We investigated the effects of supercritical-CO2 treatment on the pore structure and consequent H2 adsorption behavior of single-walled carbon nanohorns (SWCNHs) and SWCNH aggregates. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and adsorption characterization techniques were employed to elucidate the alterations in the SWCNH morphology and aggregate pore characteristics induced by supercritical-CO2 treatment. Our results confirm that supercritical-CO2 treatment reduces the interstitial pore surface area and volume of SWCNH aggregates, notably affecting the adsorption of N2 (77 K), CO2 (273 K), and H2 (77 K) gasses. The interstitial porosity strongly depends on the supercritical-CO2 pressure. Supercritical-CO2 treatment softens the individual SWCNHs and opens the core of SWCNH aggregates, producing a partially orientated structure with interstitial ultramicropores. These nanopores are formed by the diffusion and intercalation of CO2 molecules during treatment. An increase in the amount of H2 adsorbed per interstitial micropore of the supercritically modified SWCNHs was observed. Moreover, the increase in the number and volume of ultramicropores enable the selective adsorption of H2 and CO2 molecules. This study reveals that supercritical-CO2 treatment can modulate the pore structure of SWCNH aggregates and provides an effective strategy for tailoring the H2 adsorption properties of nanomaterials.

Physicochemical properties and storage stability of plant-based alternative meat prepared with low-fat soybean powder (LPAM) treated by supercritical-CO2 and those of full-fat soybean powder (FPAM) were compared. Ash and crude protein contents were higher in LPAM than in FRAM. Water absorption capacity and oil absorption capacity were significantly higher in LPAM than in FPAM. Water binding capacity was higher in LPAM than in FPAM during a 20 days storage period at 5℃ and pH was significantly lower in LPAM than in FPAM after a 5~10 days storage period. Hardness, gumminess and chewiness significantly increased with the increase in the storage period, and the three were significantly higher in LPAM than in FPAM after 10 days and 20 days of storage. The acid value showed no remarkable difference according to the storage period in LPAM; however, it was significantly higher in FPAM than in LPAM after 20 days of storage. The peroxide value and TBA value were significantly increased according to the storage period, and were significantly lower iin LPAM than in FPAM during all the storage periods. Therefore, the use of low-fat soybean powder may be effective in improving oxidative stability during storage in the production of plant-based alternative meat.

Radioactive contamination of soil on the site of a nuclear facility has a characteristic that radioactive nuclides are adsorbed into the pores between soil particles, making it quite difficult to decontaminate. For this reason, research on the development of various decontamination processes is being actively conducted. In this study, among various decontamination studies, a soil decontamination process using supercritical carbon dioxide was presented. The decontamination process uses supercritical carbon dioxide as the main solvent, which has a higher penetration power than other materials. Therefore, the process consists of the process of desorbing and extracting the target radionuclides between particles of soil. However, since nuclides exist as ions in the soil, polar chelating ligand material was introduced as an additive to nonpolar supercritical carbon dioxide for smooth chemical reactions in the soil. Thereafter, from the viewpoint of improving process continuity and efficiency, an alcohol material was introduced as an auxiliary solvent for liquefaction of chelating ligand in a solid state. Through prior research on the selection of a solvent for liquefaction of chelating ligand, ethanol and 2-propanol were finally selected based on whether the chelating ligand was dissolved. However, if the auxiliary solvent in which the chelating ligand is dissolved is to be combined with radionuclides in the soil, it must first be well dissolved in supercritical carbon dioxide, the main solvent. Therefore, in this study, the solubility of ethanol and 2-propanol in supercritical carbon dioxide was measured and the suitability was evaluated. The temperature conditions were carried out at 40°C, the same as the previously designed decontamination process, and the measurement was conducted by adjusting the pressure and volume through a syringe pump and a variable volume device. In addition, solubility was measured based on the observation of the ‘cloud point’ in which the image becomes cloudy and then bright. As a result of the experiment, several solubility points were measured at a pressure of 150 bar or less. If the flow rate ratio of supercritical carbon dioxide and auxiliary solvent derived from the results is applied to the soil decontamination process, it is expected that the process efficiency will increase in the future.

