• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.314-320
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• 2005

Crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes were prepared at various crosslinking temperatures using poly(acrylic acid-co-maleic acid) (PAM) containing different PAM contents. The thermal properties of these PVA/PAM membranes prepared at various reaction temperatures were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The proton conductivity and methanol permeability of PVA/PAM membranes were then investigated as PAM content was varied from 3 to 13 wt%. It was found that the proton and methanol transport were dependent on PAM content in their function both as crosslinking agent and as donor of hydrophilic -COOH groups. Both these properties decreased monotonously with increasing PAM concentration. The proton conductivities of these PVA/PAM membranes were in the range from $10^{-3}\;to\;10^{-2}S/cm$ and the methanol permeabilities from $10^{-7}\;to\;10^{-6}cm^{2}/sec$. In addition, the effect of operating temperature up to $80^{\circ}C$ on ion conductivity was examined for three selected membranes: 7, 9 and 11 wt% PAM membranes. Ion conductivity increased with increasing operating temperature and showed and S/cm at $80^{\circ}C$, respectively. The effects of crosslinking and ionomer group concentration were also examined in terms of water content, ion exchange capacity (IEC), and fixed ion concentration. In addition, the number of water molecules per ionomer site was calculated using both water contents and IEC values. With overall consideration for all the properties measured in this study, $7{\sim}9\;wt%$ PAM membrane prepared at $140^{\circ}C$ exhibited the best performance. These characteristics of PVA/PAM membranes are desirable in applications related to the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC).

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.177-181
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• 2012

This study presents the preparation of double emulsions in a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-based microfluidic device. To improve the wettability of hydrophilic continuous phase onto a hydrophobic PDMS microchannel, the surface was modified with 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate (TPM) and then sequentially reacted with acrylic acid monomer solution, which produced selective covalent bonding between acrylic acids and methacrylate groups. For the proof of selective surface modification, tolonium chloride solution was used to identify the modified region and we confirmed that the approach was successfully performed. When water containing 0.5% w/w sodium dodecyl sulfate and 1% w/w Span80 with hexadecane were loaded into the selectively modified microfluidic channels, we can produce stable double emulsion. Based on the spreading coefficients, we predict the morphology of double emulsions. Our proposed method efficiently produces monodisperse double emulsions having 48.5 ${\mu}m$(CV:1.6%) core and 65.1 ${\mu}m$ (CV:1.6%) shell. Furthermore, the multiple emulsions having different numbers of core were easily prepared by simple control of flow rates.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.391-400
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• 2016

In this work, novel thin film composite (TFC) forward osmosis (FO) membranes are developed via interfacial polymerization on the polysulfone (PS) substrate, using TEOS as the a sol-gel reagent to form hydrophilic interlayer polymer between PS and polyamide (PA). The PS substrate was cast on a very thin polyester nonwoven to reduce membrane resistance. With the incorporation of TEOS (tetraethoxy silane) polymer in the interface between PS and PA, the formed TFC FO membrane exhibits better hydrophilicity and improved water flux, and therefore superior membrane performance. By changing the polymerization sequence of PA interfacial polymerization and TEOS sol-gel condensation, the surface properties and performance of FO membranes are changed significantly. The permeability of FO membranes were estimated using the bench-scale FO test equipment. The distribution of the polysiloxane on composite membrane and morphology are also studied with FE-SEM and EDAX. The PS_PA_TEOS membrane showed highly enhanced water flux (79.2 LMH) but reverse salt flux (RSF) value (7.10 GMH) also increased. However, the flux of PS_TEOS_PA membrane increased moderately (54.1 LMH) without increasing RSF value (1.60 GMH) compare with PS_PA membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.191-199
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• 2003

