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Histidine-containing dipeptides (HCDs), such as anserine and carnosine, are enormously beneficial to human health and contribute to the meat flavor in chickens. Meat quality traits, including flavor, are polygenic traits with medium to high heritability. Polygenic traits can be improved through a better understanding of their genetic mechanisms. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) constitute an effective genomic tool to identify the significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and potential candidate genes related to various traits of interest in chickens. This study identified potential candidate genes influencing the anserine and carnosine contents in chicken meat through GWAS. We performed GWAS of anserine and carnosine using the Illumina chicken 60K SNP chip (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA) in 637 Korean native chicken-red-brown line (KNC-R) birds consisting of 228 males and 409 females. The contents of anserine and carnosine in breast meat of KNC-R chickens were investigated. The mean value of the anserine and carnosine are 29.12 mM/g and 10.69 mM/g respectively. The genomic heritabilities were moderate (0.24) for anserine and high (0.43) for carnosine contents. Four and nine SNPs were significantly (P < 0.05) associated with anserine and carnosine, respectively. Based on the GWAS result, the 30.6 to 31.9 Mb region on chicken chromosome 7 was commonly associated with both anserine and carnosine. Through the functional annotation analysis, we identified HNMT and HNMT-like genes as potential candidate genes associated with both anserine and carnosine. The results presented here will contribute to the ongoing improvement of meat quality to satisfy current consumer demands, which are based on healthier, better-flavored, and higher-quality chicken meat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is a promising electrochemical technique for the removal and recycling of ions from micro-polluted wastewater but is still hindered by the co-ion expulsion effect and anode oxidation. In this study, these issues are addressed through optimization of both materials and electrochemical systems. A diverse set of porous carbons are prepared using biomass as a precursor and KOH as the activation agent. It is found that direct carbonization and/or KOH activation induce a negative surface charge, whereas intense nitrogen-doping results in an inverse surface charge for all biomass-derived carbons, characterized by the potential of zero charge (E pzc). Density functional theory calculations suggest that the carboxyl group and quaternary N contribute most among other functional groups to the negative and positive charges, respectively. A E pzc -matching asymmetric CDI system is constructed employing negatively charged and positively charged carbons as the cathode and anode, respectively. This configuration, coupled with precise optimization of the cathode-to-anode mass ratio (m -/ m +), unlocks a high adsorption capacity of 17.2 mg g−1 for NaCl, surpassing the symmetric system by 84.7 %. Further fine tuning of the m -/ m + ratio results in a removal capacity of 167.4 mg g−1 for Cu2+ ions, which is the highest reported for carbonaceous materials to date. [Display omitted] • Direct carbonization and post KOH activation result in negative surface charge for all biomass-derived carbons. • Nitrogen doping into the lignin-derived carbon shifted its surface from negative to positive charges. • Origins of both negative and positive charges were revealed through DFT calculation. • Optimization of the mass ratio of the cathode to anode led to high adsorption capacities for both NaCl and Cu2+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel lightweight folded-core radar-absorbing sandwich composite composed of Ni-plated glass fiber/polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and sendust-particle-filled polyurethane (PU) foam thermoplastic resin is presented. It is designed as a V-pattern folded-core unit cell, which can lead to gradual loss of the incident radar signal intensity and enhanced radio wave absorption performance in the ultra-high frequency (UHF) band (0.3–3.0 GHz). Ni-plated glass fiber was prepared by an electroless plating technique, and a folded-core radar-absorbing sandwich composite by a stamp-forming process. The folded-core was decorated with sendust-particle-filled PU foam to enhance radio wave absorption performance. The radio wave absorption performance of the folded-core sandwich composite was measured using a proposed UHF band single-port free space measurement system. The proposed sandwich composite with a thickness of 81.6 mm achieves a reflection loss below −10 dB (90% absorption) and bandwidth covers in the frequency range of 0.9–3 GHz while maintaining a low density of 0.142 g/cm3. This study presents the new radar-absorbing sandwich composite with a UHF absorber as a low-frequency band, a low density, and excellent radio wave absorption performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In anticipation of the successful establishment of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology, a pilot-scale aqueous mineral carbonation plant, that removes CO 2 through a reaction with a Ca(OH) 2 solution, was built in Incheon, South Korea. