• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.175-181
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• 2019

The research and development of high-performance polymer materials with excellent gas barrier properties has gained considerable attention from the viewpoint of expanding their applications in various fields, including tire automobile parts and the polymer film industry. Natural rubber (NR) has been widely used as a rubber material in real-life, but its application is limited owing to its poor gas barrier properties. In this paper, we study the gas barrier properties of NR, epoxidized natural rubber (ENR), and their blend compositions by using molecular simulation. The results show that ENR-50 has superior oxygen barrier properties than those of NR. Moreover, the oxygen barrier properties of a blend of NR/ENR-50 improve with increasing volume fraction of ENR-50. The trend of improved oxygen barrier properties of NR, ENR-50, and their blend is in good agreement with experimental observations.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.257-262
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• 2020

Vehicle wiper blades are typically treated with chlorine to lower their friction coefficient with the windshield surface. In this study, a chlorinated, natural rubber (NR) vehicle wiper blade was characterized using a pyrolytic technique. Unchlorinated and chlorinated wiper blades were pyrolyzed and the pyrolysis products were analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Besides isoprene and dipentene, the other principal pyrolysis products such as 1,5,8-p-menthatriene (MTT) and p,α-dimethylstyrene (DMS) were observed. The MTT and DMS ratios did not vary for the chlorinated nor unchlorinated samples when the entire rubber lip of the wiper blade was pyrolyzed. However, when only the lip surface of the wiper blade rubber was pyrolyzed (via scratching with a knife) the relative ratios of the chlorinated sample were much greater than those of the unchlorinated sample. As MTT is produced from the conjugated backbone of chlorinated NR that forms through HCl elimination during initial pyrolysis, and DMS is generated by the dehydrogenation of MTT, these two products could be used as markers for detecting chlorinated NR.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.261-271
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• 2000

Physical properties of NR vulcanizates cured by both sulfur and resole were studied. Cure characteristics of the compounds were also investigated. Two types of resoles with different molecular weight distributions were employed. The scorch time of the NR compound containing the resole with a low molecular weight distribution was shorter than that of the compound containing the resole with a high one. Crosslink densities of the NR vulcanizates with a high resole content after the thermal aging at $95^{\circ}C$ decreased, while that of the vulcanizate without resole after the thermal aging at $95^{\circ}C$ increased. Though crosslink densities of the NR vulcanizates with a high resole content decreased with increasing the aging time, the moduli increased while the tensile strength and tear strength decreased.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.220-227
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• 2000

Silica and carbon black filled natural rubber (NR) vulcanizates were prepared with different mixing modes and amounts of fillers. Curing characteristics, morphology. and tear properties of the NR vulcanizates were investigated. The NR vulcanizates filled with silica and carbon black sequentially showed longer induction time ($t_2$), cure index ($t_{90}$ ), and lower maximum torque ($T_{max}$ ) than the NR vulcanizates filled with them simultaneously, during curing process. The former showed superior dispersion of fillers and tear properties to the latter. The NR vulcanizates containing 30 phr of silica showed excellent properties in the experimental range.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.116-122
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• 2014

Macrophage death plays a role in several physiological and inflammatory pathologies such as sepsis and arthritis. In our previous work, we showed that simvastatin triggers cell death in LPS-activated RAW 264.7 mouse macrophage cells through both caspase-dependent and independent apoptotic pathways. Here, we show that the nuclear orphan receptor NR4A1 is involved in a caspase-independent apoptotic process induced by LPS and simvastatin. Simvastatin-induced NR4A1 expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages and ectopic expression of a dominant-negative mutant form of NR4A1 effectively suppressed both DNA fragmentation and the disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) during LPS- and simvastatin-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, apoptosis was accompanied by Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) translocation to the mitochondria. Our findings suggest that NR4A1 expression and mitochondrial translocation of Bax are related to simvastatin-induced apoptosis in LPS-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.13-24
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• 1985

It is generally agreed that strong linkages exist between rubber chains and reinforcing filler particles. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of rubber-filler attachments on the various mechanical properties of the rubber. In particular, the modulus and strength will be altered by these attachments. For this study, the curing properties are examined by means of ODR (Oscillating Disk Rheometer), the physical properties by means of Instrong. The results of this study can be summarized as follows. In the ODR test, the carbon black filled stock has shorter scorch time than gum stock and, the silica and clay filled stock has longer scorch time than gum stock. In the modulus, ten sile and swelling properties, the vulcanizates filled with carbon black had higher those values than inorganic filler loaded NR vulcanizates, but the rebound rate showed that the silica filled NR vulcanizates was lower than other inorganic filler contained NR vulcanizates and the ISAF filled NR vulcanizates was lower than other carbon block contained NR vulcanizates.

