• Advances in nano research
• /
• v.11 no.6
• /
• pp.657-665
• /
• 2021

The present work aimed to explore green approach via aqueous leaves extract of Murraya koenigii (ALEMk) for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPsMk) in single step. The synthesis process was visualized with a color change and monitored by employing UV/Visible spectroscopy and a clear peak attained at 420 nm confirming the synthesis of AgNPsMk. The possible functional groups present in the extract which participated in the synthesis of AgNPsMk were identified with the help of FTIR spectroscopy. Further characterization using TEM images revealed the spherical shape of AgNPsMk with average particle size of 20 nm displaying well dispersion throughout the solution. Pronounced antioxidant activities of AgNPsMk at increased concentrations observed which evidencing strong radical scavenging ability. Moreover, AgNPsMk exhibited strong antibacterial behavior when tested against bacterial strains of Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. Moving ahead, in vitro cytotoxicity work revealed potent cell viability loss appearing in AU565 and HeLa cancer cell lines on exposure to AgNPsMk at increased concentration. Finally, in vivo assessment carried out inside male Wistar rats indicated non toxic effect on examined liver tissues besides biochemical analysis including bilirubin, alkaline phosphtase (ALP) and serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) which found within the normal range when compared with control. The prior research work profoundly apprises the potential of green synthesized AgNPsMk to play a significant role in biomedical applications and formulations.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.32 no.9
• /
• pp.627-634
• /
• 2023

Tire wear particles(TWPs), regarded as a microplastic, is generated in significant quantities each year and exist in various spaces and have a negative impact on the surrounding environment. Particularly, roadside environments fall within the direct influence of TWPs, necessitating proactive investigation for contamination management and response. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the soil acidity and electrical conductivity(EC) and TWPs in the roadside soil of six sites based on traffic volume. The analysis revealed that the soil in all sites exhibited subacidity, and there were no significant differences in EC. Microscopic and FT-IR analysis revealed the presence of microscopic particles in soil samples that exhibited common visual characteristics of TWPs. In the road with the highest traffic volume, 48,300 TWPs were detected per unit area. Furthermore, a proportional relationship between traffic volume and TWPs particles was established. However, influences other than traffic volume on TWPs particle count within the soil were observed. Therefore, for the management of TWPs contaminated roadside soil, a proactive response is necessary in areas with high traffic volumes. However, in order to effectively address the factors contributing to the generation and dispersion of TWPs, further research is required with a multidimensional approach.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.22-29
• /
• 2014

Recycling process of iron should be developed for efficient recovery of neodymium (Nd), rare metal, from acid-leaching solution of Nd magnet. In this study, $FeCl_3$ solution as iron source was used for preparation of iron nano particles with the condition of various factors, such as, reductant, and surfactant. $Na_4P_2O_7$ and Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as surfactants, $NaBH_4$ as reductant, and palladium chloride ($PdCl_2$) as a nucleation seed were used. Iron powder was analyzed by using XRD, SEM for measuring shape and size. Iron nano particles were prepared at the ratio of 1:5 (Fe (III) : $NaBH_4$). Size and shape of iron particles were round-form and 50 ~ 100 nm size. Zeta-potential of iron at the 100 mg/L of $Na_4P_2O_7$ was negative value, which was good for dispersion of metal particle. When $Na_4P_2O_7$ (100 mg/L), PVP($FeCl_3:PVP$ = 1 : 4, w/w) and Pd($FeCl_3:PdCl_2$ = 1 : 0.001, w/w) were used, iron nano particles which were round-shape, well-dispersed and near 100 nm-sized range. In this condition, $FeCl_3$ solution changed with spent Nd leachate solution, and then it is possible to be made round-formed iron nano particles at pH 9 and at the reaction bath over 20 L which is not include any surfactant.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.453-458
• /
• 2009

Recently, new methods to synthesize and process polymers without toxic organic solvents are needed in order to solve environmental problems. The use of supercritical carbon dioxide as a solvent for the polymer synthesis is attractive since it is non-toxic, non-flammable, naturally abundant, and the product may be easily separated from the solvent. In this study, we developed the method using super critical $CO_2$ to prepare P(MAA-co-EGMA) hydrogel nanoparticles as an intelligent drug delivery carrier. The effects of concentrations of PtBuMA-PEO as a dispersion stabilizer and AIBN as an initiator on the particle synthesis were investigated. When PtBuMA-PEO concentration increased, the particle size decreased. However, there was no significant difference in the particle size according to the AIBN concentration. There was a drastic change of the equilibrium weight swelling ratio of P(MAA-co-EGMA) hydrogel nanoparticles at a pH of around 5, which is the $pK_a$ of PMAA. At a pH below 5, the hydrogels were in a relatively collapsed state but at a pH higher than 5, the hydrogels swelled to a high degree. In release experiments using Rh-B as a model solute, the P(MAA-co-EGMA) hydrogel nanoparticles showed a pH-sensitive release behavior. At low pH(pH 4.0) a small amount of Rh-B was released while at high pH(pH 6.0) a relatively large amount of Rh-B was released from the hydrogels.