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), two reactors with a diameter of 2.2 m and a height of 6.0 m were modeled and validated for reactor scale-up and optimization. Because a direct simulation of bubble breakage, coalescence, and interphase mass transfer results in enormous computational costs for modeling the pilot-scale multiphase reactor, a CFD-lumped correlation model was introduced to simulate a large reactor; this resulted in acceptable computational costs and maintained the simulation accuracy. In order to ensure the acceptability of the CFD model, two-step verification was conducted. The CFD model results were compared with the experimental data and published empirical correlations with regard to the gas holdup, interfacial area, and mass transfer coefficient. Subsequently, the CO 2 removal efficiencies of the CFD model were compared with the pilot-plant data. The errors of the CFD model for three hydrodynamic parameters and the CO 2 removal efficiencies were in the range of 1–8%. The validated CFD model will be used for designing a four times larger mineral carbonation reactor, that will be built in 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the temporal and spatial variability of the urban heat island (UHI) effect by geographical location in the study area of Ulsan, Korea. It focuses on the relationship between geometric features and geographical locations. For this research, air temperature measurements were collected from 44 monitoring stations in 2016. We classified these measurements into five geographical conditions and conducted trend and a random effect GLS regression analyses. The results of the trend analysis showed that the nocturnal air temperature of the urban center roads was approximately 2.5°C and 3.5°C higher during the summer and winter periods, respectively, than the temperature of the rural roads. However, when we controlled for the geometric features of the roads in the regression model, the UHI intensities of the urban center roads in the winter and summer nights decreased to 1.4°C and 1.1°C, respectively. This decrease was due to the mediation effect of the geometric features of the roads. In addition, nocturnal air temperature increased when the building surface fraction and road width increased, while the sky view factor (SVF) was positively related with daytime air temperature. Compared with other geographical contexts, the thermal conditions of the roads near the coastal area was mild in the winter and cool in the summer when the geometric features and the meteorological conditions of the roads were controlled in the regression models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to vast sodium reserves, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are more cost-efficient to produce than lithium-ion batteries. Therefore, they are actively researched as next-generation energy storage materials. Antimony is a promising anode material for SIB owing to its high theoretical capacity (660 mA h g−1) and an appropriate sodiation voltage. However, due to the rapid volume change during sodium intercalation and deintercalation, cycling stability is poor, presenting a significant obstacle to the practical application of SIBs. Alleviating the Sb volume expansion throughout the charging and discharging processes is the key to the practical implementation of Sb-based anodes. Herein, Sb/C–SiOC composites are prepared using the hydrogen bonding-based adsorption properties of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The final product, the Sb/C–SiOC composites, exhibited significantly improved cycle performance, such as maintaining the initial capacity after 200 cycles by the SiOC matrix acting as a conductive buffer. Additionally, the presence of MOF-derived mesoporous carbon and SiOC contributed to the improved rate performance. The hydrogen bond-based adsorption properties of the MOFs used in this study can be effectively applied to uniformly introduce a matrix or coating layer that relieves the volume expansion of high-capacity composite anodes, making it an effective strategy for developing alloy-based energy storage materials. [Display omitted] • A novel Sb-MOFs composites with improved dispersion properties was synthesized. • In the final composites, Sb particles were evenly embedded into the SiOC matrix. • The SiOC matrix effectively accommodates volume expansion of Sb materials. • The MOF-derived mesoporous carbon enhances the electrochemical kinetics. • Hydrogen bond-based dispersion properties of composites can be utilized widely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is becoming increasingly important to investigate drug metabolites to evaluate their toxic or preventive effects after administration of the parent compound. In our previous study, isoliquiritigenin isolated from Glycyrrhizae Radix effectively protected mouse-derived hippocampal neuronal cells (HT22) against 5 mM glutamate-induced oxidative stress. However, there is little information on the protective effects of the metabolites of isoliquiritigenin on HT22 cells. In this study, isoliquiritigenin and its Phase I metabolites were prepared and their neuroprotective activities on glutamate-treated HT22 cells were compared. The prepared metabolites were liquiritigenin ( 1 ), 2′,4,4′,5′-tetrahydroxychalcone ( 2 ), sulfuretin ( 3 ), butein ( 4 ), davidigenin ( 5 ), and cis -6,4′-dihydroxyaurone ( 6 ). Among the six metabolites, 4 showed better neuroprotective effects than the parent compound, isoliquiritigenin. Our study suggests that the neuroprotective effect of isoliquiritigenin could be elevated by its active metabolite 4 , which is a chalcone containing a catechol group in the B ring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As urban transportation systems often face disruptive events, including natural and man-made disasters, the importance of resilience in the transportation sector has recently been on the rise. In particular, the worldwide spread of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant decrease in citizens' public transit use to avoid unnecessary physical contact with others. Accordingly, bike-share has been highlighted as one of the sustainable modes that can replace public transit and, thus, improve the overall resilience of the urban transportation systems in response to COVID-19. This study aims to examine the changes in causal relationships between bike-share and public transit throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in Seoul, Korea. We analyzed bike-share and public transit ridership from Jan 2018 to Dec 2020. We developed a weekly panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model to identify the bike-transit relationships before and after the pandemic. Our results showed that COVID-19 weakens the competitive relationships between bike-share and bus transit and modal integration between bike-share and subway transit. This study also found that bus and subway transit were more competitive with each other after the outbreak of COVID-19. The study's findings suggest that bike-share can increase the overall resilience of the urban transportation system during the pandemic situation, particularly for those who rely on public transit for their mobility. • Examined relationship between bike-share and public transit ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic (Jan 2018-Dec 2020). • Developed a weekly panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model. • Both modal integration and substitution between bike-share and subway transit have been weakened. • Bike-share may improve the resilience of the urban transportation system by substituting the reduced public transit uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) enhanced 1–hexyl‐3–methyl‐imidazolium cation-based room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) with different anions were investigated for CO 2 capture. Besides, the viscosity, surface tension, and thermal stability of the samples were also investigated. Moreover, the behavior of CO 2 bubbles captured and analyzed. Among various pristine RTILs, [HMIM][Tf 2 N] exhibited better CO 2 capture capability compared to other ionic liquids; hence, MWCNT/[HMIM][Tf 2 N] nanoparticle enhanced ionic liquids (NEILs) were prepared and tested for CO 2 absorption. As a result, the highest CO 2 absorption capability or pressure reduction was observed at the pressure and MWCNT nanoparticles concentration of 1 MPa and 0.05 wt%, respectively. At the system pressure of 0.35, 0.6, and 1 MPa, the CO 2 absorption capacities of 16.17%, 23.13%, and 31.30% were obtained at the temperature of 20 oC, 50 oC, and 20 oC, respectively, for 0.05 wt% MWCNT/[HMIM][Tf 2 N] NEIL. Furthermore, it was deduced that the effect of pressure and MWCNT nanoparticle concentration was superior to the temperature effect on the CO 2 absorption capability of MWCNT/[HMIM][Tf 2 N] NEILs. • CO 2 capture enhancement of room-temperature ionic liquids using multi-walled carbon nanotubes was investigated. • MWCNT nanoparticle-enhanced ionic liquids improved the thermophysical properties of ionic liquids. • CO 2 capture significantly depended on the pressure rather than temperature. • FTIR analysis proved that ionic liquids physically absorbed CO 2 not chemical absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on bike-share programs have dramatically increased during the past decades. While numerous studies have examined various factors affecting bike-share demand at the station-level, few attempts have been made to understand bike-share ridership at the origin-destination (OD) level due to technical difficulties. The objective of this study is to examine whether existing public transit characteristics affect bike-share ridership at OD-level. We combined three datasets: (1) bike-share ridership data, (2) land-use and bike-transit infrastructure, and (3) bike-transit route characteristics between OD pairs of bike stations. Zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) regression models were used for the analysis. Our results showed that the travel distance between OD bike stations, land-use compositions, and the existence of bike-friendly infrastructures were significant factors determining bike-share ridership at the OD-level. In particular, a longer duration of public transit trips than bike-share, and more transit transfers, were associated with bike-share ridership. Further, this study showed that bike-share and public transit might compete with or promote each other, even within the city. The study's findings suggest that the relative efficiency of bike-share compared to public transit