Cation exchange polymer electrolyte membrane for the application of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) was studied. Poly(vinyl alcohol)(PVA) well known as a methanol barrier in pervaporation separation was used fur the base materials and poly(acrylic acid)(PAA) was used for the crosslinking agent with various concentration. Methanol permeability, ion conductivity, ion exchange capacity, water contents and fixed ion concentration of the membranes were investigated to evaluate the performance of the fuel cell electrolyte membrane. Methanol permeability and ion conductivity of the membranes were decreased with increasing PAA content and were increased over 15% of PAA content. These phenomena would be explained with the introduction of hydrophilic crosslinking agent. The membranes with 15% content of PAA showed methanol permeability of $6.49{\times}10^{-8}/cm^2/s,\; 2.85{\times}10^{-7}CM^2/s$ at $25^{\circ}C,\; 50^{\circ}C$ of operating temperatures, respectively. ion conductivities of the membrane were $2.66{\times}10^{-3}\;S/cm,$ $9.16{\times}10^{-3}\;S/cm$ at $25^{\circ}C,\; 50^{\circ}C$ of operating temperatures, respectively. ion exchange capacity, water content and fixed ion concentration of the membrane were revealed 1.32 meq/g membrane,0.25 g $H_2$O/g membrane and 5.25 meq/g $H_2O$, respectively.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.241-251
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• 2006

In this study, crosslinked copolyimides with random (r-) and block (b-) structure were fabricated using N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid and pentanediol as crosslinkers. Linear r- and b-sulfonated copolyimides were also fabricated for comparison. Ion exchange capacities of r- and b-copolyimides were very similar to each other owing to their strong dependence of sulfonic acid content. The physical crosslinking via dimerization of carboxylic acid groups induced a reduced average interchain distance in b-copolyimide without crosslinkers. Consequently, its water uptake and methanol permeability were lower than those of r-sulfonated copolyimides. Simultaneously, the reduced interchain distance increased the content of fixed-charged ions per unit volume. The high fixed-charged ion density contributed to an enhancement of proton conductivity In the b-sulfonated copolyimide. Crosslinking caused the reduction of average interchain distance between polymer chains irrespective of types of crosslinker and polymer structure, leading to low methanol permeability. On the contrary, their proton conductivity was improved owing to formation of effective hydrophilic channels responsible for proton conduction. In particular, this trend was observed in r-copolyimide containing a fixed charged ion.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.222-225
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• 1998

The objective of this study was to observe the effects of potassium-carboxymethyl cellulose (K-CMC), which is a natural polymer derivative, and polyacrylamide (PAM), which is a commercial synthetic polymer, on soil physicochemical properties and yields of the cabbage. To increase water absorbing capacity (WAC), hydrophilic carboxymethyl group was introduced to cellulose chain and it was confirmed by FT-IR. WAC was tested by tea-bag method in distilled water and 3% NaCl solution. PAM is slightly more absorptive than K-CMC in distilled water, but in NaCl solution, K-CMC is more absorptive than PAM. Soil particle sizes above $1_{mm}$ were immediately increased from 9.6 to approximately 16.6% by the application of K-CMC and PAM, respectively. Infiltration rates of soil were approximately twice as great as those of the control when conditioned with the K-CMC and PAM treatment. K content of soil treated with K-CMC was significantly higher than those of PAM and control, but the other components of soil chemical properties were not different. The early growth and vegetative production of cabbage in the K-CMC and PAM treatments were significantly higher than the control. The contents of vitamin C were increased with the treatment of K-CMC. It was proposed that K-CMC treatment influence K component of the soil and vitamin C content of the cabbage, therefore, it improved the yields as well as crop quality.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.38-49
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• 2024

