Development of advanced radiation sources at KAERI

The KAERI Center for Quantum Beam-Based Radiation Research, was founded in 2011. The center pursues the development of advanced radiation sources and their applications in biology, material science, and nuclear physics. There are two main research topics in the development of advanced radiation sources: a system with high-power T-ray pump and an ultrashort X-ray probe system and a compact electron storage ring based on a laser-accelerated electron beam.     

Establishment of a UPLC-PDA/ESI-Q-TOF/MS-Based Approach for the Simultaneous Analysis of Multiple Phenolic Compounds in Amaranth (A. cruentus and A. tricolor)

We used ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with a photodiode-array detector and electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-PDA/ESI-Q-TOF/MS) to rapidly and accurately quantify 17 phenolic compounds. Then, we applied this method to the seed and leaf extracts of two Amaranthus species to identify and quantify phenolic compounds other than the 17 compounds mentioned above. Compounds were eluted within 30 min on a C18 column using a mobile phase (water and acetonitrile) containing 0.1% formic acid, and the specific wavelength and ion information of the compounds obtained by PDA and ESI-Q-TOF/MS were confirmed. The proposed method showed good linearity (r² > 0.990). Limits of detection and quantification were less than 0.1 and 0.1 μg/mL, respectively. Intra- and interday precision were less than 2.4% and 1.8%, respectively. Analysis of amaranth seed and leaf extracts using the established method showed that the seeds contained high amounts of 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid and kaempferol, and leaves contained diverse phenolic compounds. In addition, six tentatively new phenolic compounds were identified. Moreover, seeds potentially contained 2,3-dihydroxybenzaldehyde, a beneficial bioactive compound. Thus, our method was an efficient approach for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of phenolic compounds, and could be used to investigate phenolic compounds in plants.     

Adsorption and Thermogravimetric Methods for Monitoring Surface and Structural Changes in Ordered Mesoporous Silicas Induced by their Chemical Modification

The current work demonstrates that the standard adsorption analysis has a limited applicability for characterization of chemically modified porous silicas. Since low-pressure nitrogen adsorption isotherms are sensitive to the surface changes caused by chemical modification of silicas, these isotherms were successfully used to evaluate their surface heterogeneity during different stages of modification. The surface analysis was accomplished by using adsorption energy distributions and high-resolution comparative plots.     

Synthesis of thermally stable mesoporous cerium oxide with nanocrystalline frameworks using mesoporous silica templates

Highly ordered mesoporous cerium oxides, composed of nanocrystalline pore walls and exhibiting high thermal stability even at 973 K, were synthesized using mesoporous silica templates with hexagonal p6mm and cubic Ia3d symmetries.     

Experimental support differenciating two proposed chiral recognition models for the resolution of N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)-alpha-arylalkylamines on high-performance liquid chromatography chiral stationary phases

In rationalizing the odd chromatographic behavior for the separation of the enantiomers of N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)-alpha-arylalkylamines on HPLC chiral stationary phases (CSPs) derived from alpha-(6,7-dimethyl-1-naphthyl)alkylamines, we initially suggested the occurrence of two competing, opposite sense chiral recognition processes termed the "dipole-stacking process" and the "hydrogen-bonding process". A simplified "single mechanism" model was later suggested with the importance of face to edge pi-pi interaction between aromatic rings come to recognized. The initial and subsequent chiral recognition models can be differentiated by noting the chromatographic trends for the enantioseparation of a homologous series of N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)-alpha-(p-alkylphenyl)ethylamines on the aforementioned CSPs. Data so obtained were consistent with the second "single mechanism" model but not with the first "two competing mechanism" model. From these results, it has been concluded that the "single mechanism" model is more plausible than the "two competing mechanism" model.     

MCM-48-like large mesoporous silicas with tailored pore structure: facile synthesis domain in a ternary triblock copolymer-butanol-water system

Assembly of mesostructured silica using Pluronic P123 triblock copolymer (EO(20)-PO(70)-EO(20)) and n-butanol mixture is a facile synthesis route to the MCM-48-like ordered large mesoporous silicas with the cubic Iad mesostructure. The cubic phase domain is remarkably extended by controlling the amounts of butanol and silica source correspondingly. The extended phase domain allows synthesis of the mesoporous silicas with various structural characteristics. Characterization by powder X-ray diffraction, nitrogen physisorption, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy reveals that the cubic Iad materials possess high specific surface areas, high pore volumes, and readily tunable pore diameters in narrow distribution of sizes ranging from 4 to 12 nm. Moreover, generation of complementary pores between the two chiral channels in the gyroid Iad structure can be controlled systematically depending on synthesis conditions. Carbon replicas, using sucrose as the carbon precursor, are obtained with either the same Iad structure or I4(1)/a (or lower symmetry), depending on the controlled synthesis conditions for silica. Thus, the present discovery of the extended phase domain leads to facile synthesis of the cubic Iad silica with precise structure control, offering vast prospects for future applications of large-pore silica materials with three-dimensional pore interconnectivity.