• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.54-61
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• 2012

In this study, the adsorption of $Cu^{2+}$ from aqueous solution by the biochar derived from woody biomass at different pyrolysis temperatures has been investigated. The woody biomass wastes used in this study were branch of willow ($Salix$ $koreensis$ $Andersson$) and bark of chestnut ($Castanea$ $crenata$ $var.$ $dulcis$). Three biochar samples prepared by heating each biomass at temperature of $300^{\circ}C$, $500^{\circ}C$, and $700^{\circ}C$were tested for the adsorption capacity of Cu. Also the physicochemical properties of the developed biochars were studied using different characterization techniques such as FT-IR, SEM, BET surface area, and cation exchange capacity (CEC). The adsorption of Cu could be well described by Langmuir model for both willow and chestnut biochars with $R^2{\geq}0.98$. The maximum adsorption capacities of the biochar produced at $700^{\circ}C$ from the Langmuir equation were found to be 12.5 mg $g^{-1}$ and 16.9 mg $g^{-1}$ for willow and chestnut, respectively. Chestnut biochar was found to interact more effectively with the active sites available for Cu, resulting higher removal of Cu(II) than wiloow biochar. Ion exchange and surface complexation found to be the main mechanisms involved in the adsorption process. This study demonstrated the feasibility of the biochars derived from woody biomass to be as a low-cost potential adsorbent for heavy metals as Cu(II) removal in aquatic system.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.75-82
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• 2018

Forward osmosis (FO) desalination system has been highlighted to improve the energy efficiency and drive down the carbon footprint of current reverse osmosis (RO) desalination technology. To improve the trade-off between water flux and salt rejection of thin film composite (TFC) desalination membrane, thin film nanocomposite membranes (TFN), in which nanomaterials as a filler are embeded within a polymeric matrix, are being explored to tailor the separation performance and add new functionality to membranes for water purification applications. The objective of this article is to develop a graphene nanocomposite membrane with high performance of water selective permeability (high water flux, high salt rejection, and low reverse solute diffusion) as a next-generation FO desalination membrane. For advances in fabrication of graphene oxide (GO) membranes, layer-by-layer (LBL) technique was used to control the desirable structure, alignment, and chemical functionality that can lead to ultrahigh-permeability membranes due to highly selective transport of water molecules. In this study, the GO nanocomposite membrane fabricated by LBL dip coating method showed high water flux ($J_w/{\Delta}{\pi}=2.51LMH/bar$), water selectivity ($J_w/J_s=8.3L/g$), and salt rejection (99.5%) as well as high stability in aqueous solution and under FO operation condition.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.733-740
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• 2016

$Al_2O_3$ nanosol dispersed under ethanol or N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone(NMP) was studied and optimized with various dispersion factors and by utilizing the silane modification method. The two kinds of $Al_2O_3$ powders used were prepared by thermal decomposition method from aluminum ammonium sulfate$(AlNH_4(SO_4)_2)$ while controlling the calcination temperature. $Al_2O_3$ sol was prepared under ethanol solvent by using a batch-type bead mill. The dispersion properties of the $Al_2O_3$ sol have a close relationship to the dispersion factors such as the pH, the amount of acid additive(nitric acid, acetic acid), the milling time, and the size and combination of zirconia beads. Especially, $Al_2O_3$ sol added 4 wt% acetic acid was found to maintain the dispersion stability while its solid concentration increased to 15 wt%, this stability maintenance was the result of the electrostatic and steric repulsion of acetic acid molecules adsorbed on the surface of the $Al_2O_3$ particles. In order to observe the dispersion property of $Al_2O_3$ sol under NMP solvent, $Al_2O_3$ sol dispersed under ethanol solvent was modified and solvent-exchanged with N-Phenyl-(3-aminopropyl)trimethoxy silane(APTMS) through a binary solvent system. Characterization of the $Al_2O_3$ powder and the nanosol was observed by XRD, SEM, ICP, FT-IR, TGA, Particles size analysis, etc.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.274-281
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• 2010

