion between Al and NPB greatly improved hole current density. The behavior can be explained by charge generation at the HAT-CN/NPB interface and gap state formation at Al/HAT-CN interface, respectively. This result indicates that a proper organic buffer layer can be successfully utilized to enhance hole injection efficiency even with low work function Al anode.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.195-206
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• 1996

Molecular conformations of stereoregular poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) monolayers have been investigated by scanning probe microscopes. Isotactic and syndiotactic PMMAs were found to have right and left hand helical structures, respectively. On the contrary atactic PMMA showed rather random arrangement of the chains. It has been demonstrated that the PMMA Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films can be utilized to form nanoscale patterns down to 50 nm and to forma geodesic lens. It has also been manifested that the quantum efficiency of a polymer electroluminescent device can be significantly enhanced by inserting the PMMA LB films between the emitting layer and the cathode. All the applications utilize the unique characteristics of the LB films to form thin and uniform films in the molecular level.

• Multiscale and Multiphysics Mechanics
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.327-340
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• 2016

Poly(${\epsilon}$-caprolactone) (PCL) diol, with good biodegradation and biocompatibility, is one of the widely used soft segments (SSs) in composing bio-polyester-urethanes (Bio-PUs), which show great potential in both biomedical and tissue engineering applications. Properties of Bio-PUs are tunable by combining SS monomers with different molecular weights, structures, modifications, and ratio of components. Although numbers of research have reported many Bio-PUs properties, few studies have been done at the molecular scale. In this study, we use molecular dynamic (MD) simulation to construct atomistic models for two commonly used PCL diol SSs with different molecular weights 1247.58 Da and 1932.42 Da. We compare the simulation results by using two widely used classical force fields for organic molecules: Consistent Valence Force Field (CVFF) and CHARMM General Force Field (CGenFF), and discuss the validity and accuracy. Melt density, volume, polymer conformations, transition temperature, and mechanical properties of PCL diols are calculated and compared with experiments. Our results show that both force fields provide accurate predictions on the properties of PCL diol system at the molecular scale and could help the design of future Bio-PUs.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.2241-2247
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• 2007

A new series of chiral bent-shaped liquid crystals with an asymmetric central core based on 1,6- dihydroxynaphthalene and chiral terminal chain prepared from (S)-(?)-2-methyl-1-butanol, 1,6-naphthalene bis[4-(4-alkoxyphenyliminomethyl)]benzoates [N(1,6)-n-O-PIMB(n-2)*-(n-4)O (n = 8-11)] were synthesized. Their mesomorphic properties and phase structures were investigated by means of electro-optical, polarization reversal current, and second harmonic generation measurements in order to confirm the relationship between the molecular structure and phase structure. All odd n (n = 9 and 11) compounds, N(1,6)-9-O-PIMB7*-5O and N(1,6)-11-O-PIMB9*-7O exhibit antiferroelectric phase, whereas even n (n = 8 and 10) compounds was flexible, N(1,6)-10-O-PIMB8*-6O exhibits the ferroelectric phase but N(1,6)-8-O-PIMB6*-4O exhibits the antiferroelectric phase. These results come from the decrease of the closed packing efficiency within a layer and the lack of uniform interlayer interaction between adjacent layers, which were caused by the asymmetrical naphthalene central core. Thus, we concluded that the structure of central core as well as the terminal chain plays an important role for the emergence of particular polar ordering in phase structures.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 1998.11a
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• pp.133-136
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• 1998

The scanning Maxwell-stress microscopy (SMM) is a dynamic noncontact electric force microscopy that allows simultaneous access to the electrical properties of molecular system such as surface potential, surface charge, dielectric constant and conductivity along with the topography. Here we report our recent results of its application to nanoscopic study of domain structures and electrical functionality in organic thin films prepared by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.294-300
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• 2006

We fabricated the distributed feedback (DFB) InP/InGaAs/InP grating structures on InP (100) substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, and their structural properties were investigated by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Self-assembled InAs/InAlGaAs quantum dots (QDs) were grown on the InP/InGaAs/InP grating structures by molecular beam epitaxy, and their optical properties were compared with InAs/InAlGaAs QDs without grating structure. The duty of the grating structures was about 30%. The PL peak position of InAs/InAlGaAs QDs grown on the grating structure was 1605 nm, which was red-shifted by 18 nm from that of the InAs/InAlGaAs QDs without grating structure. This indicates that the formation of InAs/InAlGaAs QDs was affected by the existence of the DFB grating structures.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.316-323
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• 2003

Zinc complexes with bis[2-(o-hydroxyphenyl) naphtol [1,2] oxazolato ligands (ZnPBO-4) and its derivatives (ZnPBO-S) were synthesized, and luminescent properties of these materials were investigated. Both the fluorescent emission band and electroluminescent emission band were discussed based on their ligand structure differences. The emission band found that it strongly depends on the molecular structure of introduced ligand. It was tuned from 446 nm to 491 nm by changing the ligand structures. Spreading of the ${\pi}$-conjugation in 2-(o-hydroxyphenyl) group gives rise to a blue shift. The EL properties also showed good consistency with their differences of ligand structure. Bright-blue EL emission with a maximum luminance of 3,100 $cd/m^2$ at 12V, current density, 575 $mA/m^2$ was obtained from the organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) using ZnPBO-4 as emitting layer. It was also found that the newly synthesized materials were suitable to be used as emitting materials in organic EL device.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.143-151
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• 2024

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have shown great potential as a new generation of energy harvesters because they possess many unique properties, including mechanical flexibility, lightweight, semi-transparency, and low-fabrication costs. Recent advancements in molecular structure and device engineering have led to achieving power conversion efficiency (PCE) exceeding 19%. However, these highly efficient active layer materials have been hampered in their commercialization by complex synthesis steps that result in high manufacturing costs. To address this issue, research is actively underway on low-cost active layer materials with simple structures. This paper introduces such cost-effective active layer materials and strategies for their synthesis.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.185-196
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• 2001

The self-assembly of block copolymers can lead to a variety of ordered structures on a nanometer scale. In this article, the self-assembling behaviors of triblock copolymers in the melt and the selective solvent are described with the results obtained from the computer simulations. With the advances of computing power, computer simulations using molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo techniques make it possible to study very complicated phenomena observed in the self-assembly of triblock copolymer. 13king full advantage of the computer simulation based on well-defined model, the effects of various structural and thermodynamic parameters such as the copolymer composition, the block sequence, the pairwise interaction energies, and temperature on the self-assembly are discussed in some detail. Some simulation results are compared with experimental ones End analyzed by comparing them with the theoretical treatment.