• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1141-1147
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• 2012

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a class of biodegradable plastics that have great potential applications in the near future. In this study, the micro-biodiversity and productivity of PHA-accumulating bacteria in activated sludge from a domestic wastewater treatment plant were investigated. A previously reported primer set and a self-designed primer set (phaCF1BO/phaCR2BO) were both used to amplify the PHA synthase (phaC) gene of isolated colonies. The new primers demonstrated higher sensitivity for phaC, and combining the PCR results of the two primer sets was able to widen the range of detected genera and raise the sensitivity to nearly 90%. Results showed that 85.3% of the identified bacteria were Gram-negative, with Ralstonia as the dominant genus, and 14.7% were Gram-positive. In addition, Zoogloea and Rhizobium contained the highest amounts of intracellular PHA. It is apparent that glucose was a better carbon source than pentone or tryptone for promoting PHA production in Micrococcus. Two different classes, class I and class II, of phaC were detected from alphaproteobacteria, betaproteobacteria, and gammaproteobacteria, indicating the wide diversity of PHA-accumulating bacteria in this particular sampling site. Simultaneous wastewater treatment and PHA production is promising by adopting the high PHA-accumulating bacteria isolated from activated sludge.

• Composites Research
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.398-403
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• 2018

Recently, environmental pollution caused by plastic waste, ecosystem disturbance of micro-plastics and human body accumulation are becoming big problems. In order to replace the traditional plastic, eco-friendly resin and natural fiber-based composite materials have been developed, but they have a disadvantage that their mechanical properties are significantly lower than those of synthetic fiber-based composites. In this study, eco - friendly nanofiber was extracted from seaweed and used as an additive in order to improve the mechanical properties of jute fiber-reinforced composites. Through the hand lay-up process, the composites were fabricated, and it was confirmed that the nanofiber was effective in improving the mechanical properties of natural fiber composites through tensile, bending and drop weight impact tests.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.71-77
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• 2020

Various manufacturing technologies, including over-molding and insert-injection molding, are used to produce hybrid plastics and metals. However, there are disadvantages to these technologies, as they require several steps in manufacturing and are limited to what can be reasonably achieved within the complexities of part geometry. This study aims to determine a practical approach for producing metal/plastic hybrid components by combining plastic injection molding and metal die casting to create a new hybrid metal/plastic molding process. The integrated metal/plastic hybrid injection molding process developed in this study uses the proven method of multi-component technology as a basis to combine plastic injection molding with metal die casting into one integrated process. In this study, the electrical conductivity and ampacity were verified to qualify the new process for the production of parts used in electronic devices. The electrical conductivity was measured, contacting both sides of the test sample with constant pressure, and the resistivity was measured using a micro ohmmeter. Also, the specific conductivity was subsequently calculated from the resistivity and contact surface of the conductor path. The ampacity defines the maximum amount of current a conductive path can carry before sustaining immediate or progressive deterioration. The manufactured hybrid multi-components were loaded with increasing currents, while the temperature was recorded with an infrared camera. To compare the measured infrared images, an electro-thermal simulation was conducted using commercial CAE software to predict the maximum temperature of the power loaded parts. Overall, during the injection molding process, it was demonstrated that multifunctional parts can be produced for electric and electronic applications.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.147-156
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• 2005

It is well-known that polyethersulfone (PES) has high $CO_2$ selectivity over $N_2\;(or\;CH_4)$ and excellent pressure resistance of $CO_2$ plasticization among muy commercialized engineering plastics[1-4]. Asymmetric PES hollow fiber membranes for flue gas separation were developed by dry-wet spinning technique. The dope solution consists of PES, NMP and acetone. Water and water/NMP mixtures are used in outer and inner coagulants, respectively. Gas permeation rate (i.e., permeance) and $CO_2/N_2$ selectivity were measured with pure gas, respectively and the micro-structure of hollow fiber membranes was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The effects of polymer concentration, ratio of NMP to acetone, length of air gap, evaporation condition and silicone coating were investigated on the $CO_2/N_2$ separation properties of the hollow fibers. Optimized PES hollow fiber membranes exhibited high permeance of $25\~50$ GPU and $CO_2/N_2$ selectivity of $30\~40$ at room temperature and have the apparent skin layer thickness of about $0.1\;{\mu}m$. The developed PES hollow fiber membranes, would be a good candidate suitable for the flue gas separation process.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.81-93
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• 2020

The fatigue characteristics of glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) composites were studied under repeated loads using the finite element method (FEM). To realize the material characteristics of GFRP composites, Digimat, a mean-field homogenization tool, was employed. Additionally, the micro-structures and material models of GFRP composites were defined with it to predict the fatigue behavior of composites more realistically. Specifically, the fatigue characteristics of polybutylene terephthalate with short fiber fractions of 30wt% were investigated with respect to fiber orientation, stress ratio, and thickness. The injection analysis was conducted using Moldflow software to obtain the information on fiber orientations. It was mapped over FEM concerned with fatigue specimens. LS-DYNA, a typical finite element commercial software, was used in the coupled analysis of Digimat to calculate the stress amplitude of composites. FEMFAT software consisting of various numerical material models was used to predict the fatigue life. The results of coupled analysis of linear and nonlinear material models of Digimat were analyzed to identify the fatigue characteristics of GFRP composites using FEMFAT. Neuber's rule was applied to the linear material model to analyze the fatigue behavior in LCF regimen. Additionally, to evaluate the morphological and mechanical structure of GFRP composites, the coupled and fatigue analysis were conducted in terms of thickness.