• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2014

Ceria ($CeO_2$) was used to scavenge free radicals which attack the membrane in the polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) circumstance and to increase the duration of the membrane. In order to improve the electrochemical, mechanical and electrocatalytic characteristics, engineering plastic of the sulfonated polyether ether ketone (SPEEK) as polymer matrix was prepared in the sulfonation reaction of polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and the organic-inorganic blended composite membranes were prepared by sol-gel casting method with loading the highly dispersed ceria and cesium-substituted phophomolybdic acid(Cs-MoPA) with cross-linking agent contents of 0.01mL. In conclusion, CL-SPEEK/$Cs_{(2.5)}$-MoPA/ceria(1%) membrane showed the optimum results such as 0.1095S/cm of proton conductivity at $80^{\circ}C$, 2.906meq./g-dry-membrane of ion exchange capacity and mechanical characteristics, and 49.73MPa of tensile strength which were better than Nafion 117 membrane.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.276-281
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• 2015

Nanostructured $TiO_2-SiO_2$ materials have widely been used as anti-reflecting coating, optical-chemical sensors and catalysts because of their superior optical and thermal properties as well as chemical durability. Web type $SiO_2$ microfibers with nano-crystalline $TiO_2$ were prepared by electrospinning of Ti-PCS mixed solution and oxidation controlled heat-treatment, rather simple than sol-gel process. Nano-crystalline anatase phase were formed for the heat-treatment up to $1200^{\circ}C$ and they were finely dispersed in the amorphous $SiO_2$ matrix.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.437-447
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• 2012

Ceria ($CeO_2$) was used to scavenge free radicals which attack the membrane in the polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) circumstance and to increase the duration of the membrane. In order to improve the electrochemical, mechanical and electrocatalytic characteristics, engineering plastic of the sulfonated polyether ether ketone (SPEEK) as polymer matrix was prepared in the sulfonation reaction of polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and the organic-inorganic blended composite membranes were prepared by sol-gel casting method with loading the highly dispersed ceria and cesium-substituted tungstophosphoric acid (Cs-TPA) with cross-linking agent contents of 0.01 mL. In conclusion, CL-SPEEK/Cs-TPA/ceria (1%) membrane showed the optimum results such as 0.130 S/cm of proton conductivity at $80^{\circ}C$, 2.324 meq./g-dry-membrane of ion exchange capacity and mechanical characteristics, and 65.03 MPa of tensile strength which were better than Nafion 117 membrane.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.343-348
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• 2007

Alumina/silver nanocomposites were fabricated using a soaking method through a sol-gel route to construct an intra-type nanostructure. The pulse electric-current sintering (PECS) technique was used to sinter the nanocomposites. Several specimens were annealed after sintering. The microstructure, mechanical properties, critical frontal process zone (FPZ) size, and thermo-mechanical properties of the nanocomposites were estimated. The relative densities of the specimens sintered at 1350 and $1450^{\circ}C$ were 95% and 99%, respectively. The maximum value of the three-point bending strength was found to be 780 MPa for the $2{\times}2{\times}10 mm$ specimen sintered at $1350^{\circ}C$. The fracture toughness of the specimen sintered at $1350^{\circ}C$ was measured to be $3.60 MPa{\cdot}m^{1/2}$ using the single-edge V-notched beam (SEVNB) technique. The fracture mode of the nanocomposites was transgranular, in contrast to the intergranular mode of monolithic alumina. The fracture morphology suggested that dislocations were generated around the silver nanoparticles dispersed within the alumina matrix. The specimens sintered at $1350^{\circ}C$ were annealed at $800^{\circ}C$ for 5 min, following which the maximum fracture strength became 810 MPa and the fracture toughness improved to $4.21 MPam^{1/2}$. The critical FPZ size was the largest for the specimen annealed at $800^{\circ}C$ for 5 min. Thermal conductivity of the alumina/silver nanocomposites sintered at $1350^{\circ}C$ was 38 W/mK at room temperature, which was higher than the value obtained with the law of mixture.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.37-37
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• 2010

Silicate-silsesquioxane or siloxane-silsesquioxane hybrid thin films are strong candidates as matrix materials for ultra low dielectric constant (low-k) thin films. We synthesized the silicate-silsesquioxane hybrid resins from tetraethoxyorthosilicate (TEOS) and methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) through hydrolysis and condensation polymerization by changing their molar ratios ([TEOS]:[MTMS] = 7:3, 5:5, and 3:7), spin-coating on Si(100) wafers. In the case of [TEOS]:[MTMS] 7:3, the dielectric permittivity value of the resultant thin film was measured at 4.30, exceeding that of the thermal oxide (3.9). This high value was thought to be due to Si-OH groups inside the film and more extensive studies were performed in terms of electronic, ionic, and orientational polarizations using Debye equation. The relationship between the mechanical properties and the synthetic conditions of the silicate-silsesquioxane precursors was also investigated. The synthetic conditions of the low-k films have to be chosen to meet both the low orientational polarization and high mechanical properties requirements. In addition, we have investigated a new solution-based approach to the synthesis of semiconducting chalcogenide films for use in thin-film transistor (TFT) devices, in an attempt to develop a simple and robust solution process for the synthesis of inorganic semiconductors. Our material design strategy is to use a sol-gel reaction to carry out the deposition of a spin-coated CdS film, which can then be converted to a xerogel material. These devices were found to exhibit n-channel TFT characteristics with an excellent field-effect mobility (a saturation mobility of ${\sim}\;48\;cm^2V^{-1}s^{-1}$) and low voltage operation (< 5 V). These results show that these semiconducting thin film materials can be used in low-cost and high-performance printable electronics.

