Dongyeop Oh

• PHD
• Senior Researcher at Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology

Polymer technology has significantly transformed modern society and is a foundation for the global economy. However, the pervasive issue of plastic waste pollution has cast a negative light on the industry. As the world aims for a carbon–neutral future by 2050, a paradigm shift from fossil-based to sustainable polymeric materials is imperative. Whi...

The exoskeleton of the marine hydroid Aglaophenia latirostris exhibits exceptional mechanical properties despite its low mineral content, providing valuable insights for the design of advanced biomaterials. In this study, we used polarized Raman spectroscopy and nanoindentation techniques to investigate the alignment and mechanical characteristics...

Biodegradable polyesters provide an attractive alternative to non‐degradable plastics but often encounter a tradeoff between biodegradability and mechanical properties because esters are rotational and lack hydrogen bonds. Conversely, natural polyamides, i.e., silk exhibit excellent mechanical strength because amides are non‐rotational and form hyd...

This study aimed to investigate the impact of plastic particles on cell viability and tissue toxicity. The cells were subjected to incubation with plastic particles immobilized in agar gels, resulting in minimal cell death and cytotoxicity. Furthermore, direct exposure of various cell types to suspended plastic particles showed negligible effects o...

Recent advancements in the utilization of naturally derived nanocellulose and nanochitin/chitosan have opened new avenues for self‐cleaning and purification applications to address environmental challenges. This review highlights the unique structural properties of bio‐based nanofibers, which are typically rich in hydroxyl groups that enhance their...

Mussel periostracum, a nonliving multifunctional gel that covers the rigid inorganic shells of mussels, provides protection against mechanical impacts, biofouling, and corrosion in harsh ocean environments. The inner part of the periostracum, which emerges from biological tissues, functions as a natural interface between tissue and inorganic materi...

Despite that biodegradable plastics are perceived as environmentally friendly, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of their fate in soil. Current Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) frameworks, along with new UNEP regulations on plastic pollution, necessitate scientific information on plastic degradation in soils for developing s...

Climate change, largely attributable to the extensive use of fossil fuels and deforestation, poses a critical global issue. There is a pressing need for innovative and sustainable solutions. This study highlights a significant advancement in materials science: a biomass-sourced transparent composite developed from cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) and is...

Self‐healing polymeric materials, which can repair physical damage, offer promising prospects for protective applications across various industries. Although prolonged durability and resource conservation are key advantages, focusing solely on mechanical recovery may limit the market potential of these materials. The unique physical properties of s...

The structure–property paradox of biological tissues, in which water-rich porous structures efficiently transfer mass while remaining highly mechanically stiff, remains unsolved. Although hydrogel/sponge hybridization is the key to understanding this phenomenon, material incompatibility makes this a challenging task. Here we describe hydrogel/spong...

Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a biodegradable polymer showing excellent promise for application to environmentally sustainable materials. Among various biodegradable polymers, PCL comprises semicrystalline low-melting-point (∼60 °C) aliphatic polyesters, which simplify processing. However, disadvantageous mechanical properties limit the practical appli...

Along with bisphenol-A (BPA), conventional phthalate esters (PAEs) have been reported as environmental hormones, despite their functional usefulness as plasticizers. Nevertheless, they are frequently found in various products, including children's utensils and toys made of poly (vinyl chloride). This is tremendously important because PAEs are harmf...

The demand for face masks is increasing exponentially due to the coronavirus pandemic and the particulate matter (PM) in the atmosphere. As a result, an enormous number of disposable mask filters have been produced and discarded, contributing to plastic waste. Underprivileged people who cannot afford to purchase commercial face masks have started m...

Human society has become increasingly reliant on plastic because it allows for convenient and sanitary living. However, recycling rates are currently low, which means that the majority of plastic waste ends up in landfills or the ocean. Increasing recycling and upcycling rates is a critical strategy for addressing the issues caused by plastic pollu...

