Selective doping of pyridinic nitrogen in carbon materials has attracted attention due to its significant properties for various applications such as catalysts and electrodes. However, selective doping of pyridinic nitrogen together with controlling skeletal structure is challenging in the absence of catalysts. In this work, four precursors including four fused aromatic rings and pyridinic nitrogen were simply carbonized in the absence of catalysts in order to attain mass synthesis at low cost and a high percentage of pyridinic nitrogen in carbon materials with controlled edges. Among four precursors, dibenzo[f,h] quinoline (DQ) showed an extremely high percentage of pyridinic nitrogen (96 and 86%) after heat treatment at 923 and 973 K, respectively. Experimental spectroscopic analyses combined with calculated spectroscopic analyses using density functional theory calculations unveiled that the C-H next to the pyridinic nitrogen in DQ generated gulf edge structures with controlled pyridinic nitrogen after carbonization. By comparing the reactivities among the four precursors, three main factors required for maintaining the pyridinic nitrogen in carbon materials with controlled edges, such as (1) high thermal stability of the pyridinic nitrogen, (2) the presence of one pyridinic nitrogen in one ring, and (3) the formation of gulf edges including pyridinic nitrogen to protect the pyridinic nitrogen by the C-H groups on the gulf edges, were revealed.

Pleurotus eryngii, a white rot fungus, produces two extracellular lignin-degrading enzymes, laccase and manganese peroxidase (MnP). Owing to these enzymes, P. eryngii efficiently degrades synthetic chemicals such as azo, phthalocyanine, and triphenyl methane dyes. In this study, we investigated the degradation processes of four aromatic dyes, congo red (CR), methylene blue (MB), crystal violet (CV), and malachite green (MG), by P. eryngii under solid and liquid culture conditions. CR and MG were the most quickly degraded under solid and liquid culture conditions, respectively. However, compared to CR, CV, and MG, MB was not degraded well under both culture conditions. The activities of ligninolytic enzymes (laccase and MnP) were also investigated. Laccase was identified to be the major enzyme for dye degradation. A positive relationship between decolorization and enzyme activity was observed for CR, MB, and CV degradation. In contrast, decolorization of MG ensued after high enzyme activity. These results indicate that the degradation process differs between MG and the other aromatic dyes. Therefore, P. eryngii could be a potential tool for the bioremediation of synthetic aromatic dye effluent.

This work reports the syntheses of an inexpensive and efficient asphalt-derived mesoporous carbon (AdMC) as an adsorbent. The adsorbent was activated with potassium hydroxide to increase its surface area and then characterized by SEM–EDS, FT-IR, and BET. The adsorption properties of AdMC were evaluated for the adsorptive removal of eleven Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and diesel from water samples. The prepared AdMC showed very high surface areas and high micropore volumes equal to 2316 m2/g and 1.2 cm3/g, respectively. Various experimental conditions influencing the adsorption capacity of eleven PAHs and diesel were investigated. At high concentrations, PAHs and diesel solubility in water is very low. Hence, samples were emulsified with a surfactant, and then maximum adsorption capacity was investigated. Adsorption profile of individual PAHs was examined using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis followed by liquid–liquid extraction. Total hydrocarbon removal was studied using a total organic analyzer. Asphalt-derived mesoporous sorbent showed an extreme ability to remove PAHs and diesel (average adsorption capacity of 166 mg/g for individual PAHs and diesel (maximum capacity of 1600 mg/g). The experimental results fitted the Langmuir model with a correlation efficiency of 0.9853. The results obtained for both adsorbents also matched to pseudo-second-order kinetics, suggesting that the adsorption of PAHs and diesel is chemical, monolayer, and homogeneous process.

Carbon materials with tailorable structures and superior properties have great potential applications in environmental protection, energy conversion, and catalysis. Plant biomass as abundant and green non-toxic raw materials has been considered as good precursors for synthesizing heteroatom-doped carbon materials. However, few studies have been reported on the different natures of carbon materials derived from different parts of the same plant biomass. In this study, we prepared carbon materials from the petioles and blades of apricot leaves by direct pyrolysis without additives. Detailed characterizations indicate that these two carbon materials are similar in element composition and graphitization degree, but differ greatly in surface area and pore volume. These differences can be attributed to the different contents of inorganic salts, vascular bundles, and proteins in petioles and blades. When used as catalysts for the oxidation of ethylbenzene, the petiole-derived carbon shows better catalytic performance than the blades derived carbon due to its high surface area, large average pore size, and doped nitrogen atoms. Furthermore, the carbon catalysts derived from the petioles and blades of poplar leaves and parasol tree leaves show the same difference in catalytic reaction, implying that the above-mentioned conclusion is rather universal, which can provide reference for the synthesis of carbon materials from leaves.