In this study, PEG-PLA(or PLGA) amphiphilic di-block copolymers were synthesized by ring opening polymerization of D,L-lactide(or glycolide) and applied to polymeric micelle system for solubilization of a rosiglitazone as diabetes drug. The drug could be efficiently loaded into the polymer micelle by solid dispersion technique, and the drug-loaded micelles were characterized and evaluated as a drug delivery carrier by fluorescence spectrometer, DSC, and DLS measurements. The colloidal stability of drug loaded micelles in aqueous media could be enhanced by addition of 2-hydroxy-N-picolylnitinamide as a hydrotropic agent. The polymer micelles also showed biocompatible and nontoxic properties in vitro cell viability using MTT assay, and the drug loaded micelles were observed to be more effective than free drug for decreasing glucose in blood of rats.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.533-540
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• 2009

In this work, 5'-nitroindirubinoxime (5'-NIO) has been prepared as solid dispersions using a supercritical aerosol solvent extraction system (ASES) process in order to enhance its water solubility and dissolution rate. Solid dispersions of 5'-NIO and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) were prepared in various weight percent ratios. Three-component solid dispersions consisting of 5'-NIO, PVP, and poloxamer 188 (P188) were also prepared to study the influence of P188 level on their morphology, crystallinity, and dissolution behavior. All samples were prepared at $35^{\circ}C$ and 180 bar using supercritical carbon dioxide. The particle morphology and size of the two-component solid dispersions were found to be nearly spherical and much smaller (100-200 nm) compared with the original 5'-NIO. The morphology of three-component solid dispersions became more agglomerated as the level of P188 increased. The crystallinity of the original 5'-NIO was not observed in the solid dispersions prepared by the ASES process. Faster dissolution rates were observed for the three-componet solid dispersions because the arrangement of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide blocks of the poloxamer 188 enabled the formation of micelles in an aqueous phase.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.149-155
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• 2011

This study was carried out to develop a method of removing unnecessary sugars and high-molecular weight soluble components from water extract by using various highly porous polymer resins: these resins are widely used as adsorbents for polyphenolic compounds. Each anthocyanin-rich fraction (ARF) that was eluted from column packed with 4 different resins (SEPABEADS SP207, 700, 850 and Diaion HP 20) was obtained from an aqueous extract of the ripe fruits of Rubus coreanus, which is well-known in Korea as "Bok-bun-ja". Among the above mentioned resins, Diaion HP20 had the highest efficacy and provided maximum yield of the ARF. The ARF eluted from the column packed with HP 20 exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity in vitro. Bioactive phytochemicals extracted from Rubus coreanus were investigated using the on-line HPLC-$ABTS^{{\cdot}+}$ system, and the resulting 6 peaks were identified as radical-scavenging components. By using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, 5 peaks were obtained, and these were identified as cyanidin-3-sambubioside, cyanidin-3-glucoside, cyanidin-3-xylosylrutinoside, cyanidin-3-rutinoside and pelargonidin-3-rutinoside. These results indicate that the use of appropriate porous resin (Diaion HP 20) leads to an increase in the yield of bioactive components and enhancement of their biological properties.

• Proceedings of the KSEEG Conference
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• 2002.06a
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• pp.81-100
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• 2002

While most of regulatory communities in abroad recognize ' 'natural attenuation " to include degradation, dispersion, dilution, sorption (including precipitation and transformation), and volatilization as governing Processes, regulators prefer "degradation" because this mechanism destroys the contaminant of concern. Unfortunately, true degradation only applies to organic contaminants and short- lived radionuclides, and leaves most metals and long-lived radionuclides. The natural attenuation Processes may reduce the potential risk Posed by site contaminants in three ways: (i)contaminants could be converted to a less toxic form througy destructive processes such as biodegradation or abiotic transformations; (ii) potential exposure levels may be reduced by lowering concentrations (dilution and dispersion); and (iii) contaminant mobility and bioavailability may be reduced by sorption to geomedia. In this review, authors will focus will focul on "sorption" among the natural attenuation processes of hazardous inorganic contaminants including radionuclides. Note though that sorption and transformation processes of inorganic contaminants in the natural setting could be influenced by biotic activities but our discussion would limit only to geochemical reactions involved in the natural attenuation. All of the geochemical reactions have been studied in-depth by numerous researchers for many years to understand "retardation" process of contaminants in the geomedia. The most common approach for estimating retardation is the determination of distrubution coefficiendts ($K_{d}$) of contaminants using parametric or mechanistic models. As typocally used in fate and contaminant transport calculations such as predictive models of the natural attenuation, the $K_{d}$ is defined as the ratio of the contaminant concentration in the surrounding aqueous solution when the system is at equilibrium. Unfortunately, generic or default $K_{d}$ values can result in significant error when used to predict contaminant migration rate and to select a site remediation alternative. Thus, to input the best $K_{d}$ value in the contaminant transport model, it is essential that important geochemical processes affecting the transport should be identified and understood. Precipitation/dissolution and adsorption/desorption are considered the most important geochemical processes affecting the interaction of inorganic and radionuclide contaminants with geomedia at the near and far field, respectively. Most of contaminants to be discussed in this presentation are relatively immobile, i.e., have very high $K_{d}$ values under natural geochemical environments. Unfortunately, the obvious containment in a source area may not be good enough to qualify as monitored natural attenuation site unless owner demonstrate the efficacy if institutional controls that were put in place to protect potential receptors. In this view, natural attenuation as a remedial alternative for some of sites contaminated by hazardous-inorganic components is regulatory and public acceptance issues rather than scientific issue.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.232-237
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• 1998

