Wide-area surface decontamination is essential in the emergency situation of release of radioisotopes to public such as nuclear accident or terrorist attack. Here, a self-generated hydrogel based on the reversible complex between poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and phenylboronic acid-grafted poly (methyl vinyl ether-alt-mono-sodium maleate) (PBA-g-PVM-SM) was developed to remove the radioactive cesium from surface. Two aqueous polymeric solutions of PVA and PBA-g-PVM-SM containing sulfur-zeolite were simultaneously applied to surfaces, which subsequently self-generated a hydrogel based on the PBA-diol ester bond. The sulfur-zeolite suspended in hydrogel selectively remove the 137Cs from contaminated surface and easily separated from the dissociable used hydrogel by simple water rinsing. In radioactive tests, the resulting hydrogel containing sulfur-chabazite displayed high 137Cs removal efficiencies of 96.996% for painted cement and 63.404% for cement, which was 2.33 times higher than that of commercial strippable coating (Decongel). Considering the intrinsic various ion-exchange ability of zeolite, our hydrogel system has the excellent potential for the effective removal of various hazardous contamination including radionuclides from the surface.

The structural transformationss of oriented poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) fibers impregnated with potassium bisulfate (PBS) were studied in detail on the way from PVA precursor fibers till carbonized at a temperature of 1000 °C fibers. It has been shown that the impregnation of PVA fibers with a sulfur-containing compound (PBS) is an efficient technique to decrease the thermoplasticity of PVA fibers during heat treatment at high temperatures in air and argon and contributes to a high yield of coke residue after heat treatment up to 1000 °C. TMA, TGA, DSC, mass spectrometry, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, WAXS and SAXS were used to study the structural transformations of oriented PVA fibers impregnated with PBS at the stages of their preliminary thermal stabilization (215 °C), thermal stabilization (215–400 °C) and carbonization (400–1000 °C). A reaction scheme has been proposed that fully describes carbonization chemistry in the entire studied temperature range. The processing temperature of 215 °C was found to be optimal for preliminary thermal stabilization of PVA fibers impregnated with PBS. The heat treatment in an inert medium can be recommended as the optimal for thermal stabilization of fibers impregnated with PBS. The characteristics of the carbonized PVA fibers, such as strength, modulus and electrical conductivity, were close to the characteristics of commercial cellulose-based carbon fibers yarns.

본 연구에서는 titanium nitride (TiN) 나노 섬유와 poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOTPSS) 전도성 고분자로 이루어진 전극과 poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) 기반 고분자 전해질 분리막을 이용하여 슈퍼 캐퍼시터를 제조하였다. TiN 나노 섬유의 경우 높은 전기 전도도와 이차원적 구조로 인한 스케폴드 효과를 기대할 수 있다는 점에서 전극 물질로 사용되었다. PEDOT-PSS 전도성 고분자는 수소 이온과 산화-환원 반응을 통해 보다 높은 정전용량을 나타낼 수 있으며 용액상에 분산이 용이해 유무기 복합제를 형성하기에 적합하였다. PVA 기반의 고분자 전해질 분리막은 기존의 액상의 전해질의 문제인 외부 충격에 대한 안정성을 확보할 수 있으며 염으로 사용된 H3PO4의 경우 수소 이온은 빠른 확산으로 인해 캐퍼시터의 충방전 효율에 이점이 있다. 본 연구에서 보고된 PEDOT-PSS/TiN 슈퍼캐퍼시터의 정전용량은 약 75 F/g으로 기존의 탄소기반 캐퍼시터에 비해 큰 폭으로 증가한 값이다.

Membrane fabrication is a critical area that hampers forward osmosis (FO) technology from industrialization. Herein, electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofiber (NF) was used as a support layer for thin film composite (TFC) FO membrane. The PVA NF was incorporated with sulfonated graphene oxide (sGO). The oxygenous-rich sGO enhanced the hydrophilicity and mechanical strength of PVA NF as revealed by contact angle and tensile strength measurements, and pure water flux. On this support, the active polyamide layer was formed through interfacial polymerization. Meanwhile, FO performance of sGO/PVA TFC membrane is currently being evaluated. This work was supported by NRF of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (2016R1A2B1009221 and 2017R1A2B2002109) and Ministry of Education (2009-0093816 and 22A20130012051 (BK21Plus)).