흰구름버섯 (Trametes hirsuta)의 균사체는 CR, CV, RBBR 등 방향족 염료가 함유된 고체와 액체 배지에서 이들 염료를 효과적으로 탈색하였으나 MB의 탈색은 저조하였다. 각각 CR, MB, CV 및 RBBR 등 4종류의 염료가 함유된 액체배지에서 흰구름버섯의 균사체를 10일 간 배양했을 때 laccase, LiP, MnP 등 세 종류의 효소를 모두 생산하였으며 이들 효소 중 laccase의 활성도가 가장 높았으며 LiP와 MnP의 활성도laccase에 비해 낮았다. 따라서 흰구름버섯 균사체에 의한 방향족 염료의 탈색에는 laccase가 주로 사용되고 LiP나 MnP는 보조적인 역할을 하는 것으로 사료된다. 또한 비스페놀 A가 0, 25, 50, 100, 200 ppm의 농도로 함유된 PDA 배지에 균사체를 접종하여 배양한 결과 비스페놀 A의 농도가 증가함에 따라 균사체의 생장은 농도 의존적으로 저해되는 것으로 나타 났다. 또한 비스페놀 A가 100 ppm 함유된 YMG 액체배지에 균사체를 접종하고 비스페놀 A의 분해율을 측정한 결과 배양 12시간 후 72.3%, 배양 24시간 후 95.3%, 그리고 배양 36시간 후에는 100% 분해된 것으로 나타났다. 따라서 본 연구 결과는 우리나라의 산업 활동 과정에서 생산되고 자연계로 배출되어 생물체에 큰 피해를 주는 합성염료와 내분비계 장애물질인 비스페놀 A를 친환경적으로 제거할 수 있는 기술의 개발에 도움이 될 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.

An efficient, quick and low-cost extraction and clean up method for the determination of 14 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the agricultural water samples was optimized using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The extraction of the target compounds in water sample was carried out with acetonitrile, followed by partitioning promoted by the addition of salt. As a clean-up procedure, dispersive solid phase extraction was employed to purify the analytes of interest for GC-MS/MS analysis. This method was successfully applied for the quantification of PAHs in real water samples collected for the purpose of monitoring from the waterways located in Chungbuk (15 sites) and Gyeongbuk (6 sites), S. Korea. Phenanthrene (0.54 to 2.53 μg L-1) was detected in all the water samples collected from both the sites. Fluoranthene was detected in the water samples collected from the two sites in Gyeongbuk province, but other PAHs were not determined in these water sampling sites. Based on these results, the determined PAHs were conducted using an environmental risk assessment. The risk characterization ratios (RCRs) for phenanthrene ranged from 0.37 to 3.21. These RCR values referred to as risk was not controlled because RCR values of some sites were greater than 1. In conclusion, it is proposed that the optimized method in combination with GC-MS/MS could be successfully employed for the determination of PAHs in any environmental samples including water samples.

Development of forward osmosis (FO) membranes with high salt selectivity is a essential issue to realize the FO technology. To improve salt selectivity of the FO membrane, a polyamide thin film composite FO membrane was fabricated by the interfacial polymerization method using aromatic hydrocarbon organic solvents on polyacrylonitrile (PAN) supports. The aromatic hydrocarbon organic solvent accelerated amine diffusion rate toward the organic phase and the subsequent reaction, which can improve membrane performance by fabricating a thin and highly dense basal PA layer. As a result, the prepared FO membrane showed ~1.7 times higher flux and ~4.5 times higher salt selectivity compared to HTI-CTA commercial membrane with 1.0 M NaCl draw solution and DI water feed solution in FO mode.