This study was carried out to find the optimal operating conditions for separation of residual uranium from the simulated radwaste solution containing 19 elements, and to evaluate the validity of the process. The selected process was based on the solvent extraction with TBP(tributyl phosphate). As an extractor, two miniature mixer-settlers with a total of 18 stages were used. Extraction yield of U, Np and Tc was about 99.2%. 32.1%, and 99.9%, respectively. The other elements were coextracted in the range of 1~4%. Extraction yield of U exceeded those of the previous work performed with batch system, which resulted in the low extractability of U (about 80%) according to the coexisting element such as Nd and Fe. It was due to the characteristics of multi-stage extractor. On the other hand, low extractability of Np was caused by various oxidation states in the nitric acid medium. In the case of Tc, its high extractability may be attributed to the complex formation with Zr and U, which is not well proved yet. All elements extracted with TBP were stripped into aqueous phase more than 99% by 0.01M $HNO_3$. From the results, this process has no problem with respect to in the same step was required, because Np was distributed in the raffinate and U product, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.7
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• pp.426-439
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• 2017

This review summarizes advantage and limitation in infrared spectroscopy and computational chemistry to understand rhizospheric interaction among organic acids, oxyanions and metal oxides. Since organic acids and metal oxides determine dynamics of oxyanions in the soil environment, knowledge of fundamental mechanisms is a prerequisite for understanding the interactions at soil-water interface. Attenuated total reflectance-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) is a powerful tool to measure the interfacial reactions. However, the ATR-FTIR measurements are abstruse, because the optical characteristics for measurements are variable depending on the experimental setup. In addition, spectral overlapping is a primary obstacle to the analysis of the interfacial reaction; thus, it is essential to detect and to deconvolute bands for signal interpretation. In this review, we expained the fundamental principle for spectrum processing, and four band identification methods, such as derivative spectroscopy, two-dimension correlation spectroscopy, multivariate curve resolution, and computational chemistry with example of aqueous phosphate speciation. As a result, spectrum processing and computational chemistry improved interpretation and spectral deconvolution of overlapped spectra in relatively simple systems, but it was still unsatisfactory for the problems in more complexed system like nature. Nevertheless, we believed that our challenge would contribute practically to develop adequate analytical procedure, signal processing and protocols that could help to improve interpretation and to understand the interfacial interactions of oxyanions in natural systems.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.729-734
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• 2008

The higher valence state of iron i.e., Fe(VI) was employed for the treatment of Cu(II)-EDTA in the aqueous/waste waters. The ferrate(VI) was prepared through wet oxidation of Fe(III) by sodium hypochlorite. The purity of prepared Fe(VI) was above 93%. The stability of Fe(VI) solution decreased as solution pH decreased through self decomposition. The reduction of Fe(VI) was obtained by using the UV-Visible measurements. The dissociation of Cu(II)-EDTA complex through oxidation of EDTA using Fe(VI) and subsequent treatment of organic matter and metal ions by Fe(III) reduced from Fe(VI) in bench-scale of continuous flow reactor were studied. The removal efficiencies of copper were 69% and 79% in pH control basin and reactor, respectively, at 120 minutes as retention time. In addition, Cu(II)-EDTA in the reactor was decomplexated more than 80% after 120 minutes as retention time. From this work, a continuous treatment process for the wastewater containing metal and EDTA by employing Fe(VI) as muluti-functional agent was developed.