Crosslinked PVA membranes were fabricated by solution casting of the substituted PVA (SPVA), synthesized by the reaction of PVA with glycidyl acrylate (GMA) without catalyst in different molar ratios [-OH(PVA)/GMA], followed by electron beam irradiation. The chemical changes in the SPVA compared to PVA were confirmed from H-NMR and FT-IR analysis. Crosslinking degree and dimensional stability of the crosslinked PVA membranes also investigated by measuring gel fraction and dimensional change of the membranes under acidic and basic solution.

본 연구에서는 양이온 교환막으로 Sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK)를 사용하였고, 음이온 교환막은 poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)과 poly(vinyl amine) (PVAm)을 혼합하여 가교시킨 막을 이용하였으며, 이에 대한 막결합형 축전식 탈염 공정(Membrane capacitive deionization, MCDI)의 성능실험을 진행하였다. 음이온 교환막의 함수율, 이온교환용량, FT-IR 측정을 통하여 막의 특성을 알아보았다. 음이온 교환막의 가교 시간이 3 h에서 5 h으로 증가할수록 염 제거 효율은 81.3%에서 65.7, 53.8%로 감소하였다. PVAm의 농도를 40, 60, 80%로 달리하여 실험한 결과 염 제거 효율은 81.3, 75.2, 37.7%로 PVAm이 80% 함량일 때 가장 효율이 떨어졌다. 이는 음이온 교환막의 가교 시간과 PVAm의 농도가 염제거 성능에 영향을 미치는 것으로 사료된다.

본 연구에서는 Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/AgCF3SO3/Al(NO3)3 전해질 분리막을 제조하여 기존의 poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP)/AgCF3SO3/Al(NO3)3 분리막보다 더 향상된 성능을 보이는 고투과성 올레핀 촉진수송 분리막을 얻고자 하 였다. PVA/AgCF3SO3/Al(NO3)3 막의 특성은 SEM, FT-IR, FT-Raman에 의해서 조사되었다. 다양한 Al(NO3)3 농도 중 1 : 1:0.01 PVA/AgCF3SO3/Al(NO3)3에서 가장 좋은 분리성능을 보였다. 결과적으로 선택도는 12, 혼합 기체 투과도는 3.5 Barrer 를 나타내었으며, 선택도와 투과도는 115시간 동안 유지되었다.

수처리 분리막에서 poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)는 물질 고유의 친수성과 높은 화학적, 열적, 그리고 물리적 특성으로 인해 많이 사용되고 있다. 그러나 PVA를 이용한 막의 경우 제거율이 RO막에 미치지 못한다. Citric acid를 이용해 crosslinking을 시도하면 막에 charge가 부여되고, 이것은 막에서 donnan효과를 통해 rejection의 향상을 가져올 것이라 기대 된다. 본 연구에서는 poly(vinyl alcohol)-g-polyethylene oxide (PVA-g-PEO) copolymer를 citic acid를 이용해 crosslinking을 하여 복합막을 제조하였다. Crosslinking 정도와 charge density에 의한 막 특성의 변화와 그에 따른 투과도와 제거율에 대해 연구하였다.

Polyethersulfone, polysulfone, polyacrylonitrile and cellulose acetate were recently developed to make a membrane for medical application. The membrane made of hydrophobic polymer showed good mechanical properties, however, it caused hydrophobic interaction which results in a disadvantage of short replacement cycle due to the biofouling on the membrane surface. On the other hand, the membrane made of a hydrophilic polymer showed a high swelling ratio, which absorbs a large amount of water and eventually results in a low mechanical strength. In this study, anti-fouling ultrafiltration membranes were prepared using syndiotactic poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) via a phase inversion technique and a surface saponification. The biofouling and the permeability of membranes were investigated by controlling the tacticity of PVA.