We report on the fabrication of a high performance reverse osmosis membrane based on a hydrophilic polyacrylonitrile support via an aromatic solvent-assisted interfacial polymerization process. The use of aromatic solvent (toluene or xylene) produced the membranes with unprecedentedly high NaCl rejection (~99.9%) and superior water flux, outperforming both the control membrane prepared using a conventional aliphatic solvent (n-hexane) and commercial membranes. The membranes fabricated using toluene or xylene had roof-like structures covering a thin and highly dense polyamide (PA) layer, which was induced by enhanced amine diffusion and the extended miscible layer resulting from the increased miscibility of aromatic solvent with water. The high performance of the membranes is attributed to thin and highly cross-linked basal PA layer.

공액구조 고분자는 일반적으로 전도성, 착체형성, 색, 광학 비선형성, 높은 기체투과도, 광 및 전기 발광 등의 특성을 보인다. 다양한 유형의 전도성 고분자 중에서 폴리(아로마틱 헤테로사이클릭)은 해당 단량체의 화학적 혹은 전기화학적 중합을 통하여 합성되는 주쇄 방향족성 고분자이다. 이들 소재는 발광소자, 화학센서, 수퍼커페시터, 유기 태양전지, 유기 트랜지스터, 스마트 윈도우 등 다양한 응용 영역을 가지고 있다. 본고에서는 폴리(아로마틱 헤테로사 이클릭)의 합성과 응용에 관한 그동안의 연구동향을 제시하였다.

유가금속 및 희소금속의 수요가 많아짐에 따라 제련공정에서 발생하는 황산 용액 내의 유가금속 및 희소금속을 회수하여 사용하는 방향의 연구가 진행되고 있다. 이에 황산용액 내의 희소금속 및 유가금속을 분리하기 위해서는 내산성이 뛰어난 나노분리막이 필요하다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 우수한 내산성을 가진 방향족 폴리아미드 나노여과막을 제조하였으며 제조된 분리막의 나노여과 특성과 내산성 및 내열성을 평가하였다.

Ochratoxin A, which is frequently detected in cereals and infant diets worldwidely, is a mycotoxin to damage mainly the kidney and liver. Because ochratoxin A is highly thermostable compound. it is necessary to study ways of reducing level of ochratoxin A by controling processing steps. However, food processes, including extrusion, expansion, roasting, and steam cooking, which are used in order to mitigate the contents of ochratoxin A, are known to produce polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are generated from radicals decomposed by pyrolysis. Therefore, this study analyzed the levels of 4 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, benz (a) anthracene, chrysene, benzo (b) fluoranthene and benzo (a) pyrene in rice-based products made in high pressure and heating process. Rice samples were finely ground, and homogenized samples were alkaline treatement with 1 M KOH/EtOH and extracted with liquid-liquid extraction method using n-hexane. The extracted solution was pretreated with a silica cartridge. The purified solution was dried with nitrogen gas and dissolved in 1 mL of dichloromethane and injected into GC/MSD. We had overall recoveries for 4 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons spiked into rice samples ranging from 92.8 to 110.2%. The limit of quantitations of benz (a) anthracene, chrysene, benzo (b) fluoranthene and benzo (a) pyrene in rice-based product were 0.19 ng/g, 0.38 ng/g, 0.51 ng/g, and 0.31 ng/g, respectively. However, these 4 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in all processed rice samples were not detected.

The hazards associated with the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are known to be recalcitrant by their structure, but white rot fungi are capable of degrading recalcitrant organic compounds. Phlebia brevispora KUC9045 isolated from Korea was investigated its efficiency of degradation of four PAHs, such as phenanthrene, anthracne, fluoranthene, and pyrene. And the species secreted extracellular laccase and MnP (Manganese dependent peroxidase) during degradation. P. brevispora KUC9045 demonstrated effective degradation rates of phenanthrene (66.3%), anthracene (67.4%), fluoranthene (61.6%), and pyrene (63.3%), respectively. For enhancement of degradation rates of PAHs by the species, Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR) was preferentially supplemented to induce ligninolytic enzymes. The biodegradation rates of the three PAHs including phenanthrene, fluoranthene, and pyrene were improved as higher concentration of Remazol Brilliant Blue R was supplemented. However, anthracene was degraded with the highest rate among four PAHs after two weeks of the incubation without RBBR addition. According to the previous study, RBBR can be clearly decolorized by P. brevispora KUC9045. Hence, the present study demonstrates simultaneous degradation of dye and PAHs by the white rot fungus. And it is considered that the ligninolytic enzymes are closely related with the degradation. In addition, it indicated that dye waste water might be used to induce ligninolytic enzymes for effective degradation of PAHs.