is highly associated with bike-share demand and help to increase the utility of bike-share system in response to several limitations of existing public transit networks. • Examine influence of transit characteristics on bike-share ridership at OD-level. • Travel route information was retrieved using online map APIs and Python. • Duration of transit and number of transfers are associated with the ridership. • Bike-share has a complementary relationship with the subway. • Bike-share has a competitive relationship with bus transit in non-residential areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass-derived carbons are widely studied as cost-effective and high-performance energy storage materials due to their high specific surface area, abundance, and facile synthetic methods. Through widespread research, a number of strategies can be implemented to maximize specific capacitance and power. Among the different approaches to improve the energy storage performance of biomass-derived carbons, an increase of specific surface area and the introduction of heteroatom doping are usually effective strategies. As such, in this study, we utilize sorghum stem biomass to obtain porous carbonaceous forms, and subsequent KOH activation to increase the porosity and surface area. The resulting activated sorghum stem-derived porous carbon materials exhibit significantly higher specific capacitance compared to their pre-activated carbon. Capacitive deionization (CDI) that is used to deionize water is also studied to demonstrate the versatility of sorghum stem-derived porous carbon. A similar performance trend is observed for both supercapacitor and CDI for all carbon samples because both applications exploit the electrostatic double-layer capacitance behavior of carbon materials. Image 1 • Porous carbon materials are prepared by carbonization of sorghum biomass. • Through KOH activation, porosity and surface area are improved. • Surface area and pore volume are directed related to the annealing temperatures. • Sorghum biomass-derived carbon show high CDI and supercapacitor properties. • Electrochemical properties are highly related to their surface area and pore volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium has the advantage of being more abundant than lithium. Therefore, sodium-ion batteries (SIB) have attracted attention as next-generation secondary batteries to replace lithium-ion batteries (LIB). NaNi x Fe y Mn z O 2 (x + y + z = 1), an O3-type sodium-based layered cathode material, is considered a promising cathode material because sodium can occupy a significant portion of the O3-type structure. However, the rate capability, cycle life, and capacity reduction are obstacles to actual application because of the low Na-ion conductivity caused by the O3-type sodium structure characteristics and inherent moisture vulnerability. In this study, a simple ethanol-based precursor pre-coating process using a fast Na-ion conductive material was designed to effectively improve the electrochemical performance of the cathode material. Na 3 Zr 2 Si 2 PO 12 with a NASICON structure, a high-ion-conductivity phosphate-based solid electrolyte, was used as the coating material. In addition, a uniform coating layer was formed on the surface of the cathode using polyacrylic acid, a polymer material with a driving force for the coating precursor. [Display omitted] • The performance of sodium cathode material was improved through surface coating. • A uniform coating layer was formed on the cathode using a PAA coating method. • Na-containing coating layer significantly improved the Na-ion conductivity. • The NZSP coating layer improves the moisture & air storage stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Multi-objective Bayesian optimization (MBO) using a CFD chemical reactor model is conducted. • Automated optimal design procedure of chemical reactors based on CFD is proposed. • Six design variables of gas-sparged stirred tank reactor are optimized and the saturated Pareto front are obtained within 90 CFD simulations. • The optimized designs showed significantly enhanced power consumption and gas holdup compared to initial and conventional designs. Abstract This study presents a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based optimal design tool for chemical reactors, in which multi-objective Bayesian optimization (MBO) is utilized to reduce the number of required CFD runs. Detailed methods used to automate the process by connecting CFD with MBO are also proposed. The developed optimizer was applied to minimize the power consumption and maximize the gas holdup in a gas-sparged stirred tank reactor, which has six design variables: the aspect ratio of the tank, the diameter and clearance of each of the two impellers, and the gas sparger. The saturated Pareto front is obtained after 100 iterations. The resulting Pareto front consists of many near-optimal designs with significantly enhanced performances compared to conventional reactors reported in the literature. We anticipate that this design approach can be applied to any process unit design problems that require a large number of CFD simulation runs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-temperature microwave-absorbing composites are drawing increasing research attention because of their potential