Korea faces decommissioning the nation’s first commercial nuclear power plant, the Kori-1 and Wolseong-1 reactors. In addition, other nuclear power plants that will continue to operate will also face decommissioning over time, so it is essential to develop independent nuclear facility decommissioning and site remediation technologies. Among these various technologies, soil decontamination is an essential not only in the site remediation after the decommissioning of the highly radioactive nuclear facility, but also in the case of site contamination caused by an accident during operation of the nuclear facility. But the soil, which is a porous material, is difficult to decontaminate because radionuclides are adsorbed into the pores. Therefore, with the current decontamination technology, it is difficult to achieve the two goals of high decontamination efficiency and secondary waste reduction at the same time. In this study, a soil decontamination process with supercritical carbon dioxide as the main solvent was presented, which has better permeability than other solvents and is easy to maintain critical conditions and change physical properties. Through prior research, a polar chelating ligand was introduced as an additive for smooth extraction reaction between radionuclides present as ions in soil and nonpolar supercritical carbon dioxide. In addition, for the purpose of continuity of the process, a candidate group of auxiliary solvents capable of liquefying the ligand was selected. In this research evaluated the decontamination efficiency by adding the selected auxiliary solvent candidates to the supercritical carbon dioxide decontamination process, and ethanol with the best characteristics was selected as the final auxiliary solvent. In addition, based on the decontamination effect under a single condition of the auxiliary solvent found in the Blank Test process, the possibility of a pre-treatment leaching process using alcohol was tested in addition to the decontamination process using supercritical carbon dioxide. Finally, in addition to the existing Cs and Sr, the possibility of decontamination process was tested by adding U nuclides as a source of contamination. As a result of this research, it is expected that by minimizing secondary waste after the process, waste treatment cost could be reduced and the environmental aspect could be contributed, and a virtuous cycle structure could be established through reuse of the separated carbon dioxide solvent. In addition, adding its own extraction capacity of ethanol used for liquefaction of solid-phase ligands is expected to maximize decontamination efficiency in the process of increasing the size of the process in the future.

As the number of nuclear power plants whose design life has expired worldwide increases, the attempts are continuing to complete the project of nuclear back-end cycle, the last task of the nuclear industry. Decontamination is essential in the process of dismantling nuclear facilities and restoration sites to remove all or some of the regulatory controls from an authorized facility. Among radioactive wastes, particularly contaminated soil is characterized by difficult physical decontamination because radionuclides are adsorbed between soil particles, that is, pores. Therefore, chemical decontamination is mainly used, which has the disadvantage of generating a lot of secondary waste. In order to overcome these disadvantages, an eco-friendly soil decontamination process is being developed that can drastically reduce the amount of secondary waste generated by using supercritical carbon dioxide. Supercritical carbon dioxide can easily control its physical properties and has both liquid and gas properties. However, since supercritical carbon dioxide is non-polar, additives are needed to extract polar metal ions, which are the goal of decontamination. Therefore, ligand with both CO2-philic and metal binding regions was selected. In previous studies, the decontamination efficiency of soil was evaluated by reacting contaminated soil with solid ligand and co-ligand at once. When solid ligands were used, the decontamination efficiency was lower than expected, which was expected because chemical substances were somewhat difficult to exchange in the closed process. In this study, in order to increase the efficiency of the decontamination process, the need for a process of liquefying ligand and continuously flowing it has been raised. Therefore, a co-solvent that dissolves well at the same time in SCCO2, ligand, and co-ligand was selected. In the selection process, a total of eight substances were selected by dividing into six polar substances and two non-polar substances through various criteria such as economic feasibility, eco-friendliness, and harmlessness. Thereafter, ethanol was finally selected through solubility evaluation for SCCO2 and additives. It is expected that a more effective decontamination process can be constructed when the additive is liquefied using a solvent selected from the results of this study.

