• 센서학회지
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.256-262
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• 2012

Hyaluronic acid(HA) hydrogels were synthesized by immersing HA microbeads in phosphate buffered saline solutions having different pH levels to assess the effect of pH on the swelling ratio of HA hydrogels for smart drug delivery systems. No beads were formed when the HA solution(below pH 9) was crosslinked with divinyl sulfone(DVS) because DVS is a basic solution. The variation regarding the size of the microbead was not significant, suggesting that the bead size is not a function of pH(10 ~ 14). However, the pore size of the microbeads decreased with increasing pH from 10 to 14, leading to the surface smoothness and dense network as a result of higher crosslinking. The swelling ratio of hydrogels increased when the pH rose from 2(acidic) to 6(neutral). Afterwards, it decreased with further increasing pH(basic). The lower swelling ratio may be due to the lack of ionization of the carboxyl groups. On the other hand, a higher swelling ratio is likely due to the increased electrostatic repulsions between negatively charged carboxyl groups on different chains. Experimental results suggested that pH-responsive HA hydrogels can be applicable to the controlled drug delivery systems.

• Biomaterials and Biomechanics in Bioengineering
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.105-116
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• 2014

Synthesis of interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) of chitosan-gelatin (Cs-Ge) (as a primary network) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) monomer (as the secondary network) was carried out with different ratio. Its structure was characterized by FT-IR, which indicated that the IPN was formed. The memberanes were studied by swelling, weight loss with time. The interior morphology of the IPN hydrogels was revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM); the IPN hydrogels showed a interpenetrated network of NIPAAm/chitosan has layers with more minute stoma and canals compared to interpenetrated network of NIPAAm/gelatin. Lower critical solution temperature (LCST), equilibrium swelling ratio (ESR) and deswelling kinetics were measured. The DSC results noticed that LCST of IPN hydrogels with different ratio of Cs/Ge/PNIPAAm are around $33{\pm}2^{\circ}C$. The ESR obtained results showed that with a ratio of Cs/Ge/NIPAAm: 1/1/6, the swelling ratio increased drastically from room temperature to $36^{\circ}C$ but with a ratio of Cs/Ge/PNIPAAm: 1/3/6, decrease significantly at the same condition. Therefore the hydrogels have been changed from a hydrophilic structure to a hydrophobic structure. Furthermore with an increase in temperature from room to the LCST, the ESR of IPN with higher concentration of (PNIPAAm) and (Ge) decreases but de-swelling kinetics of them are faster. Due to the suitable and different kinetics of de-swelling and the equilibrium swelling ratio (ESR) in various proportions, and because of the morphology inside the mass which confirms other tests, these hydrogels are very appropriate as a smart thermosensitive hydrogels with rapid response.

• Macromolecular Research
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• 제17권12호
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• pp.1025-1031
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• 2009

Several kinds of biodegradable hydrogels were prepared via in situ photopolymerization of Pluronic F127/poly($\varepsilon$-caprolactone) macromer and acrylic acid (AA) comonomer in aqueous medium. The swelling kinetics measurements showed that the resultant hydrogels exhibited both thermo- and pH-sensitive behaviors, and that this stimuli-responsiveness underwent a fast reversible process. With increasing pH of the local buffer solutions, the pH sensitivity of the hydrogels was increased, while the temperature sensitivity was decreased. In vitro hydrolytic degradation in the buffer solution (pH 7.4, $37^{\circ}C$), the degradation rate of the hydrogels was greatly improved due to the introduction of the AA comonomer. The in vitro release profiles of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in-situ embedded into the hydrogels were also investigated: the release mechanism of BSA based on the Peppas equation was followed Case II diffusion. Such biodegradable dual-sensitive hydrogel materials may have more advantages as a potentially interesting platform for smart drug delivery carriers and tissue engineering scaffolds.

• Biomaterials and Biomechanics in Bioengineering
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• 제2권1호
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• pp.47-59
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• 2015

A bioactive and multifunctional elastin-like polymer (ELP) was produced by genetic engineering techniques to develop new artificial matrices with the ability to mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM). The basic composition of this ELP is a thermo- and pH-sensitive elastin pentapeptide which has been enriched with RGD-containing domains, the RGD loop of fibronectin, for recognition by integrin receptors on their sequence to promote efficient cell attachment. Hydrogels of this RGD-containing polymer were obtained by crosslinking with hexamethylene diisocyanate, a lysine-targeted crosslinker. These materials retain the "smart" nature and temperature-responsive character, and the desired mechanical behavior of the elastin-like polymer family. The influence of the degree of crosslinking on the morphology and properties of the matrices were tested by calorimetric techniques and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Their mechanical behavior was studied by dynamical mechanical analysis (DMA). These results show the potential of these materials in biomedical applications, especially in the development of smart systems for tissue engineering.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제7권3호
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• pp.185-198
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• 2011

The promise of biomimetic smart structures that can function as sensors and actuators in biomedicine is enormous. Technological development in the field of stimuli-responsive shape memory polymers have opened up a new avenue of applications for polymer-based synthetic actuators. Such synthetic actuators mimic various attributes of living organisms including responsiveness to stimuli, shape memory, selectivity, motility, and organization. This article briefly reviews various stimuli-responsive shape memory polymers and their application as bioactuators. Although the technological advancements have prototyped the potential applications of these smart materials, their widespread commercialization depends on many factors such as sensitivity, versatility, moldability, robustness, and cost.