Wastewater treatment using membrane bioreactors has been extensively used to alleviate water shortage and pollution by improving the quality of the treated water discharged into the environment. However, membrane biofouling persistently holds back an MBR process by reducing the process efficiency. Herein, we synthesized carbon nanospheres (CNSs) with many hydrophilic oxygen groups and utilized them as an additive to prepare high-performance ultrafiltration (UF) membranes with hydrophilicity and porous pore structure. CNSs were found to form crescent-shaped pores on the membrane surface, increasing the mean surface pore size by about 40% without causing significant defects larger than bubble points, as the CNS content increased by 4.6 wt%. In addition, the porous pore structure of CNS composite membranes was also attributable to the CNS's isotropic morphologies and relatively low particle number density because the aforementioned properties contributed to preventing the polymer solution viscosity from soaring with the loading of CNS. However, too porous structure compromised the mechanical properties, such that CNS2.3 was the best from a comprehensive consideration including the pore structure and mechanical properties. As a result, CNS2.3 showed not only 2 times higher water permeability than CNS0 but also 5 times longer operation duration until membrane cleaning was required.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.434-442
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• 2017

The UV light in sunlight breaks down the chemical bonds in a polyolefin polymer through a process called photodegradation, ultimately causing cracking, chalking, colour changes, and loss of physical properties such as impact strength, tensile strength, elongation, and others. UV absorbers are used to prevent or terminate the oxidation of plastics by UV light. They are receptive to UV radiation and dissipate the energy harmlessly as heat. Benzotriazoles and benzophenones are used mainly in polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene. In this study, we have developed a method for the analysis of 12 UV absorbers, which are Uvinul 3000, Cyasorb UV 24, Uvinul 3040, Tinuvin 312 and P, Seesorb 202, Chimassorb 81, Tinuvin 329, 234, 326, 328 and 327, migrated from the food packaging materials into four food simulants for aqueous, acidic, alcoholic and fatty foods. The UV absorbers in food simulants were determined by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatograph-ultraviolet detector with 310 nm after solid-phase extraction with a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) cartridge or dilution with isopropanol. The analytical method showed a good linearity of coefficient ($R^2{\geq}0.99$), limits of detection (0.049~0.370 mg/L), and limits of quantification (0.149~1.120 mg/L). The recoveries of UV absorbers spiked to four food simulants ranged from 70.05% to 110.13%. The developed method would be used as a reliable tool to determine concentrations of the migrated UV absorbers.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.193-200
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• 2011

An amphiphilic graft copolymer comprising a poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) backbone and poly (styrene sulfonic acid) (PSSA) side chains (PVC-g-PSSA) was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Mesoporous titanium dioxide $(TiO_2)$ films with crystalline anatase phase were synthesized via a sol-gel process by templating PVC-g-PSSA graft copolymer. Titanium isopropoxide (TTIP), a $TiO_2$ precursor was selectively incorporated into the hydrophilic PSSA domains of the graft copolymer and grew to form mesoporous $TiO_2$ films, as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The performances of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) were systematically investigated by varying spin coating times and the amounts of P25 nanoparticies. The energy conversion efficiency reached up to 2.7% at 100 mW/$cm^2$ upon using quasi-solid-state polymer electrolyte.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.702-708
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• 2018

Hydrogels are natural polymer networks that can contain huge quantities of water and many cosmetical ingredients. Their hydrophilic functional groups creates a matrix, which allows high efficacy in delivering active ingredients into the skin. In industry, hydrating properties and strength of the hydrogels are of great interest in manufacturing hydrogel mask packs. We have used the cellulose in various forms such as powder, cotton fiber and cellulase treated cotton fiber to investigate the property changes of cellulose/hydrogel sheets. When 0.1% and 0.3% of cellulose powder were added to hydrogels, tensile strength of hydrogel sheets were decreased by 10% and 14% respectively. Vise versa, when 0.5 ~ 2 cm of cotton fibers were added, tensile strength of hydrogel sheets were significantly increased by about 20%. The hydrogels which contain cotton fibers also gave an excellent moisturizing effect. Especially cellolose/hydrogels containing cellulase-treated cotton fibers showed the best effect on retaining moisture content increasing upto 380% in comparison with the one containing untreated cotton as well as excellent dispersibility.