Biodegradable Anti‐Fizzing Water‐Resistant Straws In article number 2205554, Jun Mo Koo, Jeyoung Park, Dongyeop X. Oh, and co‐workers created a marine‐biodegradable paper straw coated with nanocellulose polyester composites. The straws are not only anti‐fizzing when used with soft drinks, but also highly water‐resistant because the good adhesion of...

Biomass-derived monomers, such as adipic acid (AA), 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), and 1,3-propanediol (PDO) can fully extend the boundaries of petroleum-based applications with desirable elastic properties, biodegradability, and impermeability.

Transparent, self-healing elastomers play a vital role as protective coatings, particularly in display applications. However, achieving mechanical toughness and efficient self-restoration are often mutually exclusive. A performance equilibrium can be...

Composite materials have been extensively studied to optimize properties such as lightness and strength, which are the advantages of plastics. We prepared a highly concentrated (30 wt %) nylon/chitosan nanowhisker (CSW) masterbatch by blending nylon 6,10 and CSW by solvent casting to achieve high dispersion efficiency while considering an industria...

Among plastic items, single‐use straws are particularly detrimental to marine ecosystems because such straws, including those made of poly(lactic acid) (PLA), are sharp and extremely slowly degradable in the ocean. While paper straws are promising alternatives, they exhibit hydration‐induced swelling even when coated with a non‐degradable plastic c...

Controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs) are a next-generation type of fertilizers, with several advantages over conventional fertilizer. However, using non-degradable and petroleum-based materials in the fabrication of CRFs possess considerable threat to agricultural soils and the environment. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a highly biodegrad...

Nanochitin and nanochitosan (with random copolymer‐based multiscale architectures of glucosamine and N‐acetylglucosamine units) have recently attracted immense attention for the development of green, sustainable, and advanced functional materials. Nanochitin and nanochitosan are multiscale materials from small oligomers, rod‐shaped nanocrystals, lo...

As plastic consumption has increased, environmental problems associated with the accumulation of plastic wastes have started to emerge. These include the non-degradability of plastic and its disintegration into sub-micron particles. Although some biodegradable plastic products have been developed to relieve the landfill and leakage burden, a signif...

Accumulation of microplastics (MPs) in agricultural environments has caused growing concern in recent years because of its detrimental impacts on soil quality, crop productivity, and ecosystem function. This study was conducted to assess the impact of biochar on soil chemical and microbial properties in a MP‐contaminated soil under two moisture reg...

Background Demand for alcohol-based products, including gel- and aqueous-type hand sanitizers, room sprays, and mouthwashes, has sharply increased during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic because of their microbicidal properties. However, toxic methanol can be found from intentional addition of methanol by manufacturers and invariable production during...

As human beings have been consistently exposed to bisphenol A (BPA) and bisphenol S (BPS) derived from various products, the intake of BPS/BPA to humans has been extensively studied. However, using conventional biological matrices such as urine, blood, or dissected skin to detect BPS/BPA in the human body system requires longer exposure time to the...

The global ban on plastic microbeads for personal care products has forced researchers to find sustainable alternatives. However, current biodegradable microbeads rarely offer competitive qualities such as those related to the mechanical properties, stability, and toxicity of their degraded products. Herein, we synthesized ‘chito-beads’, which can...

Gluing dynamic, wet biological tissue is important in injury treatment yet difficult to achieve. Polymeric adhesives are inconvenient to handle due to rapid cross-linking and can raise biocompatibility concerns. Inorganic nanoparticles adhere weakly to wet surfaces. Herein, an aqueous suspension of guanidinium-functionalized chitin nanoparticles as...

The Cover Feature shows a direct chemo‐biological upcycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) into a functional coating agent through a combination of chemo‐enzymatic depolymerization and biotransformation. More information can be found in the Full Paper by H. T. Kim, M. H. Ryu, et al.

