• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.62-67
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• 2001

Green technology is being developed up to a point that is feasible not only in an environmental sense, but also in an economical viewpoint. This paper introduces two case studies that applied $CO_2$ technology into nuclear industry. 1) Nuclear laundry : A laundry machine that uses liquid and supercritical $CO_2$ as a solvent for decontamination of contaminated working dresses in nuclear power plants was developed. The machine consists of a 16 liter reactor, a recovery system with compressors, and storage tanks. All $CO_2$ used in cleaning is fully recovered and reused in next cleaning, resulting in no production of secondary nuclear waste. Decontamination factor is still lower than that in the methods currently used in the plant. Nuclear laundry using $CO_2$ looks promising with technical improvements-surfactants and mechanical agitation. 2) $CO_2$ nozzle decontamination : An adjustable nozzle for controlling the size of dry ice snow was developed. Using the developed nozzle, a surface decontamination device was made. Human oils like fingerprints on glass were easy to remove. Decontamination ability was tested using a contaminated pump-housing surface. About 40 to 80% of radioactivity was removed. This device is effective in surface-decontamination of any electrical devices like detector, controllers which cannot be cleaned in aqueous solution.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.850-855
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• 2009

Keratin is an important protein used in wound healing and tissue recovery. In this study, keratin was modified chemically with iodoacetic acid (IAA) to enhance its solubility in organic solvent. Poly(hydroxybutylate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and modified keratin were dissolved in hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) and electrospun to produce nanofibrous mats. The resulting mats were surface-characterized by ATR-FTIR, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). The pure m-keratin mat was cross-linked with glutaraldehyde vapor to make it insoluble in water. The biodegradation test in vitro showed that the mats could be biodegraded by PHB depolymerase and trypsin aqueous solution. The results of the cell adhesion experiment showed that the NIH 3T3 cells adhered more to the PHBV/m-keratin nanofibrous mats than the PHBV film. The BrdU assay showed that the keratin and PHBV/m-keratin nanofibrous mats could accelerate the proliferation of fibroblast cells compared to the PHBV nanofibrous mats.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.36-42
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• 2021

Spent lithium-ion batteries are treated by reduction-smelting at high temperatures to recover valuable metals. Solvent extraction and precipitation of the HCl leaching solution of reduction-smelted metallic alloys resulted in a filtrate containing Ni(II) and a small amount of Si(IV). Adsorption and precipitation experiments were conducted to recover pure Ni(II) compounds from the filtrate. Si(IV) was selectively loaded onto polyacrylamide, but this method did not efficiently filter the solution due to an increase in viscosity. The addition of Na₂CO₃ as a precipitant to the filtrate led to the simultaneous precipitation of Ni(II) and Si(IV). However, it was possible to recover nickel oxalate with a purity higher than 99.99% by selectively precipitating Ni(II) with the addition of Na₂C₂O₄ as a precipitant.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.66-70
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• 2019

Rivaroxaban (RRN) is the first available active direct factor Xa inhibitor (anticoagulant) with oral administration. Due to its success in market, there have been efforts to develop various RRN formulations, and the development of good analytical methods for its in vivo evaluation is an essential prerequisite. Thus, here, a simple and efficient method to determine RRN in rat plasma using liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and liquid chromatography and multiple reaction monitoring (LC-MRM) was presented. The use of ethyl acetate as the LLE solvent results appropriate extraction and purification of RRN and it also helps the significant reduction of rat plasma volume required for RRN quantitation. The developed method showed good analytical performance including specificity, linearity ($r^2{\geq}0.999$ within 0.5 - 500 ng/mL), sensitivity (the lower limit of quantitation at 0.5 ng/mL), accuracy (89.3 - 107.0%), precision (${\geq}12.7%$), and recovery (89.2 - 105.7%). Additionally, RRN in sample extracts showed good stability. Finally, the applicability of the validated method to the PK evaluation of RRN was confirmed after its oral administration to normal rats. The present method is the first analytical method employing LLE for the simple and efficient extraction and purification of RRN in rat plasma. Therefore, the present method can contribute to the development of new RRN formulations as well as to the monitoring of RRN in special clinical situations through its efficient determination in various samples with or without minor modification.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.71-76
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• 2020

While montelukast (ML), a cysteinyl-leukotriene type 1 receptor (CysLT1) antagonist is widely used to treat symptoms of rhinitis or asthma, its formulations are mainly limited to solid preparation due to its instability. Recently, there have been attempts to develop various ML dosage forms, and this situation increases the demand of sensitive and creditable methods to determine ML in various samples such as plasma. Thus, here, a simple and efficient method to determine ML in rat plasma using liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and multiple reaction monitoring was presented. The mixture of DCM:EtOAc (25:75, v/v), the optimized extract solvent for LLE was found to be effective to extract ML without hydrophilic salts and proteins from the sample with limited volume. Also, the use of zafirlukast, instead of expensive ML-d6, as the internal standard makes the present method economical. The developed method was successfully validated in terms of selectivity, matrix effects (-14.8--6.9%), linearity (r230.998 within 0.5-500 ng/mL), sensitivity (the limit of detection and the lower limit of quantitation, ≤0.5 ng/mL), accuracy (88.4-100.6%), precision (3.0-13.3%), and recovery (80.8-86.3%) by following the FDA guidelines. Finally, the applicability of the validated method to pharmacokinetics (PK) studies was confirmed by the successful determination of PK parameters through it following oral administration of Singulair® granule in rats. Therefore, the present method can contribute to the development of new ML formulations through its performance to determine ML in rat plasma efficiently and sensitively.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.54-59
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• 2021

