Seunghun Hyun
Korea University · Environmental Science
About the Lab
Professor Seunghun Hyun's research lab specializes in environmental chemistry and soil science, focusing on the sorption mechanisms of organic and inorganic contaminants in variable-charge soils—particularly those rich in gibbsite and kaolinite common in tropical and subtropical regions. The lab investigates how chemical speciation, surface charge, and soil-mineral interactions govern the fate and transport of acidic pesticides, herbicides, and trace elements like selenium. Key research directions include quantifying hydrophilic and hydrophobic sorption processes, anion exchange, calcium bridging, and the influence of pH, ionic strength, and soil properties on contaminant retention. The lab develops predictive models that integrate chemical speciation and surface reactivity to improve environmental risk assessment and stewardship of agrochemicals and industrial pollutants.
Research Overview
Research Output Trend
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Selected Papers
15Previous research with phenolic, carboxylic, and urea type organic acids demonstrated that hydrophilic sorption was primarily due to anion exchange, which was linearly correlated to chemical acidity (pKa) and the soil anion exchange capacity. However, for dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), sorption by a kaolinitic soil was much higher than expected relative to all other organic acid-soil data. The enhanced sorption was hypothesized to involve calcium bridging of 2,4-D to hydrophilic domains. In
Sorption of organic acids by variable-charge soil occurs through both hydrophilic and hydrophobic sorption. In this study, the effect of chemical acidity and the type of acidic functional group on the relative contribution of hydrophilic and hydrophobic processes to sorption by a gibbsite-dominated and a kaolinite-dominated variable-charge soils was quantified by measuring sorption isotherms from different electrolytes (CaCl2, Ca(H2PO4)2, and KCl). The A1 soil is dominated by gibbsite whereas th
Sorption data and subsequent predictive models for evaluating acidic pesticide behavior on variable-charge soils are needed to improve pesticide management and environmental stewardship. Previous work demonstrated that sorption of pentachlorophenol (PCP), a model organic acid, was adequately modeled by accounting for pH-and pKa-dependent chemical speciation and using two organic carbon-normalized sorption coefficients; one each for the neutral and anionic species. Such models do not account for
Leachate derived from unlined coal ash disposal facilities is one of the most significant anthropogenic sources of selenium to the environment. To establish a practical framework for predicting transport of selenium in ash leachate, sorption of Se(IV) and Se(VI) from 1 m M CaSO 4 was measured for 18 soils obtained down‐gradient from three ash landfill sites and evaluated with respect to several soil properties. Furthermore, soil attenuation from lab‐generated ash leachate and the effect of Ca 2+
Prosulfuron [1-(4-methoxy-6-methyltriazin-2-yl)-3-[2-(3,3,3-trifluoropropyl) phenylsulfonyl]-urea), a relatively new sulfonylurea herbicide, is a weak acid (pK(a) 3.76), and therefore, will undergo pH-dependent speciation and sorption. Understanding prosulfuron sorption in soils is important for predicting its environmental fate. Soil and solution factors controlling sorption were investigated by measuring prosulfuron sorption on five model sorbents (amorphous silica, alpha-alumina, CaSWy1 montm
Sorption data and subsequent predictive models for evaluating acidic pesticide behavior on variable-charge soils are needed to improve pesticide management and environmental stewardship. Previous work demonstrated that sorption of pentachlorophenol (PCP), a model organic acid, was adequately modeled by accounting for pH- and pKa–dependent chemical speciation and using two organic carbon–normalized sorption coefficients; one each for the neutral and anionic species. Such models do not account for
Research Areas
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