Chemo‐biological upcycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) developed in this study includes the following key steps: chemo‐enzymatic PET depolymerization, biotransformation of terephthalic acid (TPA) into catechol, and its application as a coating agent. Monomeric units were first produced through PET glycolysis into bis(2‐hydroxyethyl) terep...

Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a natural polyester synthesized by several microorganisms. Moreover, it has excellent biodegradability and is an eco-friendly material because it converts water and carbon dioxide as final decomposition products. However, the applications of PHB are limited because of its stiffness and brittleness. Because cellulose nan...

Intrinsic self-healing polymeric materials are substances that relieve external stress and restore their original mechanical properties after extreme damageviadynamic covalent bonding in the polymeric structure or the reversible association of supramolecular motifs. Boronic ester-based dynamic covalent bonds formed between boronic acids and diols i...

Aluminum-coated polypropylene films are commonly used in food packaging because aluminum is a great gas barrier. However, recycling these films is not economically feasible. In addition, their end-of-life incineration generates harmful alumina-based particulate matter. In this study, coating layers with excellent gas-barrier properties are assemble...

Owing to the structural resemblance of synthetic hydrogels to biological tissues, numerous self-healing wet materials have recently emerged, based on either chemical or physical motifs. With a plethora of novel synthetic hydrogels, a reliable characterisation strategy to assess self-healing is necessary. Herein, we therefore propose rheological cri...

In article number 2003155, Jeyoung Park, Dongyeop X. Oh, Sung Yeon Hwang, and co‐workers report a biodegradable, moisture‐resistant, highly efficient, and breathable face mask filter based on easy‐to obtain poly(butylene succinate) coated with chitosan nanowhiskers. Integrated microfiber/nanofiber mats present a particulate matter removal efficienc...

In the precarious situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines is promising for prevention against the infection. However, this type of vaccine has not been effectively commercialized because it needs to be stored and transported at ultracold conditions. mRNA vaccines exposed to undesired temperat...

Intrinsic self-healing hydrogel materials have been studied by many researchers owing to their excellent durability and high applicability in the biomedical field. Herein, we report a self-healing hydrogel containing dynamic boronate ester bonds. First, low-molecular-weight hyperbranched polyglycerol (LMPG), containing cis-1,2- or 1,3-diols, was sy...

Current sustainable bioplastics need dramatic improvement to become competitive. Herein, we prepared poly(butylene succinate-co-carbonate) nanocomposites with citric acid and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). The dimethyl carbonate co-monomer lowers crystallinity and increases...

The demand for face masks is increasing exponentially due to the coronavirus pandemic and issues associated with airborne particulate matter (PM). However, both conventional electrostatic‐ and nanosieve‐based mask filters are single‐use and are not degradable or recyclable, which creates serious waste problems. In addition, the former loses functio...

Self-repairable materials strive to emulate curable and resilient biological tissue; however, their performance is currently insufficient for commercialization purposes because mending and toughening are mutually exclusive. Herein, we report a carbonate-type thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer that self-heals at 35 °C and exhibits a tensile streng...

Plastic packaging effectively protects food from mechanical, microbial, and chemical damage; however, oxygen and moisture permeate these plastics and spoil the food. Thus, the gas barrier function is usually imparted through metallic or halogenated polymeric coatings. However, the former blocks visible light, while the latter causes environmental c...

Designing efficient plastic-digesting microorganisms is necessary to accelerate the decomposition of biodegradable plastics leaking into outer environments. However, screening of microorganisms for hydrophobic plastics is labor-intensive and time-consuming. Herein, a...

To address environmental concerns related to the large volumeof plastics currently used, high-performance, sustainable, and satisfactorily performing bioplastics can be a solution. Isosorbide (ISB)-based amorphous poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (PAESs) derived from biomass feedstocks instead of harmful aromatic petrochemicals, such as bisphenol-A (BP...

In article number 2000876, Sung Yeon Hwang, Dongyeop X. Oh, Jeyoung Park, and co‐workers fabricate a malleable and rapid‐cargo‐releasing poly(vinyl alcohol)‐borax hydrogel that embeds freely mobile poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) micelles. Upon exposure to wet conditions, the micelle particles escaping from the hydrogel act as a “conveyor belt” to...