Bergenia ciliata (Family: Saxifragaceae) is a folklore remedy for the treatment of various ailments in Asian countries. Bergenin (1) has been isolated as an active constituent in many studies, however, the amount of bergenin has not been determined in all parts of the plant. A simple RP-HPLC method was developed to determine the amount of bergenin in methanol extracts of leaves, rhizomes and roots of the plant. Separation was achieved on an Agilent Eclipse XDB-C18 column maintained at 25 ℃ using isocratic solvent system (water: methanol: acetic acid; 62.5:37:0.5 v/v/v) adjusted at pH 2 0 at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. and detected at 275 nm. Correlation coefficient (0.9952) showed linearity of concentration (5-200 ㎍/mL) and response. The values of LOD (0.00947 ㎍/mL) and LOQ (0.02869 ㎍/mL) indicated that method was sensitive. The recovery of bergenin was 99.99-100% indicating accuracy of method. The methanol extract of rhizomes contained higher amount of bergenin (19.4%) than roots (9.2%) and leaves (6.9%). It is concluded that methanol extract of rhizomes is a better source of bergenin than other parts of the plant. The findings are useful for standardization of bergenin containing extracts and herbal preparations.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.59-70
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• 2021

A method for simultaneous detection of fipronil (F) and its metabolites fipronil desulfinyl (FD), fipronil sulfide (FS), fipronil sulfone (FSO) in chicken eggs was applied and validated. It includes single-step, cheap, effective, rugged, safe-based method (SinChERS) for sample preparation and ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) for chemical analysis. Results suggested that formic acid enhanced the recovery of 4 target residues and 1% supplementation to acetonitrile gained higher recoveries than that of 5%. SinChERS integrated extraction and clean-up steps into one, with shorter time (1.5 h) to operate and higher recoveries (97%-100%) than HLB, Envi-Carb-NH2 and quik-easy-cheap-effective-rugged-safe method (QuEChERS), and it consumed the smallest volume of extracting solvent (10 mL) as QuEChERS. Quantitative analyses using external standard method suggested the linear ranges of 4 target compounds were 1-20 ㎍/L with R2 >0.9947. The limit of detection (S/N>3) and quantification (S/N>10) were 0.3 ㎍/kg and 1 ㎍/kg. Recoveries ranged from 89.0% to 104.4%, and the relative standard deviations (n=6) at 1, 10, and 20 ㎍/kg were lower than 6.03%. Thirty batches of domestic eggs (500 g each) were detected by the established SinChERS-based UHPLC-MS/MS and no target residues were detected in all samples. The method developed in this study is a rapid, sensitive, accurate and economic way for multi-residue analysis of fipronil and its metabolites in eggs.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.12-20
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• 2022

The smelting reduction of spent lithium-ion batteries results in metallic alloys containing Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Si. A process to separate metal ions from the sulfuric acid leaching solution of these metallic alloys has been reported. In this process, ionic liquids are employed to separate Fe(III) and Cu(II). In this study, D2EHPA and Cyanex 301 were employed to replace these ionic liquids. Fe(III) and Cu(II) from the sulfate solution were sequentially extracted using 0.5 M D2EHPA with three stages of cross-current and 0.3 M Cyanex 301. The stripping of Fe(III) and Cu(II) from the loaded phases was performed using 50% (v/v) and 60% (v/v) aqua regia solutions, respectively. The mass balance results from this process indicated that the recovery and purity percentages of the metals were greater than 99%.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.146-151
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• 2022

Rotigotine (RTG) is a non-ergot dopamine agonist used to manage the early stage of Parkinson's disease (PD) as transdermal patch. However, the poor medication compliance of PD patients and skin issues related with repeated applications of RTG patches lead to the search for alternative formulations and it also requires appropriate analytical methods for their in vivo evaluation. Thus, here, a sensitive, efficient, and cost-effective method to determine RTG in rat plasma using liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and multiple reaction monitoring was developed. The use of 20 µL of rat plasma for sample treatment, 8-OH-DPAT as the internal standard, and methyl tert-butyl ether as the LLE solvent in the present method gives it advantages over previous methods for the analysis of RTG in biological samples. The good analytical performance of the developed method was confirmed in specificity, linearity (the coefficient of determination ≥0.999 within 0.1-100 ng/mL), sensitivity (the lower limit of quantitation at 0.1 ng/mL), accuracy (81.00-115.05%), precision (≤10.75%), and recovery (81.00-104.48%) by following the FDA guidelines. Finally, the applicability test of the validated method to the in vivo evaluation of a RTG formulation showed that the present method is the only method which can be accurately applied to that longer than 24 hours, critical for the development of formulations with reduced dosing frequencies. Therefore, the present method could contribute to the development of new RTG formulations helpful to people suffering from PD.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.101-106
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• 2023

Liquid metal extraction (LME), a pyrometallurgical recycling method, is popular owing to its negligible environmental impact. LME mainly targets rare-earth permanent magnets having several rare-earth elements. Mg is used as a solvent metal for LME because of its selective and eminent reactivity with rare-earth elements in magnets. Several studies concerning the formation of Dy-Fe intermetallic compounds and their effects on LME using Mg exist. However, methods for reducing these compounds are unavailable. Fe reacts more strongly with B than with Dy; B addition can be a reducing method for Dy-Fe intermetallic compounds owing to the formation of Fe₂B, which takes Fe from Dy-Fe intermetallic compounds. The FeB alloy is an adequate additive for the decomposition of Fe₂B. To accomplish the former process, Mg must convey B to a permanent magnet during the decomposition of the FeB alloy. Here, the effect of Mg on the transfer of B from FeB to permanent magnet is observed through microstructural and phase analyses. Through microstructural and phase analysis, it is confirmed that FeB is converted to Fe₂B upon B transfer, owing to Mg. Finally, the transfer effect of Mg is confirmed, and the possibility of reducing Dy-Fe intermetallic compounds during LME is suggested.