• Toxicological Research
• /
• 제28권4호
• /
• pp.209-216
• /
• 2012

The biological activity of particles is largely dependent on their size in biological systems. Dispersion in the aqueous phase has been both a critical impediment to and a prerequisite for particle studies. Carbon black has been used as a surrogate to investigate the biological effects of carbonaceous particles. Here, biocompatible methods were established to disperse carbon black into ultrafine and fine particles which are generally distinguished by the small size of 100 nm. Carbon black with a distinct particle size, N330 and N990 were suspended in blood plasma, cell culture media, Krebs-Ringer's solution (KR), or physiological salt solution (PSS). Large clumps were observed in all dispersion preparations; however, sonication improved dispersion - averaged particle sizes for N330 and N990 were $85.0{\pm}42.9$ and $112.4{\pm}67.9$ nm, respectively, in plasma; the corresponding sizes in culture media were $84.8{\pm}38.4$ and $164.1{\pm}77.8$ nm. However, sonication was not enough to disperse N330 less than 100 nm in either KR or PSS. Application of Tween 80 along with sonication reduced the size of N330 to less than 100 nm, and dispersed N990 larger than 100 nm ($73.6{\pm}28.8$ and $80.1{\pm}30.0$ nm for N330 and $349.5{\pm}161.8$ and $399.8{\pm}181.1$ nm for N990 in KR and PSS, respectively). In contrast, 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) exhibited little effect. Electron microscopy confirmed the typical aciniform structure of the carbon arrays; however, zeta potential measurement failed to explain the dispersibility of carbon black. The methods established in this study could disperse carbon black into ultrafine and fine particles, and may serve as a useful model for the study of particle toxicity, particularly size-related effects.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제44권1호
• /
• pp.9-20
• /
• 2012

A brief review on the thermal plasma synthesis of nano-sized powders is presented according to the application materials, such as, metals, ceramics, glasses, carbonaceous materials and other functional composites, such as, supported metal catalyst and core-shell structured nano materials. As widely adopted plasma sources available for thermal plasma synthesis of nanosized powders, three kinds of plasma torches, such as transferred and non-transferred DC and RF plasma torches, are introduced with the main features of each torch system. In the basis of the described torch features and the properties of suggested materials, application results including synthesis mechanism are reviewed in this paper.

• 전기화학회지
• /
• 제11권3호
• /
• pp.211-222
• /
• 2008

휴대용 전자기기의 전원으로 채용되어 상업적으로도 성공을 거두고 있는 리튬이차전지는 HEV(Hybrid Electric Vehicle)와 같은 비IT용 전원으로서도 중요성을 더하고 있다. 리튬이차전지는 리튬금속을 사용함에 따라서 초래되는 안전성을 문제를 탄소계음극을 채용하고 이에 따른 안전기구를 확보함에 의해 상용화 되었다고 할 수 있다. 이와 같이 전지에 있어 전극소재의 개발은 핵심기술이라 할 수 있으며, 점차 그 응용처가 확대되어 가고 있는 리튬이차전지의 전극소재 개발은 전지 산업뿐만 아니라 타 산업에 미치는 영향은 크다고 할 수 있다. 여기서는 리튬이차전지가 상용화되어 온 이후 채용되어온 음극과 개발중인 음극 후보에 대해 그 장단점을 분석해 보고자 한다.