• Elastomers and Composites
• /
• v.47 no.1
• /
• pp.43-53
• /
• 2012

A suspension copolymerization of styrene and butyl methacrylate (BMA) in the aqueous phase was conducted at a selected temperature between 65 and $95^{\circ}C$. Hydrophobic silica was selected as a stabilizer and azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as an initiator. Optimum dispersion of silica in water was obtained at pH 10 while polymerization reaction was run at pH 7. TGA and EDS measurements revealed that 90% of silica functioned as a stabilizer and 10% were incorporated into polymeric particles. Average particle diameter decreased with increasing amounts of stabilizer. Molecular weights displayed an increase when the stabilizer concentration reached 1.67 wt%. An increase in the initiator concentration and/or reaction temperature raised the reaction rate but decreased molecular weights. Particle diameter was nearly independent of the initiator concentration and reaction temperature. An increase in the BMA proportion decreased the glass transition temperature and increased the particle diameter with irregularity in shape. Incorporation of carbon black into the particles composed of styrene and BMA prolonged the reaction time before reaching completion. We have confirmed that a suspension copolymerization of styrene and BMA with hydrophobic silica as a stabilizer can produce spherical composite particles with $1-30{\mu}m$ in diameter containing carbon black.

• Elastomers and Composites
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.303-315
• /
• 2003

Inorganic/organic composite particles were also synthesized by changing an initiator an it's concentration, concentration of an adsorbed surfactant, reaction temperature, and agitation speed in the presence of $CaCO_3$ adsorbed SDBS. The polymerization conditions were optimized according to the conversion of the core-shell composite particles. In the inorganic/organic core-shell composite particle polymerization, $CaCO_3$ absorbed surfactant SDBS of 0.5 wt % was prepared first and then core $CaCO_3$ was encapsulated by sequential emulsion polymerization using MMA, concentration of APS $3.16{\times}10^{-3}mol/L$ to minimize the formation of new PMMA particle during MMA shell polymerization. The structure characterization of the inorganic/organic core-shell particles was verified by measuring the decomposition degree of $CaCO_3$ using HCl solution. It was found that $CaCO_3$ was encapsulated by shell PMMA due to having excellent dispersion in the epoxy resin, smooth surface distinctly from spindle shape, and broad particle distribution after the capsulation.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.451-464
• /
• 2008

Three-phase inverse fluidized bed has been widely adopted with its increasing demand in the fields of bioreactor, fermentation process, wastewater treatment process, absorption and adsorption processes, where the fluidized or suspended particles are small or lower density comparing with that of continuous liquid phase, since the particles are frequently substrate, contacting medium or catalyst carrier. However, there has been little attention on the three-phase inverse fluidized beds even on the hydrodynamics. Needless to say, the information on the hydrodynamics and transport phenomena such as heat and mass transfer in the inverse fluidized beds has been essential for the operation, design and scale-up of various reactors and processes which are employing the three-phase inverse beds. In the present article, thus, the information on the three-phase inverse fluidized beds has been summarized and reorganized to suggest a pre-requisite knowledge for the field work in a sense of engineering point of view. The article is composed of three parts; hydrodynamics, heat and mass transfer characteristics of three-phase inverse fluidized beds. Effects of operating variables on the phase holdup, bubble properties and particle fluctuating frequency and dispersion were discussed in the section of hydrodynamics; effects of operating variables on the heat transfer coefficient and on the heat transfer model were discussed in the section of heat transfer characteristics ; and in the section of mass transfer characteristics, effects of operating variables on the liquid axial dispersion and volumetric liquid phase mass transfer coefficient were examined. In each section, correlations to predict the hydrodynamic characteristics such as minimum fluidization velocity, phase holdup, bubble properties and particle fluctuating frequency and dispersion and heat and mass transfer coefficients were suggested. And finally suggestions have been made for the future study for the application of three-phase inverse fluidized bed in several available fields to meet the increasing demands of this system.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.249-259
• /
• 2009

