• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.37-42
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• 2016

$CeO_2$ nanoparticles were prepared by a flame spray pyrolysis from aqueous solution of cerium nitrate. The morphology, structure crystallinity and specific surface area of as-prepared nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Brunauer-Emmett-Telle (BET). The $CeO_2$ nanoparticles about 5 nm in diameter showed a cubic fluorite structure and polyhedral morphology. The average particle size increased as the cerium nitrate concentration increased. UV absorption performance of the as-prepared nanoparticles was measured by UV-visible spectroscopy. UV absorption of $CeO_2$ nanoparticles was more effective than that of commercial $TiO_2$ nanoparticles. Effect of dopants such as Ti and Zn to $CeO_2$ nanoparticles on UV absorption properties was also investigated. In case of $Ti/CeO_2$, and $Zn/CeO_2$ nanoparticles, they showed a little higher UV absorption values compared with $CeO_2$ nanoparticles. The as-prepared nanoparticles can be promising materials with high UV absorption value.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.849-862
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• 2017

With growing interests in using bacterial biopolymers in geotechnical practices, identifying mechanical properties of soft gel-like biopolymers is important in predicting their efficacy in soil modification and treatment. As one of the promising candidates, dextran was found to be produced by Leuconostoc mesenteroides. The model bacteria utilize sucrose as working material and synthesize both soluble and insoluble dextran which forms a complex and inhomogeneous polymer network. However, the traditional rheometer has a limitation to capture in situ properties of inherently porous and inhomogeneous biopolymers. Therefore, we used the particle tracking microrheology to characterize the material properties of the dextran polymer. TEM images revealed a range of pore size mostly less than $20{\mu}m$, showing large pores > $2{\mu}m$ and small pores within the solid matrix whose sizes are less than $1{\mu}m$. Microrheology data showed two distinct regimes in the bacterial dextran, purely viscous pore region of soluble dextran and viscoelastic region of the solid part of insoluble dextran matrix. Diffusive beads represented the soluble dextran dissolved in an aqueous phase, of which viscosity was three times higher than the growth medium viscosity. The local properties of the insoluble dextran were extracted from the results of the minimally moving beads embedded in the dextran matrix or trapped in small pores. At high frequency (${\omega}>0.2Hz$), the insoluble dextran showed the elastic behavior with the storage modulus of ~0.1 Pa. As frequency decreased, the insoluble dextran matrix exhibited the viscoelastic behavior with the decreasing storage modulus in the range of ${\sim}0.1-10^{-3}Pa$ and the increasing loss modulus in the range of ${\sim}10^{-4}-1\;Pa$. The obtained results provide a compilation of frequency-dependent rheological or viscoelastic properties of soft gel-like porous biopolymers at the particular conditions where soil bacteria produce bacterial biopolymers in subsurface.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.236-241
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• 2015

Carbon-coated Ni, Cu and Sn nanocapsules were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and a four-point probe device. All of these nanocapsules were prepared by an arc-discharge method, in which the bulk metals were evaporated under methane ($CH_4$) atmosphere. Three pure metals (Ni, Cu, Sn) were typically diverse in formation of the carbon encapsulated nanoparticles and their different mechanisms were investigated. It was indicated that a thick carbon layers formed on the surface of Ni(C) nanocapsules, whereas a thin shell of carbon with 1~2 layers covered on Cu(C) nanocapsules, and the Sn(C) nanocapsules was, in fact, a longger multi-walled carbon nanotubes partially-filled with metal Sn. As one typical magnetic/dielectric nanocomposite particles, Ni(C) nanocapsules and its counterpart of oxide-coated Ni(O) nanocapsules were compared in the electrically conductive behaviors for further applications as the electromagnetic materials.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.380-385
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• 2016