applications in stealth technology. However, materials suited to elevated temperatures are limited. Herein, we propose a high-temperature microwave-absorbing ceramic composite that contains cobalt-coated quartz fiber and an aluminosilicate matrix. The designed composite structure possesses excellent heat resistance and chemical resistance. Furthermore, the added cobalt enhances the dielectric and magnetic loss characteristics of the material, which were measured at X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz) in the range of room temperature (RT) to 1200 °C. The specimen complex permittivity increases with measuring temperature because of the change in dielectric polarization and electrical conductivity values, in accordance with the Debye and Arrhenius theories. The proposed high-temperature microwave-absorbing ceramic composite has an overall thickness of 3.755 mm. It exhibits excellent electromagnetic absorption performance with reflection loss (RL) values are −48.94, −41.76, and −45.05 dB, and bandwidths (RL < −10 dB) are 3.63, 2.24, and 2.81 dB at RT, 600 °C, and 1200 °C, respectively. The optimal impedance matching, strong attenuation, and synergistic effect of dielectric and magnetic losses enhance microwave absorption performance. Hence, the proposed composite has promising applications in high-temperature environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A gold nanogap substrate was used to measure the thiram and carbaryl residues in various fruit juices using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The gold nanogap substrates can detect carbaryl and thiram with limits of detection of 0.13 ppb (0.13 μg kg − 1) and 0.22 ppb (0.22 μg kg − 1). Raw SERS data were first preprocessed to reduce noise and undesirable effects and, were later used for model creation, implementing classification, and regression analysis techniques. The partial least-squares regression models achieved the highest prediction correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.99 and the lowest root mean square of prediction value below 0.62 ppb for both pesticide-infected juice samples. Furthermore, to differentiate between juice samples contaminated by both pesticides and control (pesticide-free), logistic–regression classification models were produced and achieved the highest classification accuracies of 100% and 99% for contaminated juice containing thiram and 100% accurate results for contaminated juice containing carbaryl. This indicates that the gold nanogap surface has significant potential for achieving high sensitivity in detecting trace contaminants in food samples. [Display omitted] • Au nanogap SERS substrate was used to detect thiram and carbaryl in fruit juices. • Detection was possible as low as 0.22 ppb for thiram and 0.13 ppb for carbaryl. • For prediction datasets, PLSR models have the highest R2 and lowest RMSEP values. • Pesticide residues were detected in a real sample of fresh juices within 20 min. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purple pigmentation in the epidermis of swollen roots of 'Tsuda' turnip (Brassica rapa subsp. rapa) is induced by light, providing a good system to investigate the genetic mechanism of light-dependent anthocyanin biosynthesis in B. rapa. Here, we identified the R2R3 MYB transcription factor gene PRODUCTION OF ANTHOCYANIN PIGMENT1 (BrPAP1a) as the critical gene in the anthocyanin-defective mutant w68. A nucleotide mutation in the turn region of the R3 domain was screened, which caused an amino acid substitution from glycine to serine (G94S). Functional analysis showed that the interaction of BrPAP1a with two bHLH factors ENHANCER OF GLABRA 3 (BrEGL3) and TRANSPARENT TESTA 8 (BrTT8) were impaired by the mutation. Expression of BrTT8 was activated by BrPAP1a and enhanced by MYB-bHLH-WDR (MBW) complexes, but blocked by the mutation. Furthermore, BrPAP1a directly bound the MYB-recognizing element (MRE) in the BrTT8 promoter, while the G94S substitution caused a loss of DNA-binding activity. Our findings indicate that G94 is required for protein interaction with BrTT8 and BrEGL3 and DNA-binding of BrPAP1a to activate BrTT8 expression, which leads to anthocyanin biosynthesis. Collectively, our data indicate the importance of the highly conserved amino acids within R2R3 MYB proteins in regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis and could aid programs to increase anthocyanins in turnip roots. • Characterization of BrPAP1a functions on light-induced anthocyanin production in turnip. • A G94S substitution in BrPAP1a attenuated the interaction of BrPAP1a with bHLHs TFs. • A mutation in Gly94 reduced the capability of BrPAP1a to trans -activate BrTT8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a versatile source of carbon nanoarchitectures in gas sensing applications (Torad et al., 2019). Herein, several types of nanoporous carbons (NPCs) have been prepared by in-situ carbothermal treatment of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) under different inert atmospheres to achieve a highly sensitive discrimination of vaporized aromatic compounds. In this study, we demonstrate how different carbonization conditions under the flow of N 2 or H 2 gases affect the surface area and the degree of graphitization of the resulting NPCs polyhedrons, and their consequent