• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.73-80
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• 2016

Bioaerosol inactivation becomes important as people recognize the significance on the health effects of bioaerosols. There are several ways to inactivate such bioaerosols such as antimicrobial filters, UV, etc. For the on-filter-inactivation, proper antimicrobial materials coating should be applied. Recently, air ions are adopted to effectively reduce germ and virus activity. Limitations arise when each method is applied separately. Coating materials can experience chemical instability over time and temperature. Ionizers can generate ozone to prepare high ion concentrations. Combinations of developed techniques to enhance the inactivation efficiency were suggested. Researches on the air sterilization are reviewed and outlook is highlighted. Proper techniques such as combinations of filter material coating and air ion generation can be used to make air quality better for human living.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.311-316
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• 2018

As the lives of people have improved, the demand for improved indoor air quality has increased. Various methods are used to remove biological air pollutants, such as UV/photocatalytic devices and ozone generators. However, these methods have disadvantages such as energy consumption, high corrosivity and toxicity. To overcome these disadvantages, an antibacterial copper filter was fabricated and its antimicrobial activity was then tested against two fungi (P. pinophilum, C. globosum) and one bacteria (S. aureus) Moreover, the ability to remove suspended microorganisms was tested step by step from the chamber stage to the air conditioning system. The results revealed 100% antimicrobial activity after 24 hours for the two fungi, while this value was 99.9% after 18 hours for the bacteria. Moreover, the antibacterial activity was higher when the chamber and air purifier were used than was obtained using a general antibacterial HEPA filter. Also, as a filter for system air conditioner, the antibacterial activity was lowered in offices and hospitals. In conclusion, the copper filter was found to have sufficient antibacterial activity for use as an antibacterial filter; however, further research on its preparation methods and materials is warranted.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.583-589
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• 2009

Activated carbon has long been used in purification processes for indoor air quality. However, the bioaerosol removal by activated carbon is not often sufficient to be used in an air control devise. In order to overcome these problems, silver nano-particles have been proposed as an antibacterial agent on the surface of activated carbon. Silver or silver ions have been known for antimicrobial activities. In this study, bioaerosol generated by using an Escherichia coli culture was introduced to a lab-scale column packed with activated carbon (AC) and silver nano-particles attached to activated carbon (Ag-AC). E. coli was almost completely removed in the Ag-AC column, whereas bioaerosol penetrated through the AC column. To determine the antibacterial effect of different filter materials in a full-scale air-handling system, another experiment was conducted using a wind tunnel equipped with a heat exchanger and three filter materials including commercial fabric, AC and Ag-AC. It was found that E. coli proliferated on the surface of the heat exchanger after 5 days, which dramatically increased bioaerosol counts in the effluent air stream. The fabric filter could not control the increased bioaerosol and most of the E. coli penetrated the filter. The bacterial removal efficiency was found to be approximately 45% in the AC filter, while the antibacterial efficiency increased to 70% using the Ag-AC filter. Consequently, the Ag-AC filter can be an effective method to control bioaerosol and improve indoor air quality.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2013

Various antimicrobial technologies have been developed to inactivate bioaerosols in indoor environments. In this study, air filter media were treated with a natural antibacterial agent of Sophora flavescens in order to inactivate the bacteria collected on the air filter. Three treatment methods were applied to manufacture the test antibacterial air filter media: electrospray, nebulization and dip-coating methods. In case of electrospray and nebulization processes, the size distribution of aerosolized natural antibacterial agent was measured using a scanning mobility particle sizer. Staphylococcus epidermidis bacteria were aerosolized to test inactivation of the filter media treated with a natural antibacterial agent. The pressure drop and the antibacterial efficiency of the filter media increased with increasing the mass loading of natural antibacterial agent in each treatment method. The antibacterial efficiency per loaded antibacterial agent mass by the electrospray method was the highest and the filter treated by the dip-coating method was the lowest among three treatment methods.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.257-270
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• 2022

The aim of this work was to prepare a new biodegradable polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) submicron fiber mat loaded with hypericin-rich Hypericum perforatum raw extract by centrifugal spinning technology, an alternative approach to the traditional method of electrospinning to fabricate nanofibers or microfibers from solutions at high speed and low cost. Hypericins in methanol/acetone extract of H. perforatum were determined by UHPLC-MS/MS and HPLC/PDA. Submicron fiber mats composed of pure PHB or PHB enriched with H. perforatum extract were prepared using a pilot plant demonstrator for the centrifugal spinning technology and characterized by SEM. Singlet oxygen production was quantified by the 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran (DPIBF) method in hexane. The results proved a significant production of singlet oxygen by the prepared submicron fiber mat. We also found a significant antibacterial activity against the bacterial strain Escherichia coli CCM 5417 by a method in accordance with JIS Z 2801/ISO 22196 standards. The H. perforatum extract-enriched PHB submicron fiber mats showed potential for the development of self-cleaning and antimicrobial air filters.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.226-232
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• 2016

We studied the photocatalytic functionality such as deodorant, antibacterial, fine dust collection efficiency of polyester-based non-woven fabric filter treated with self-actuated photocatalyst. According to UV/visible result, the UV-visible peak of visible-light responsive photocatalyst was found to be red shift at 420 nm sensitive in the visible light region. The deodorizing performance was shown to be reduced more than 80% even without dark conditions. Fine dust particles collection efficiency was shown to be excellent at the size of not only $2.5{\mu}m{\sim}10.0{\mu}m$ but also less than $2.5{\mu}m$. Also antimicrobial and antifungus was shown to be reduced more than 99.9%.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.384-390
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• 2018

Air and soil are being contaminated by the environmental pollution as a result of climate change and urbanization, resulting in water pollution reaching serious levels. In this studies, we investigated the use of antimicrobial copper for the removal of biological pollutants from water system. Specifically, we tested its effects against E. coli, B. subtilis, S. aureus, K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa. Made a sphere shape having a diameter of 2cm using a strip-shaped copper wire of 0.5g, 1g and 2g. And then, to confirm the antimicrobial activities, each copper ball was equipped in the broth which inoculated each pathogens. The results showed that bacterial growth of the five test bacteria was inhibited by more than 99% after reaction with a 0.5 g copper ball for at least 20 minutes. Based on the these results, if perform the further experiment such cytotoxicity, it is expected that will be enough to be used as a filter for water quality purification. The developed technique is expected to be widely applied in various industries.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.864-873
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• 2018

There has been increasing attention and research in various nanoparticle applications. Nanoparticles have been used for a variety of purposes in different departments including but not limited to cosmetics, food, machinery, and chemical. A highly sought-after field to use nanoparticles, especially natural or artificial silver nanoparticles (SNPs), is the utilization of their significant antimicrobial properties in daily items such as fabrics, indoor air filters, and, water filtration units where abundant bacterial and fungal growth are inevitable. These applications of SNPs, however, have enabled continuous human exposure and hence paved the way for potential SNP toxicity depending on exposure method and particle size. This potential toxicity has led to researches on safer antimicrobial solutions to be utilized in textile and filtration. In this context, products of natural origin have gained expanding interest due to their eco-friendly, cost-effective, and biologically safe properties along their promising antibacterial and antifungal activities. Natural product-applied fabrics and filters have been shown to be comparable to those that are SNP-treated in terms of ease production, material durability, and antimicrobial efficiency. This article summarizes and assesses the current state of in vitro and in vitro toxicity of SNPs and discusses the potential of natural products as an alternative.