Nanocelluloses, mainly cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC, i.e., defect-free, rod-like crystalline residues after acid hydrolysis of fibers), have been the subject of recent interest. Due to the presence of hydroxyl groups on the surface of nanocelluloses, their surfaces are reactive, making them suitable candidates for reinforcing materials for manufacturing polymer composites. In this study, CNF was used as a reinforcing material for manufacturing cement composites. CNF was prepared by TEMPO (2,2,6,6,-tetramethyl piperidine-1-oxyl radical) oxidation procedure combined with extensive homogenization and ultrasonication. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the suspension showed the width of CNF between 10 and 15 nm. The compressive strength of cement composites containing 0.5% CNF was comparable to that of conventional cement composites. On the other hand, the tensile and flexural strength were improved by 49.7% and 38.8%, respectively, compared to those of conventional cement composites. Also, at an ambient condition, the degree of self-shrinkage reduction reached to 18.9% in one day, followed by 5.9% in 28 days after molding.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.325-331
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• 2009

The synthesis and the characterization of crosslinked ABC triblock copolymer, i.e. polystyrene-b-poly (hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(styrene sulfonic acid), (PS-b-PHEMA-b-PSSA) is reported. PS-b-PHEMA-b-PSSA triblock copolymer at 20:10:70 wt% was sequentially synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The middle block was crosslinked by sulfosuccinic acid (SA) via the esterification reaction between -OH of PHEMA and -COOH of SA, as demonstrated by FTIR spectroscopy. As increasing amounts of SA, ion exchange capacity (IEC) continuously increased from 2.13 to 2.82 meq/g but water uptake decreased from 181.8 to 82.7%, resulting from the competitive effect between crosslinked structure and the increasing concentration of sulfonic acid group. A maximum proton conductivity of crosslinked triblock copolymer membrane at room temperature reached up to 0.198 S/cm at 3.8 w% of SA, which was more than two-fold higher than that of Nafion 117(0.08 S/cm). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis clearly showed that the PS-b-PHEMA-b-PSSA triblock copolymer is microphase-separated with a nanometer range and well developed to provide the connectivity of ionic PSSA domains. The membranes exhibited the good thermal properties up to $250^{\circ}C$ presumably resulting from the microphase-separated and crosslinked structure of the membranes, as revealed by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA).

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.30-40
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• 2008

The objectives of this study was to check up the effect of celecoxib, COX-2 inhibitor, on the pathogenesis of oral squamous cell carcinoma. After mefenamic acid, aspirin and celecoxib, COX-2 inhibitor, were inoculated to HN 22 cell line, the following results were obtained through tumor cell viability by wortmannin, growth curve of tumor cell line, apoptotic index, PGE2 synthesis, total RNA extraction, RT-PCR analysis and TEM features. 1. When wortmannin and celecoxib were given together, the survival rate of tumor cells was lowest about 47 %. So wortmannin had an effect on the decrease of survival rate of tumor cells. 2. In growth curve, the slowest growth was observed in celecoxib inoculated group. 3. The synthesis of PGE2 was decreased in all group and the obvious suppression and highest apoptotic index was observed in celecoxib inoculated group. 4. Suppression of expression of COX-2 mRNA was evident in celecoxib inoculated group. But that of COX-1,2 mRNA was observed in mefenamic acid inoculated group and aspirin inoculated group. 5. In celecoxib inoculated group, mRNA expression of AKT1 was decreased and that of PTEN & expression of caspase 3 and 9 was evidently increased. Depending on above results, when celecoxib was inoculated to oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line, an increase of mRNA expression of caspase 3,9 and PTEN is related to a decrease of mRNA expression of AKT1. Wortmannin had an effect on the decrease of survival rate of tumor cells. Celecoxib might induce apoptosis of tumor cell by suppression of AKT1 pathway and COX-2 inhibition. This results suggested that COX-2 inhibitor might be significantly effective in chemoprevention of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

• Carbon letters
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• v.26
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• pp.81-87
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• 2018