Blends of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), polyethyleneimine (PEI), and graphene oxide (GO) were prepared by solution casting method. Calorimetric thermal properties of the blends were investigated. The Tgs of PVA/PEI blends were higher than the Tgs of either of the component polymers at low concentrations of PEI. These abnormal increases of Tgs may be due to the negative entropy of mixing which is associated with strong hydrogen bonding between PVA and PEI. The degree of depression of T0ms was not reduced by the negative entropy of mixing, since strong hydrogen bonding also causes an increase in the magnitude of negative χ between PVA and PEI. The Tg of PVA was increased significantly by adding 0.7 wt.% GO into PVA. The magnitude of negative χ was increased by adding GO into the blends of PVA and PEI.

본 연구에서는 소수성 PVDF막 표면에 중성 친수성 고분자인 Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)를 코팅한 후 순수 투과도를 측정하고 대표적인 단백질 오염물질인 bovin serum albumin (BSA)에 대하여 파울링 실험을 수행하였다. BSA 용액 20ppm 조건에서 파울링 실험을 수행한 결과, 코팅 전 막에 비하여 순수 투과도는 감소하였지만 내오염성은 현저히 증가됨을 알 수 있었다. 코팅된 PVA의 분자량이 커질수록 순수 투과도는 감소하였으나, 내오염성이 증가하는 경향을 보였다. 또한, 코팅된 PVA의 농도가 높아질수록 순수 투과도는 감소하였고, 내오염성이 증가하였다. 이는 접촉각과 AFM 측정 결과와 관련하여 코팅 후 막 표면에 친수성의 증가와 거칠기가 감소했기 때문으로 여겨진다.

We prepared ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH)/graphene oxide (GO) membranes by solution casting method. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that GOs were fully exfoliated in the EVOH/GO membrane. The glass transition temperatures of EVOH were increased by adding GOs into EVOH. The melting temperatures of EVOH/GO composites were decreased by adding GOs into EVOH, indicating that GOs may inhibit the crystallization of EVOH during non-isothermal crystallization. However, the equilibrium melting temperatures of EVOH were not changed by adding GOs into EVOH. The oxygen permeability of the EVOH/GO (0.3 wt%) film was reduced to 63% of that of pure EVOH film, with 84% light transmittance at 550 nm. The EVOH/GO membranes exhibited 100 times better (water vapor)/(oxygen) selectivity performance than pure EVOH membrane.

본 연구에서는 폴리아마이드 역삼투 복합막 표면에 중성 친수성 고분자인 poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA)를 코팅한 후 모델 오염물질인 bovine serum albumin (BSA), humic acid (HA), sodium alginate (SA)에 대하여 파울링 개선 효과가 있는지를 알아보고자 하였다. 고분자의 파울링 유도를 위해 모델 오염물질인 BSA, HA, SA 등이 100 ppm으로 용해된 공급원액을 2, 4, 8 atm 조건에서 PVA 코팅된 막과 코팅되지 않은 막에 대하여 파울링 실험을 수행한 결과. 압력이 증가함에 모든 오염물질에 대해서 파울링은 심화되었다. 파울링 심화 현상은 BSA > HA > SA의 순으로 일어났으며, PVA가 코팅된 막에 대해 파울링 개선효과는 HA > BSA > SA의 순으로 나타났다. 전자현미경 사진 결과에서도 같은 경향을 보여주고 있다. 결국, PVA가 코팅된 역삼투막은 어느 경우에서나 파울링 개선효과는 뚜렷하게 있었으며 HA의 경우에서 가장 두드러졌다.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) composites with various graphite oxide (GO) contents (0 to 10 wt%) were prepared by sonicating the mixture of PVA and GO, followed by crosslinking with glutaraldehyde. GO was pre-treated with oxyfluorination (O2:F2 = 8:2) in order to modify the surface of GO to allow it to carry hydrophilic functional groups. PVA/GO composite hydrogels were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR). The morphology of the PVA/GO composite hydrogels and the variations in soluble gel portion were investigated under various GO contents and UV irradiation doses. The variation in the chemical structure of photo degraded PVA/GO composite hydrogels was studied by FT-IR. The photochemical stability of PVA/GO composite hydrogels under UV irradiation was found to improve noticeably with increasing content of uniformly dispersed GO.