Today, the domestic and international nuclear power industry is experiencing an acceleration in the scale of the nuclear facility decommissioning market. This phenomenon is also due to policy changes in some countries, but the main reason is the rapid increase in the proportion of old nuclear power plants in the world, mainly in countries that introduced nuclear power plants in the early stages. Decontamination is essential in the process of decommissioning nuclear facilities. Among various decontamination targets, radionuclides are adsorbed between pores in the soil, making physical decontamination quite difficult. Therefore, various chemical decontamination technologies are used for contaminated soil decontamination, and the current decontamination technologies have a problem of generating a large amount of secondary wastes. In this study, soil decontamination technology using supercritical carbon dioxide is proposed and aimed to make it into a process. This technology applies cleaning technology using supercritical fluids to decontamination of radioactive waste, it has important technical characteristics that do not fundamentally generate secondary wastes during radioactive waste treatment. Supercritical carbon dioxide is harmless and is a very useful fluid with advantages such as high dissolution, high diffusion coefficient, and low surface tension. However, since carbon dioxide, a non-polar material, shows limitations in removing polar and ionic metal wastes, a chelating ligand was introduced as an additive. In this study, a ligand material that can be dissolved in supercritical carbon dioxide and has high binding ability with polar metal ions was selected. In addition, in order to increase the decontamination efficiency, an experiment was conducted by adding an auxiliary ligand material and ultrasonic waves as additives. In this study, the possibility of liquefaction of chelating ligands and auxiliary ligands was tested for process continuity and efficiency, and the decontamination efficiency was compared by applying it to the actual soil classified according to the particle size. The decontamination efficiency was derived by measuring the concentration of target nuclides in the soil before and after decontamination through ICP-MS. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that the liquefaction of the additive had a positive effect on the decontamination efficiency, and a difference in the decontamination efficiency was confirmed according to the actual particle size of the soil. Through this study, it is expected that economic value can be created in addition to the social value of the technology by ensuring the continuity of the decontamination process using supercritical carbon dioxide.

이 연구는 열역학적으로 불안정한 활성성분을 안정하게 봉입하기위해 초임계 상태에서 다중층 의 리포좀을 생성하고 유효성분을 봉입하는 것에 관한 것이다. 초임계 상태에서 원활하게 리포좀을 형성시 키기 위하여 식물성유래의 하이드로제네이티드 포스파티딜콜린과 그 유도체, 하이드로제네이티드 수크로 오스다이스테아레이트를 포함하는 혼합 계면활성제를 고순도로 합성하였다. 이것을 반응조에 이산화탄소 를 주입하여 초임계상태를 만들고 교반함으로써 거대 리포좀을 생성시키고, 여기에 제니스테인(genistein) 과 쿼세틴(quercetin)을 첨가하여 봉입하는 제조방법에 대하여 기술하였다. 혼합지질계면활성제(SC-Lipid Complex)의 HLB는 12.50이었으며, 아주 낮은 농도에서도 다중층의 리포좀 소포체가 형성되었다. 이 계면 활성제의 외관은 엷은 황색의 페이스트로 특이취가 있었으며, 비중은 0.972이었고, 산가는 0.12로 고순도 로 합성이 되었음을 알 수 있었다. SC-Lipid Complex를 사용하여 20 wt%의 카플릭/카프릭 트리글리세라 이드와 트리에칠헥사노인을 사용한 유화력 실험결과 96.2 %의 유화력을 가지고 있음을 알 수 있었다. 제 니스테인을 봉입한 초임계 리포좀에 대하여 투과전자현미경(Cryo-TEM)을 통해 다중층의 리포좀 소포체 가 형성되었다는 것을 확인하였다. 제니스테인이 봉입된 1차 리포좀화한 입자 크기는 253.9 nm이었고, 2 차 캡슐의 크기는 18.2 ㎛ 이었다. 제니스테인을 표준물질로 하여 초임계 상태 리포좀의 봉입효율은 99.5 %이었고, 일반적인 리포좀은 93.6 %의 효율을 가지는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 쿼세틴을 봉입한 항산화력 실험은 DPPH법으로 확인한 결과 초임계리포좀에서 유의성 있게 우수한 항산화력을 유지하고 있음을 알 수 있었다. 이러한 결과를 바탕으로 효과는 우수하나 열역학적으로 불안정한 원료를 유기용매를 사용하지 않고 초임계 상태에서 리포좀에 봉입하고, 고기능성의 스킨케어 화장품, 메이크업 화장품, 두피보호용 화장 품 등 다양한 제형에 응용이 가능할 것으로 기대한다.