Morphological differences in multi-layered graphene flakes or graphene nanoplatelets prepared by oxidative (rGO-NP, reduced graphene oxide-nanoplatelets) and non-oxidative (GIC-NP, graphite intercalation compound-nanoplatelets) routes were investigated with various analytical methods. Both types of NPs have similar specific surface areas but very different structural differences. Therefore, this study proposes an effective and simple method to identify structural differences in graphene-like allotropes. The adsorptive potential peaks of rGO-NP attained by the density functional theory method were found to be more scattered over the basal and non-basal regions than those of GIC-NP. Raman spectra and high resolution TEM images showed more distinctive crystallographic defects in the rGO-NP than in the GIC-NP. Because the R-ratio values of the edge and basal plane of the sample were maintained and relatively similar in the rGO-NP (0.944 for edge & 1.026 for basal), the discrepancy between those values in the GIC-NP were found to be much greater (0.918 for edge & 0.164 for basal). The electrical conductivity results showed a remarkable gap between the rGO-NP and GIC-NP attributed to their inherent morphological and crystallographic properties.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.225-228
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• 2002

Amorphous $Ga_2O_3$ films have been grown on Si(100) substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) using gallium isopropoxide, $Ga(O^iPr)_3$, as single precursor. Deposition was carried out in the substrate temperature range 400-800 $^{\circ}C$. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis revealed deposition of stoichiometric $Ga_2O_3$ thin films at 500-600 $^{\circ}C$. XPS depth profiling by $Ar^+$ ion sputtering indicated that carbon contamination exists mostly in the surface region with less than 3.5% content in the film. Microscopic images of the films by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed formation of grains of approximately 20-40 nm in size on the film surfaces. The root-mean-square surface roughness from an AFM image was ${\sim}10{\AA}$. The interfacial layer of the $Ga_2O_3$/Si was measured to be ${\sim}35{\AA}$ thick by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM). From the analysis of gaseous products of the CVD reaction by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), an effort was made to explain the CVD mechanism.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.315-328
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• 1998

The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of ultrasonic bath in tissue preparation for transmission electron microscopy. The method used standard reagents and media, and employed ultrasonic bath agitation to accelerate fluid exchange. The liver kidney, stomach and cardiac muscle tissues of male Sprague-Dawley rats were used for the experiment, and the experimental design was divided into 4 groups; The control group using rotators (Traditional method, 1,625 mins) and the three experimental groups using ultrasonic bath (UB) in the primary fixation through the infiltration processes (UB I; 62.5 mins, UB II; 125 mins, UB III; 250 mins). The results were as follows; 1. In the control group, tissues were easily sectioned, and showed well preserved intact membranes, and cell organelles such as mitochondria, lysosome, peroxisome, rough endoplasmic reticulum and smooth endoplasmic reticulum. 2. In the UB treated group I, tissues showed holes due to the inadequate removal of both water and fluids used in the dehydration process. Also the mitochondria of cell organelles, especially, showed swollen intracristal spaces and dense matrices due to poor fixation. 3. In the UB treated group II, tissues showed good preservation of cell organelles and specimen slice sections. Also, no holes were observed. 4. In the UB treated group III, tissues showed leaching of structural components in the cytoplasm, but no holes were observed. In conclusion, the ultrasonic bath procedure takes approximately 120 minutes from specimen fixation to resin infiltration and gives excellent results.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.187-193
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• 2003

When electron microscope images and selected area diffraction patterns of crystalline materials are being compared, it is important to know for the rotation of the diffraction pattern with respect to the image caused by the magnetic lens in the Electron Microscope. A well-known method to determine this rotation is to use a test crystal of $MoO_3$. But this method of determination of the rotation angle contains an uncertainty of $180^{\circ}$. Thus one has to devise another way to eliminate this uncertainty. In this paper we present a new and simple method of determining this rotation without any complexity. The method involves a process of obtaining LACBED patterns of crystalline materials. For the J2010 electron microscope, the rotation is determined to be $180^{\circ}$ and this angle remains unchanged for changing of the magnification and the camera length.