Although hydrogels are promising transdermal patches, they face spatiotemporal problems related to controlled drug release. From the “spatio” perspective, hydrogels are not malleable, therefore they do not fully contact curved skin, such as that found on the nose and fingers. From the “temporal” perspective, the internal network of a hydrogel retar...

Biodegradable polyesters, such as poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), can trigger the hydrolysis of esters in a natural environment. However, biodegradability does not guarantee its eco-friendliness due to the concerns associated with terephthalic acid. Substitution by biomass-based counterparts no longer ensures “truly” eco-friendly bi...

Self-repairable materials strive to emulate curable and resilient biological tissue; however, their performance is currently insufficient for commercialization purposes because mending and toughening are mutually exclusive. Here, we report a carbonate-type thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer that self-heals at 35 °C and is as strong as footwear el...

The major disadvantage of electrospun nanofibrous mats is their poor mechanical properties, which result from interfibrillar slips, porous structures, and the isotropic conformation of functional groups in fibers. In this work, we develop a tough electrospun mat without cost of both the stiffness and extensibility by combining two mutually exclusiv...

The performance limits of conventional super engineering plastics with inorganic nanofillers are surpassed by all-organic nanocomposites prepared via in situ SNAr polymerization of polysulfone (PSU) in the presence of a highly dispersed aramid nanofiber (ANF) solution. The latter is directly used, bypassing the energy-consuming, nanostructure-damag...

Can you easily recognize spoiled fish? In article number 1907064, Sung Yeon Hwang, Jeyoung Park, Dongyeop X. Oh, and co‐workers present innovative time–temperature indicators that show whether fresh foods are diverged from a cold‐supply chain. A self‐healing nanofiber mat enables highly sensitive, tamper‐proof, damage‐tolerant, and self‐responsive...

Perishable foods at undesired temperatures can generate foodborne illnesses that present significant societal costs. To certify refrigeration succession in a food‐supply chain, a flexible, easy‐to‐interpret, damage‐tolerant, and sensitive time‐temperature indicator (TTI) that uses a self‐healing nanofiber mat is devised. This mat is opaque when ref...

Development of sensing technology with wearable chemical sensors is realizing non-invasive, real-time monitoring healthcare and disease diagnostics. The advanced sensor devices should be compact and portable for use in limited space, easy to wear on human body, and low-cost for personalized healthcare markets. Here, we report a highly sensitive, fl...

Inorganic nanomaterials can only stiffen nylon with a significant loss of its toughness and ductility. Furthermore, they are not eco-friendly. In this study, the facile tuning of nylon’s mechanical properties from stiff to tough was achieved, using cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and chitosan nanowhiskers (CSW) as biorenewable fillers. The interaction...

A key requirement for materials that adsorb pollutants in aqueous media is the balance between efficiency and biodegradation owing to rising microplastic pollution. Hyperbranched polyamidoamine-based microhydrogel particles from ethylene diamine (EDA) monomer demonstrate high absorbance activity for removing heavy metal ions, yet are vulnerable to...

A biobased and biocompatible thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) with superior 3D printability was demonstrated with great potential for customized manufacturing technologies and fabrication of biointegrated devices. The inherent structural and stereochemical disadvantages of biobased monomers, such as 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid, in comparison with today...

Polycarbonate (PC) is a transparent polymeric material that can replace shattering glass, but bisphenol-A, used for improving its properties, has controversial hazards. Alternative biomass-derived isosorbide (ISB)-based PC can be used for its complementary properties. To satisfy the two factors of sustainability and performance simultaneously, this...

The Cover Feature shows a sacrificial‐template‐free and environmentally mild method for the production of N‐doped chiral nematic carbon nanofibril hydrogel from renewable chitin biomass. This material has enantioselective properties, selectively adsorbs d‐lactic acid over l‐lactic acid, and enriches a racemic solution to one with 16.3 % enantiomeri...

