Sung-Wan Kim
Kyung Hee University · 生化学・遺伝学・分子生物学
研究室紹介
Professor Sung-Wan Kim's research lab specializes in the design and development of smart, biodegradable polymers and biomaterials for biomedical applications. The lab focuses on stimuli-responsive hydrogels, particularly thermosensitive and in situ gelling systems based on block copolymers like PEG-PLGA-PEG, for controlled drug delivery and tissue engineering. A key research direction involves engineering polymer surfaces and gene delivery vectors with enhanced biocompatibility, bioactivity, and low cytotoxicity through precise molecular architecture and functionalization strategies. The lab also investigates structure-property relationships in polymeric systems, emphasizing molecular weight, hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance, and spacer effects on performance.
Research Overview
Research Output Trend
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Selected Papers
15Abstract The swelling of crosslinked poiy( N , N ′‐alkyl substituted acrylamides) in water was studied in relation to temperature changes. Conventional swelling theory and separation of the polymer solvent interaction parameter into enthalpic and entropic contributions were used to characterize the temperature dependence of swelling in water. The thermosensitivity of swelling can be attributed to the delicate hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance of polymer chains and is affected by the size, configur
Aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene glycol-b-[DL-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid]-b-ethylene glycol) (PEG-PLGA-PEG) triblock copolymers form a free-flowing sol at room temperature and become a gel at body temperature. In this study, in situ gel formation was investigated in rats. Upon subcutaneous injection of 33 wt % aqueous solutions of PEG-PLGA-PEG triblock copolymer into rats, transparent gels were observed. The gel showed good mechanical strength and the integrity of gels persisted longer than
Heparin was immobilized onto segmented polyurethane-urea surfaces (Biomer) using hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide) spacers of different chain lengths. The use of the hydrophilic spacer, poly(ethylene oxide), reduces protein adsorption and subsequent platelet adhesion on the surface. In addition, the bioactivity of the immobilized heparin is enhanced by the incorporation of these spacers. Immobilized heparin bioactivity is shown to be a function of PEO spacer length. Use of hydrophilic PEO spacers