• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.2973-2977
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• 2013

In this study, we developed a liquid crystal (LC)-based optical sensor for monitoring enzymatic activity through orientational changes in liquid crystals (LCs) coupled to the properties of a poly-${\small{L}}$-lysine (PLL)-based polymeric membrane. We prepared a PLL-based polymeric membrane at the planar interface between the thermotropic liquid crystal and aqueous phases. The PLL-based polymeric membrane was obtained by contacting the PLL solution with water immiscible LCs, 4-cyano-4'-pentyl-biphenyl (5CB) doped with adipoyl chloride. We then investigated the membrane properties by examining the permeability of the membrane to phospholipids, 1,2-didodecanoyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DLPC). The permeability of the membrane to transport phospholipids was monitored through the orientational transition of 5CB in contact with the dispersions of DLPC. Since trypsin can enzymatically catalyze the hydrolysis of PLL, we incubated an aqueous trypsin solution with the membrane for 2 h at room temperature to cause an increase in the permeability of the polymeric membrane to DLPC. As a result, a bright to dark optical shift of LCs was observed, which implied that an enzymatic reaction between trypsin and PLL-based membrane occurred. Two control experiments using chymotrypsin and bovine serum albumin (BSA) revealed no sign of improved permeability based on the orientational transition of LCs.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.30-35
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• 1988

Liquid crystals have some tribologically favorable lameliar structure. The Performance of ther mottopic liquid crystal was investigated under elastohydrodynamic condition in terms of traction and film thickness. It exhibited low traction and very thin film thickness, which were almost constant over the entire speed range measured. It was also found to have sealing effect like grease. This work has shown that there exists "potential" for using liquid crystals as lubricants.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.297-297
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• 2006

Recently columnar liquid crystals have been studied due to their possible application to organic conducting materials. Supramolecular columnar liquid crystals consist of mesogenic unit which can aggregate into discs that will make up the columns which associate to form a two-dimensional network. In this study, we prepared supramolecular columnar liquid crystals containing hydrogen bonding between carboxylic acid and, pyridine moieties. Thermal and structural properties of prepared complexe were investigated, and it exhibited hexagonal columnar structure ($Col_{h}$) at room temperature.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.1223-1227
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• 2010

In this study, the orientational behavior of thermotropic liquid crystals (LC) supported on a film of protein receptors was examined. Avidin was roller printed and covalently immobilized onto the surface of gold using NHS/EDC chemistry. The orientation of nematic 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) was found to be parallel to the plane of the printed avidin surface before incubation with a solution of biotin. However, protein-receptor complexation induced a random orientation of 5CB, where protein-receptor complexes disturbed the nanoscale topography of the printed protein surface. Atomic force microscopy and ellipsometry was used to confirm printing and the specific interaction of proteins. These results demonstrate that the combination of LC and roller printing can be used to detect specific interactions between biomolecules by manipulating the orientational behavior of LC to the printed protein surfaces.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.3269-3273
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• 2012

In this study, we report a new method for the high contrast imaging of biomolecular interactions at roller printed protein surfaces using thermotropic liquid crystals (LCs). Avidin was roller printed and covalently immobilized onto the obliquely deposited gold surface that was decorated with carboxylic acid-terminated self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). The optical response of LCs on the roller printed film of avidin contrasted sharply with that on the obliquely deposited gold surface. The binding of biotin-peroxidase to the roller printed avidin was then investigated on the obliquely deposited gold substrate. LCs exhibited a non-uniform and random orientation on the roller printed area decorated with the complex of avidin and biotin-peroxidase, while LCs displayed a uniform and planar orientation on the area without roller printed proteins. The orientational transition of LCs from uniform to non-uniform state was triggered by the erasion of nanometer-scale topographies on the roller printed surface after the binding of biotin-peroxidase to the surface-immobilized avidin. The specific binding events of protein-receptor interactions were also confirmed by atomic force microscopy and ellipsometry. These results demonstrate that the roller printing of proteins on obliquely deposited gold substrates could provide a high contrast signal for imaging biomolecular interactions using LC-based sensors.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.263-268
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• 2006

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.310-316
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• 2000

Molecular dynamics simulation studies for thermotropic liquid crystalline systems conposed of rodlike molecules with 6 Lennard-Jones interaction sites wre performed in NPT ensemble. Within the range of temperature studied, the system exhibited isotropic and smectic phase. For the characterization of the smectic phase, we examined the structure of the liquid crystalline phase via the radial distribution function, its longitudinal and transverse components to the director, and other orientational correlation function, its longitudinal and transverse components to the director, and other orientational correlation functions. In the smectic A phase, our results showed a large anisotropy in translational motion (i.e.,$D_⊥ >> D_∥$), and the decay of the collective orientational correlation function of rank two became slower than that of the single particle orientational correlation function of rank one. Comments on the spontaneous growth of orientational order directly from the isotropic phase are given.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.305-309
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• 2020

In this study, a series of ionic liquids based electrolytes for lithium batteries were prepared by mixing the anion functionalized ionic liquid, [DMIm][MPEGP] (1,3-dimethylimidazolium (2-methoxy(2-ethoxy(2-ethoxy)))-ethylphosphite), with the lithium salt, LiTf₂N (lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide), and the concentration of lithium salt was varied between 0 and 3.0 molar ratio. We observed the ionic mixtures became opaque and spontaneously aggregated to form a thermotropic ionic liquid crystal. Extensive spectroscopic examinations of the ionic liquid crystals were carried out to investigate their self-organized structures and the ion transport behavior depending on the concentration of lithium salt. An increase in the ionic conductivity was observed for the ionic liquid crystals related to the ability to form ion diffusion pathways along the ordered structures, resulting in improved electrochemical performances of lithium batteries.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.583-587
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• 2008

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.155-159
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• 2007

A series of new dimesogenic compounds having two identical, terminal Schiff base type mesogens and a central tetramethylene spacer were synthesized. Their thermotropic and mesomorphic properties of the compounds were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and polarizing microscopy. The compounds with X= -F, -Cl, -Br, -CN and $-OCH_3$ were enantiotropically nematic liquid crystal. In contrast, the compounds with X= -I and $-CF_3$ were non-liquid crystal. The nematic forming efficiency of the groups was in the order of -CN > $-OCH_3$ > -Br > -Cl > -F.