• Biomaterials Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.235-248
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• 2018

Background: Injectable hydrogels have been extensively researched for the use as scaffolds or as carriers of therapeutic agents such as drugs, cells, proteins, and bioactive molecules in the treatment of diseases and cancers and the repair and regeneration of tissues. It is because they have the injectability with minimal invasiveness and usability for irregularly shaped sites, in addition to typical advantages of conventional hydrogels such as biocompatibility, permeability to oxygen and nutrient, properties similar to the characteristics of the native extracellular matrix, and porous structure allowing therapeutic agents to be loaded. Main body: In this article, recent studies of injectable hydrogel systems applicable for therapeutic agent delivery, disease/cancer therapy, and tissue engineering have reviewed in terms of the various factors physically and chemically contributing to sol-gel transition via which gels have been formed. The various factors are as follows: several different non-covalent interactions resulting in physical crosslinking (the electrostatic interactions (e.g., the ionic and hydrogen bonds), hydrophobic interactions, ${\pi}$-interactions, and van der Waals forces), in-situ chemical reactions inducing chemical crosslinking (the Diels Alder click reactions, Michael reactions, Schiff base reactions, or enzyme-or photo-mediated reactions), and external stimuli (temperatures, pHs, lights, electric/magnetic fields, ultrasounds, or biomolecular species (e.g., enzyme)). Finally, their applications with accompanying therapeutic agents and notable properties used were reviewed as well. Conclusion: Injectable hydrogels, of which network morphology and properties could be tuned, have shown to control the load and release of therapeutic agents, consequently producing significant therapeutic efficacy. Accordingly, they are believed to be successful and promising biomaterials as scaffolds and carriers of therapeutic agents for disease and cancer therapy and tissue engineering.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.360-365
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• 2006

The objectives of this study were to develop nano-pore silica particles and to modify its surface for use as an enzyme immobilization matrix. Sol-gel reaction was used to produce silica particles of various nano pore sizes with hydroxyl groups on their surfaces. The surface was modified with aldehyde that was confirmed by fluorescence imaging. Trypsin was covalently immobilized by reductive amination. Surface density of the immobilized trypsin was ca. $350{\mu}g/m^2$, which was approximately 17- and 35-fold higher than those from the surfaces with hydroxyl and amine group, respectively. About 90% of the initial enzyme activity was maintained after the 12th use of repeated use. When compared with the commercial matrices, the nano-pore silica particle was superior in terms of immobilization yield and specific activity. This study suggests the nano porous silica particles can be used as enzyme immobilization matrix for industrial applications.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.265-270
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• 2003

In spite of high ionic conductivity, the polymer gels have poor mechanical properties and high reactivity with lithium metal anode. To solve these problems, the dry solid systems and polymer composites have been intensively studied, due to their good mechanical, thermal, chemical, and electrochemical stability. The objectives of this experiment were to improve ionic conductivity and mechanical properties of the solid polymer electrolytes based on PEO-LiClO$_4$. To obtain higher ionic conductivity and better mechanical properties, ceramic or rubber phase was added in the PEO-LiClO$_4$(8:1) matrix. The results showed that ionic conductivity and mechanical properties were improved. The ionic conductivity of the samples was as high as 10$\^$-5/ S cm$\^$-1/. This value is similar to the best ionic conductivity ever reported in the solid drying system. To obtain better results, we used PEO with various molecular weights (600∼8000) and changed the salt contents. By using DSC, we found that the addition of salt reduced the crystallinity of PEO. The mobility of polymer dependence on salt contents was examined by FT-IR.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.189-192
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• 2016

$^{68}Ga$ has emerged as a promising candidate for non-invasive diagnostic imaging within Positron Emission Tomography (PET) because of its advantageous radiochemical characteristics ($t_{1/2}=68min$, ${\beta}^+$ yield ~89%). $^{68}Ga$ forms a stable chelation with various ligands and it is possible to be quickly and easily study using a $^{68}Ge/^{68}Ga$ generator. Commercial $^{68}Ge/^{68}Ga$ generators are chromatographic system using the inorganic materials such as alumina and tin dioxide which are employed as column matrixes for $^{68}Ge$. In this study, we tried out to make $^{68}Ge/^{68}Ga$ generator system with the $^{68}GeO_2$ microstructures for column matrix. $^{68}Ge$ tends to have stable bond with oxide as $^{68}GeO_2$ microstructures. The $^{68}GeO_2$ has been synthesized by hydrolysis of $GeCl_4$ (sol-gel method) and characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope for geometrical analysis. The stability of $GeO_2$ was tested using eluents with diverse solvents(water, ethanol and 0.1 N HCl). The radioactivity of $^{68}Ga^{3+}$ in eluate through $GeO_2$ was measured to prove a function as column material for a generator.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.569-574
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• 2014

We developed and evaluated a fluorescence-based optical DO sensor (OS-100, Global Optical Communication Ltd., Korea) for long-term monitoring of the dissolved oxygen concentration in waste water treatment. Fluorescent sensing membrane containing $Ru(Dpp)_3{^{2+}}$ (tris(4,7diphenyl-1, 10-phenanthroline) ruthenium(II)) was prepared with GA sol-gel matrix and coated on a quartz plate by sprayed method. Properties of sensor film exhibit deviation about ${\pm}1%$ under wide range of DO concentration from 3 to 10. The developed optical DO sensor was actually mounted in waste water from dyeing industry and successfully applied for on-line DO monitoring. Online monitoring results showed the changes of DO concentrations in wastewater treatment processes with accuracy better than ${\pm}2%$ during the 6 months measurements period in vicious environmental conditions.