Demand for the development of novel polymers derived from biomass that can replace petroleum resources has been increasing. In this study, biomass-derived isosorbide was used as a monomer in the polymerization of poly(arylene ether ketone)s, and its synthetic characteristics were investigated. As a phase-transfer catalyst, crown ether has increased...

Environmental and health concerns force the search for sustainable super engineering plastics (SEPs) that utilise bio-derived cyclic monomers, e.g. isosorbide instead of restricted petrochemicals. However, previously reported bio-derived thermosets or thermoplastics rarely offer thermal/mechanical properties, scalability, or recycling that match th...

Environmental and health concerns force the search for sustainable super engineering plastics (SEPs) that utilise bio-derived cyclic monomers, e.g. isosorbide instead of restricted petrochemicals. However, previously reported bio-derived thermosets or thermoplastics rarely offer thermal/mechanical properties, scalability, or recycling that match th...

Well‐known hard‐template methods for nitrogen (N)‐doped chiral carbon nanomaterials require complicated construction and removal of the template, high‐temperature pyrolysis, harsh chemical treatments, and additional N‐doping processes. If naturally occurring chiral nematic chitin nanostructures [(C8H13NO5)n] in exoskeletons were wholly transformed...

Conductive self-healing polymer hydrogel and related soft sensor devices are receiving considerable attention from academia to industry because of their impacts on the lifetime and ergonomic design of soft robotics, prosthesis, and health monitoring systems. However, the development of such a material has thus far been limited considering performan...

Plastic packaging effectively protects foods from mechanical, microbial, and chemical damage, but oxygen can still permeate these plastics, degrading foods. Improving the gas barrier usually requires metallic or halogenated polymeric coatings; however, both cause environmental concerns and metallic coatings block visible light and electromagnetic s...

Although biodegradable membranes are essential for effective bone repair, severe loss of mechanical stability due to rapid biodegradation, soft tissue invasion, and excessive immune response remain intrinsically problematic. Inspired by the exoskeleton-reinforcing strategy found in nature, we have produced a Ti-infiltrated chitin nanofibrous membra...

Aramid nanofibers (ANFs), typically produced by exfoliating aramid microfibers (Kevlar) in alkaline media, exhibit excellent mechanical properties and have therefore attracted increased attention as nanoscale building blocks. However, the preparation of aramid microfibers involves laborious and hazardous processes, which limits the industrial-scale...

Tumor-originated and undefined extracellular matrices (ECMs) such as Matrigel™ have been widely used in three-dimensional (3D) cell and tissue culture, but their use is unacceptable in clinical cell therapies. In this study, we proposed a 3D cellulose nanofiber (CNF) hydrogel that has great potential as a defined tissue-engineering scaffold, especi...

Chitin, a sustainable and functional biological macromolecule, can be converted into chitin nanofibers (ChNFs), and are applicable as a mechanically reinforcing and bioactive filler for polymer matrices. Improving the performance of ChNFs typically relies on their nanofibrilization and miscibility with matrices. To transform chitin biomass into org...

Chitin is a renewable and sustainable biomass material that can be converted into various one-dimensional crystalline nanomaterials different in 1) length, 2) diameter, 3) charge density, 4) type of charge, and 5) crystallinity via diverse top-down synthetic methods. These nanomaterials have great potential as sustainable reinforcing and biological...

In this paper, we introduce a parylene-coated cellulose nanofiber film. The parylene coating overcomes the limitations of cellulose nanofiber films used as food packaging films. The disadvantages of cellulose nanofiber films are that they are poor oxygen barriers and have low water resistances. This parylene-coated film achieved a low oxygen transf...

Correction for ‘Trans crystallization behavior and strong reinforcement effect of cellulose nanocrystals on reinforced poly(butylene succinate) nanocomposites’ by Taeho Kim et al. , RSC Adv. , 2018, 8 , 15389–15398.