The objective of this research was to find out the physical properties, such as dispersion and coagulation, of soil minerals depending on the types and concentrations of the cations in aqueous solution. Hwangto samples were obtained from 90 to 130 cm from surface at Jangdong-ri, Donggang-Myon, Naju, Chonnam Province. The clay fraction (< $2\;{\mu}m$) was separated by sedimentation method from the bulk soils. Both Hwangto and clay fractions, and the same samples after removal of amorphous and crystalline iron oxides were used in this experiment. The effect of 4 cations ($Na^+$, $K^+$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$) and their concentrations on settling speed and basal spacing of the minerals were observed to examine the physical properties of the soil and clay minerals. Hwangto mainly consisted of quartz, and the clay fractions consisted of kaolinite, illite, and vermiculite. The bulk soils contained 16.3 mg/kg of amorphous iron oxides and 436 mg/kg of crystalline iron oxides. Clay fractions were dispersed better than bulk soils due to their smaller particle size than that of the bulk samples in the aqueous solution. The bulk and clay samples were dispersed better when iron oxides were removed because of coating of minerals by the iron oxides. Clay minerals were settled faster as the charge and the concentration of cations added increased. The d-spacing of kaolinite and illite did not change when 4 types of cations were added. The d-spacing of vermiculite showed $14.04\;{\AA}$ when divalent cations were added while that of vermiculite showed $13.9\;{\AA}$ when monovalent cations were added. It may be attributed to the hydration radii of cations. This study indicated that both coating of iron oxides on minerals and types and concentrations of cations affect dispersion of minerals in solution and d-spacing of expanding clay minerals such as vermiculite.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.4 no.8
• /
• pp.847-854
• /
• 1994

An amorphous single phase and coexistent amorphous and hcp-Mg phases in Mg-Zn-Ce system were found to form in the composition ranges of 20 to 40% Zn, 0 to 10% Ce and 5 to 20% Zn, 0 to 5% Ce, respectively. A $Mg_{85}Zn_{12}Ce_{3}$ amorphous alloy containing nanoscale hcp-Mg particles was found to form either by melt spinning or by heat treatment of melt -spun ribbon. The particle size of the hcp-Mg phase can be controlled in the range of 4 to 20 nm. The mixed phase alloy prepared thus has a good bending ductility and exhibits high ultimate tensile strength($\sigma_{B}$) ranging from 670 to 930 MPa and fracture elongation($\varepsilon_{f}$) of 5.2 to 2.0%. The highest specific strength($\sigma_{B}$/density =$\sigma_{s}$)$3.6 \times 10^5N \cdot m/kg$. It should be noted that the highest values of flB, US and ？1 are considerably higher than those (690MPa,$2.5 \times 10^5N \cdot m/kg$and 2.5%) for amorphous Mg-Zn-Ce alloys. The increase of the mechanical strengths by the formation of the mixed phase structure is presumably due to a dispersion hardening of the hcp supersaturated solution which has the hardness higher than that of the amorphous phase with the same composition.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2009.06a
• /
• pp.441-441
• /
• 2009

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been widely investigated as a next-generation solar cell because of their simple fabrication process and low coats. The cells use a porous nanocrystalline TiO2 matrix coated with a sensitizer dye that acts as the light-harvesting element. The photo-exited dye injects electrons into the $TiO_2$ particles, and the oxide dye reacts with I- in the electrolyte in regenerative cycle that is completed by the reduction of $I_3^-$ at a platinum-coated counter electrode. Since $TiO_2$ porous film plays a key role in the enhancement of photoelectric conversion efficiency of DSSC, many scientists focus their researches on it. Especially, a high light-to-electricity conversion efficiency results from particle size and crystallographic phase, film porosity, surface structure, charge and surface area to volume ratio of porous $TiO_2$ electrodes, on which the dye can be sufficiently adsorbed. Effective treatment of the photoanode is important to improve DSSC performance. In this paper, to obtain properties of surface and dispersion as nitric acid treated $TiO_2$ photoelectrode was investigate. The photovoltaic characteristics of DSSCs based the electrode fabricated by nitric acid pre-treatment $TiO_2$ materials gave better performances on both of short circuit current density and open circuit voltage. We compare dispersion of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles before and after nitric acid treatment and measured Ti oxidized state from XPS. Low charge transfer resistance was obtained in nitric acid treated sample than that of untreated sample. The dye-sensitized solar cell based on the nitric acid treatment had open-circuit voltage of 0.71 V, a short-circuit current of 15.2 mAcm-2 and an energy conversion efficiency of 6.6 % under light intensity of $100\;mWcm^{-2}$. About 14 % increases in efficiency obtained when the $TiO_2$ electrode was treated by nitric acid.