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extracts from sweet potatoes (SP) and watermelon (WM) on the oxidative stability of perilla seed oils (POs) over the existing ones. A comparison was done between the oxidative stability of perilla oil (PO) after the addition of 0.1% of SP, and WM extracts and PO without extract. The oxidative stability was measured based on the viscosity, acid value (AV), peroxide value (POV), antioxidant (DPPH) activity, p-anisidine value (p-AV), and fatty acid composition. The viscosities ranges were: PO without extract, from 53.99±0.99 to 74.38±1.61 cps, PO with SP extract, from 53.99±0.10 to 58.73±0.8 cps, and PO with WM extract, from 53.98±0.10 to 56.00±0.70 cps. While the PO containing the SC-CO2 extracts had significantly lower AV, POV, and p-AV, their antioxidant activity was approximately 10 times higher than that of the PO without extract. There were no significant differences in fatty acid composition between SC-CO2 extracts added groups and PO without extract (p<0.05). The findings of this study confirmed that the SC-CO2 extracts from sweet potatoes and watermelon enhanced the oxidative stability of perilla seed oils, and are potential natural antioxidants for use in the food industry.

Graphene is an unconventional material with a two-dimensional hexagonal crystalline array of elemental carbon atoms and outstanding properties; accordingly, a desirable objective in the line of research of graphene is the development of novel and more productive methods of synthesis, validating its properties and applications. In our exploratory research, we have effectively exfoliated graphene from graphite using supercritical fluids (water, ethanol and carbon dioxide). The exfoliated graphene was properly characterized; via scanning electron microscopy, the morphology of graphene was observed; Raman spectra confirmed the exfoliation of graphene depicting the characteristic shift towards smaller Raman number in the 2D band (2676 cm−1) compared to that of graphite (≈ 2700 cm−1); transmission electron microscopy analysis exhibited the crystalline structure of graphene attesting also the expected transparency of exfoliated layers. Graphene exfoliation from graphite by supercritical fluids promises to be a simple large-scale method for graphene production.

The root of Codonopsis lanceolata has been used in traditional medicine. This study was conducted to confirm the comparative effect of ethanol solvent extraction (CLE) and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (CLS) of C. lanceolata roots. CLS had higher antioxidant than CLE. For supercritical co-solvent modified carbon dioxide extraction (CLS), it were extracted at 250 bar 50℃ 150 min at a flow rate of ethyl alcohol 3 mL/min for 90min. In addition, CLS inhibited the adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells. When treated with the extract at a concentration of 100 μg/mL, the Wnt/β-catenin pathway reporter luciferase activity of HEK 293-TOP cells increased approximately by 3-folds compared to that of the untreated control group. Also, the treatment by CLS (50 μg/mL) showed a significant increase of involucrin expression. These results indicate that supercritical carbon dioxide extract of C. lanceolatamay serve as a cosmeceutical agent for improving skin barrier function and the treatment of obesity.

The root of Paeonia lactiflora has been used in Chinese medicine. We conducted to check the comparative qualities of ethanol solvent extraction (PLE) and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (PLS) of P. lactiflora root. PLE had higher antioxidant and polyphenol contents than PLS. But, PLS were significantly increased peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-α. In addition, PLS inhibited the adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells. When treated with the extract at a concentration of 100 μg/mL, the Wnt/β-catenin pathway reporter luciferase activity of HEK 293-TOP cells increased approximately by 3-folds compared to that of the untreated control group. These results indicate that P. lactiflora supercritical carbon dioxide extract may serve as a cosmeceutical for improving skin barrier function and the treatment of obesity.