effect on the sensing performance in terms of sensitivity and selectivity toward toxic volatile hydrocarbons. A growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is observed on the surface of polyhedral NPCs after careful carbonization of ZIF crystals under H 2 atmosphere. The fabricated quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor with CNT-containing NPCs demonstrates increased sensitivity and selectivity towards toxic volatile aromatic hydrocarbons over the aliphatic analogues, suggesting the rich growth of hairy graphitic-like CNTs on the surface of carbon framework act as highly selective sensing antennae for vapor molecular discrimination of toxic aromatic hydrocarbons. Despite of increased selectivity towards volatile aromatic compounds, however, the surface area of CNT-rich NPCs derived from hybrid ZIFs and ZIF-67 is greatly sacrificed as compared to CNT-free NPCs from ZIF-8 polyhedron. In the case of Co-containing ZIF-67, the rich growth of hair-like CNTs, which is induced by the presence of Co, is observed during carbothermal reduction under a flow of H 2 gas, thus allowing ultra-selective detection of aromatic hydrocarbons in the vapor phase, such as benzene (C 6 H 6) and toluene (C 6 H 5 CH 3) over their aliphatic analogue, c -hexane (c -C 6 H 12) of same molecular mass, size and vapor pressure. ga1 • A large-scale synthesis of CNTs on carbon is derived from MOF carbonized in H 2 gas. • The high content of Co species in ZIF-67 induces a rich growth hairy-like CNTs. • The QCM sensor shows an excellent sensing activity in chemical-vapor discrimination. • The rich growth CNTs act as sensing antennas selective for aromatic vapors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, there has been an increasing demand for developing high performance barrier films for effectively suppressing the penetration of organic solvent. Particularly, in microfluidic systems for lab-on-a-chip devices or inkjet printing, the predominantly faced challenges are swelling deformation and channel blockage by the penetrated solvents, which significantly deteriorates the device performance and lifetime. To address this issue, here we present a robust method for the deposition of barrier layers inside microchannels using a surface charge-regulated layer-by-layer assembly of polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEM). Owing to the highly negative surface charge and additionally employed crosslinking reaction using glutaraldehyde (GA), the Donnan repulsion at the barrier film surface and size-narrowing effect in internal pores can be simultaneously intensified, which rendered excellent barrier performance against highly penetrating organic solvents only with a 14-nm-thick coating layer. Further, we employed a wrinkling-based metrology for precisely evaluating the barrier property of the multilayered films. As a result, highly negatively charged PEM surface (−64.2 mV) with small inner pores (<0.5 nm) resulted in excellent barrier performance to the penetration of various conventional organic solvents used for microelectronic processing. Finally, the practical applicability of the PEM barrier films coated in complexly structured microchannels was demonstrated by fully securing the devices intact even under continuous exposure to organic solvent flowing for 4 h. As such, this study provides a general guideline for the internal deposition of barrier films regardless of the form factor of target surfaces toward next generation organic and wearable electronic devices, along with microfluidic chemical reactor systems. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The temperature and bentonite swelling pressure exhibit a negative correlation. • The swelling pressure at the same temperature shows an order: CaCl 2 > De-ionized water > NaCl. • The pressure became different depending on whether the bentonite was heated up or cooled down. Bentonite has been considered as a potential buffer material in engineering barriers of high-level radioactive waste disposal systems. The intrusion of groundwater and heat from the waste change the temperature and chemical composition of the bentonite, consequently can alter the mechanical properties of the bentonite. In this study, thermochemical effects on the swelling behaviors were observed in compacted Ca-bentonite samples. Laboratory tests were conducted on Korean Gyeongju bentonite blocks that were compacted at different dry densities. Swelling pressure tests at various temperatures between 30 °C and 90 °C were carried out by supplying de-ionized water, NaCl solution, and CaCl 2 solution. The study revealed that at higher temperature the bentonite swells faster, but the final swelling pressure decreases in the higher temperature condition. As for the chemical effect, the final swelling pressure at the same temperature shows an order: CaCl 2 > De-ionized water > NaCl. In addition, the swelling behavior of the bentonite during a thermal loading cycle was experimentally investigated. The swelling pressure at the same temperature revealed different values depending on whether the bentonite was heated up or cooled down. The result demonstrated that the temperature change history should be a significant factor in determining the swelling pressure of bentonite buffers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]