• Journal of Korea Foresty Energy
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.29-36
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• 2003

This paper concerned the application of improvement in Vivo of Traditional Method for determination of nitrate reductase (NR) activity of leaves to dominant tree species in five forest communities of northern aspect of Changbai Mountain. The results indicated that the NR activity of tree species was related to shade tolerance, and the intolerant tree species had higher NR activity. The NR of a species was also related to the vertical structure and ecological site condition. The tree species, which have higher NR activities should be selected for fast growing and high yield tree species.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.662-671
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• 1993

New Ni(II) and Pd(II) complexes of isonitrosomethylacetoacetate imine derivatives, Ni(IMAA-NH)(IMAA-NH'), Ni(IMAA-NH)(IMAA-NR), $Pd(IMAA-NH)_2\;and Pd(IMAA-NR)_2(R=CH_3,\;C_2H_5,\;n-C_3H_7,\;n-C_4H_9,\;or\;CH_2C_6H_5)$, where H-IMAA-NH and H-IMAA-NR represent isonitrosomethylacetoacetate imine and N-alkylisonitrosomethylacetoacetate imine derivative, respectively, have been prepared and the structures of the complexes have been studied by elemental analyses, electronic, infrared, and $^1H-\;and\;^{13}C-NMR$ spectroscopies.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.108-113
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• 2020

Wear particles of the model tread compounds for bus and truck tires were made using a laboratory abrasion tester and characterized based on their size distributions, shapes, and crosslink densities. The influence of the carbon black contents and rubber compositions (NR= 100 and NR/BR= 80/20) on the production of wear particles was investigated. The wear particles were separated according to size using a sieve shaker. The shape properties of the wear particles were analyzed using an image analyzer and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Their shapes were observed as tiny stick cookies or sausages with bumpy surfaces. The particle size distribution tended to be smaller with increasing carbon black content. Moreover, the particle size distributions of the NR = 100 samples were larger than that of the NR/BR blend samples. There were different filaments in the wear particles. The filament diameters tended to be thinner with increasing carbon black content. The crosslink density increased with increasing carbon black content, and the crosslink densities of the NR= 100 samples were lower than those of the NR/BR blend ones. The particle size distribution tended to be smaller with increasing crosslink density. Based on the experimental results, the wear particles can be produced by detaching debris from the main body through repetitive strain and recovery.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.208-217
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• 2011

The effects of pH and temperature on the removal of two dyes (neutral red; NR and malachite green oxalates; MG) from aqueous effluents using Maghnia montmorillonite clay in a batch adsorption process were investigated. The results showed the stability of the optical properties of MG in aqueous solution and adsorbed onto clay under wide range of pH 3-9. However, the interaction of NR dye with clay is accompanied by a red shift of the main absorption bands of monomer cations under pH range of 3-5, whereas, those of neutral form remains nearly constant over the pH range of 8-12. The optimal pH for favorable adsorption of the dyes, i.e. ${\geq}$90% has been achieved in aqueous solutions at 6 and 7 for NR and VM respectively. The most suitable adsorption temperatures were 298 and 318 K with maximum adsorption capacities of 465.13mg/g for NR and 459.89 mg/g for MG. The adsorption equilibrium results for both dyes follow Langmuir, Freundlich isotherms. The numerical values of the mean free energy $E_a$ of 4.472-5.559 kj/mol and 2.000-2.886 kj/mol for NR and MG respectively indicated physical adsorption. Various thermodynamic parameters, such as ${\Delta}H^{\circ}$, ${\Delta}S^{\circ}$, ${\Delta}G^{\circ}$ and Ea have been calculated. The data showed that the adsorption process is spontaneous and endothermic. The sticking probability model was further used to assess the potential feasibility of the clay mineral as an alternative adsorbent for organic ion pollutants in aqueous solution.