• Carbon letters
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• 제22권
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• pp.1-13
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• 2017

Porous materials play a vital role in science and technology. The ability to control their pore structures at the atomic, molecular, and nanometer scales enable interactions with atoms, ions and molecules to occur throughout the bulk of the material, for practical applications. Three-dimensional (3D) porous carbon-based materials (e.g., graphene aerogels/hydrogels, sponges and foams) made of graphene or graphene oxide-based networks have attracted considerable attention because they offer low density, high porosity, large surface area, excellent electrical conductivity and stable mechanical properties. Water pollution and associated environmental issues have become a hot topic in recent years. Rapid industrialization has led to a massive increase in the amount of wastewater that industries discharge into the environment. Water pollution is caused by oil spills, heavy metals, dyes, and organic compounds released by industry, as well as via unpredictable accidents. In addition, water pollution is also caused by radionuclides released by nuclear disasters or leakage. This review presents an overview of the state-of-the-art synthesis methodologies of 3D porous graphene materials and highlights their synthesis for environmental applications. The various synthetic methods used to prepare these 3D materials are discussed, particularly template-free self-assembly methods, and template-directed methods. Some key results are summarized, where 3D graphene materials have been used for the adsorption of dyes, heavy metals, and radioactive materials from polluted environments.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2010년도 제39회 하계학술대회 초록집
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• pp.279-279
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• 2010

Smart gels have recently associated with photonic crystals to form photonic gels. Since these photonic gels are capable of reversibly converting the volume change of gels induced in response to external chemical or electric stimuli into characteristic optical signals, they have been considered not only as a good platform for label-free chemical or biological detection, actuators or optical switches but also as a good model system to investigate gel swelling behaviour. Recently, we reported block copolymer photonic gels self-assembled from polystyrene-b-poly(2-vinyl pyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) block copolymers, and demonstrated that selective swelling of lamellar structure allows extremely large tunability of the photonic stop band from UV region to IR region ($\lambda$ peak=350~1,600 nm). Herein we report block copolymer photonic gels which exhibit strong tunable optical hysteresis and their applications. As nonlinear responses in swelling of hydrogels were often observed, photonic gels exhibit optical hysteresis with change of external pH. We demonstrate such optical hysteresis can be precisely programmed by controlling ion-pairing affinity. We anticipate that photonic gels with carefully tunned optical hysteresis are applicable to optical memory devices.

• 폴리머
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• 제37권3호
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• pp.262-268
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• 2013

본 연구에서는 pH 감응성 수화젤 입자를 이용하여 외부환경에 불안정한 활성물질을 화장품 제형 내에서는 안정하게 보존하고, 피부에 도포 시 빠른 방출로 피부에 흡수될 수 있는 지능형 전달시스템의 구현 가능성을 확인하기 위하여, 분산광중합을 이용하여 pH 감응성을 가지는 P(MAA-co-PEGMA) 수화젤 입자를 평균 크기 약 $2{\mu}m$의 구형 입자로 합성하였다. 합성된 P(MAA-co-PEGMA) 수화젤 입자는 수화젤의 MAA에 존재하는 카르복시기의 이온화에 의하여 pH 5를 전후로 한 급격한 팽윤비의 변화를 보여주었다. pH에 따른 수화젤 내부에 탑재된 알부민의 방출 및 피부투과 실험결과, P(MAA-co-PEGMA) 수화젤 입자는 pH 4.0에서는 소량의 알부민이 방출되어 피부 투과가 거의 일어나지 않은 반면, pH 6.0에서는 초기부터 다량의 알부민이 방출되어 상대적으로 높은 피부투과율을 나타내었다. 펩신을 이용한 알부민의 안정성 실험결과, P(MAA-co-PEGMA) 수화젤은 내부에 탑재된 알부민을 외부 환경으로부터 보호하여 알부민의 안정성을 유지시켜 주었다.

• 한국응용과학기술학회지
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• 제29권1호
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• pp.19-32
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• 2012

가교에 관한 리뷰논문으로 특허의 다수는 의료용이다. 조직공학용 지지체나 약물전달용 매체로 쓰이는 고분자의 가교는 세포 무독성, 제 자리 겔 형성성이 있는 가교반응을 중시하고 있다. 가교를 탄성률, 내약품성, 내열성의 증대 목적 외에 가교부위에 금속 흡착성, 방오성, 항균성, 이온교환성 등의 기능을 부여하고 있다. 환경의 자극에 응답하는 스마트 가교, 환경을 고려한 광 가교, 물리적 가교, 효소가교, 천연물 가교, 수성가교가 연구되고 있다. 120세 수명을 목표로 의용재료의 발전에 고분자 소재의 개발도 필수적이다. 가교를 통한 고분자의 기능성 부여 및 물성 강화도 더욱 섬세하게 될 것이다. 고분자 가교물 중의 중요한 분야를 점하는 히드로젤은 주사용 제자리 겔 형성성의 개선 방향으로 전개될 것이다. 코팅용 고분자 가교제는 작업자, 작업환경을 고려하여 저독성-무독성의 가교제, 낮은 에너지에서 가교되는 에너지 절약형 가교제가 개발될 것이다.