• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.211-217
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• 2012

UV-irradiation is a major factor of photo-aged skin, by which pigmentation, wrinkles and laxity are increased. In addition, the epidermal barrier is disrupted, ultimately causing dryness in photo-aged skin. As an effort to search dietary sources for improving the dryness of UV irradiated skin, the dietary effect of red ginseng based functional foods on the epidermal level of ceramides, a major lipid maintaining epidermal barrier, was determined in this study. Albino hairless mice were fed either a control diet [group UV (UV-irradiated control)] or diets with 0.5% (group M0.5) or 1% (group M1.0) of red ginseng extracts mixed with Torilis fructus and Corni fructus (66.7% red ginseng) in parallel with UV irradiation for 5 wks. A normal control group (group C) was fed a control diet without UV irradiation for 5 wks. The epidermal level of ceramides in group UV was significantly lower than that in group C, in which ceramidase, an enzyme involved in ceramide degradation, was highly expressed. In group M0.5, the epidermal level of ceramide was significantly increased to the level even higher than in group C. In addition, protein expression of serine palmitoyl transferase (SPT), a key enzyme involved in de novo ceramide synthesis, was increased in group M0.5. However the epidermal levels of ceramides as well as of ceramidase protein expression in group M1.0 did not differ from those in group UV. In conclusion, we demonstrate that dietary supplementation of red-ginseng extracts mixed with Torilis fructus and Corni fructus at a level of 0.5% level in diet increased the epidermal level of ceramides coupled with the elevated expression of SPT protein.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.97-102
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• 2003

Multi-channel images of 11-MUA(11-Mercaptoundecanoic acid) and 11-MUOH(11-Mercaptoundecanol) self-assembled monolayers were obtained by using two-dimensional surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption. The patterning process was simplified by exploiting direct photo-oxidation of thiol bonding (photolysis) instead of conventional photolithography. Sharper images were resolved by using a white light source in combination with a narrow bandpass filter in the visible region, minimizing the diffraction patterns on the images. The line profile calibration of the image contrast caused by different resonance conditions at each point on the sensor surface (at a fixed incident angle) enables us to discriminate the monolayer thickness in nanometer scale. Furthermore, there is no signal degradation such as photo bleaching or quenching, which are common in the detection methods based on fluorescence.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.255-262
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• 2011

Auto- and photo-oxidative stability of oil extracted from germinated perilla seeds during storage at $60^{\circ}C$ for 4 days was studied by determining peroxide and conjugated dienoic acid values. Tocopherol contents during oil oxidation were also monitored by high performance liquid chromatography. Perilla oil was oxidized and tocopherols were degraded during storage at $60^{\circ}C$ regardless of the presence of light. Light increased oil oxidation and tocopherol degradation. Seeds germinated for 12 h had increased tocopherol contents in the oil and improved the auto- and photo-oxidative stability of the perilla oil. Tocopherol played a more important role as an antioxidant in the presence of light than in the absence of light.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.28-33
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• 2016

The spiropyran is a typical material having photodegradation properties in the process of photochromism. The spiropyran has been utilized in various applications such as optical switch, optical memories, and biosensor because of its remarkable stability, fast responsive time, stronger color change, and photo-induced controllability. However, the spriropyran is photodegraded by the repetitive optical irradiation. The photodegradation of spiropyran have been investigated by using UV-Visible spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and Raman spectroscopy. Herein, the properties of spiropyran were characterized by using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) in the terahertz frequency region. In terahertz region, the measured absorbance of spiropyran was increased due to the photodegradation induced by the repetitive UV irradiation. The absorbance tendency of spiropyran in the terahertz frequency region was compared with that in the visible region, and they were completely opposite to each other.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.241-250
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• 2009

During the past few years, titanium salts were investigated as alternative coagulants for the removal of organic matter of different molecular sizes in contaminated water. The flocculation efficiency of Ti-salt was comparable to those of $FeCl_3$ and $Al_2(SO_4)_3$ salts, commonly used coagulants. Incinerated sludge-$TiO_2$ showed higher surface area and photocatalytic activity than commercially available $TiO_2$. Metal-doped forms were produced by adding coagulant aids such as iron (Fe-), aluminium (Al-) and (Ca-) calcium salts during Ti-salt flocculation to increase pH. Ca- and Al- doped $TiO_2$ showed very high photocatalytic activity compared to Fe-doped $TiO_2$. When tested in a pilot scale plant for treatment of dye wastewater to check practical feasibility of the novel process, the removal ratio of the chemical oxygen demand was comparable to those of commonly used coagulants but the settling of sludge was faster. The $TiO_2$ generated after sludge incineration showed a high photocatalytic activity for degradation of volatile organic compounds and increased the rate of hydrogen production by water photosplitting. $TiCl_4$ coagulant and $TiO_2$ produced from different water sources with different concentrations had low acute toxicity compared to heavy metals and commercial $TiO_2$ when examined based on D. Magna mortality. This paper presents the production, characterisation and the photoactivity of $TiO_2$ produced from Ti-salt flocculated sludge. Different case studies are discussed to highlighted recent advances in this field.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.91-96
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• 2012

AC and ZnS modified $TiO_2$ composites (AC/ZnS/$TiO_2$) were prepared using a sol-gel method. The composite obtained was characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis, and according to the UV-vis absorption spectra (UV-vis). XRD patterns of the composites showed that the AC/ZnS/$TiO_2$ composites contain a typical single and clear anatase phase. The surface properties as observed by SEM present the characterization of the texture of the AC/ZnS/$TiO_2$ composites, showing a homogenous composition in the particles showing the micro-surface structures and morphology of the composites. The EDX spectra of the elemental identification showed the presence of C and Ti with Zn and S peaks for the AC/ZnS/$TiO_2$ composite. UV-vis patterns of the composites showed that these composites had greater photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation. A rhodamine B (Rh.B) solution under visible light irradiation was used to determine the photocatalytic activity. The degradation of Rh.B was determined using UV/Vis spectrophotometry. An increase in the photocatalytic activity was observed. From the photocatalytic results, the excellent activity of the Y-fullerene/$TiO_2$ composites for the degradation of methylene blue under visible irradiation could be attributed to an increase in the photo-absorption effect caused by the ZnS and to the cooperative effect of the AC.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.124-129
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• 2009

The photocatalysis degradation of simazine, s-triazine type herbicide was carried out using circulating photo reactor systems. In order to search for the effective method to mineralize this compound into environmentally compatible products, this study compared the removal efficiencies of simazine by changing various parameters. First, under the photocatalytic condition, simazine was more effectively degraded than by photolysis and $TiO_2$ only condition. With photocatalysis, 5 mg/l simazine was degraded to approximately 90% within 30 min, and completely degraded after 150 min. Ionic byproducts such as ${NO_2}^-$, ${NO_3}^-$, and $Cl^-$ were detected from the photocatalysis of simazine, however, the recoveries were poor, indicating the presence of organic intermediates rather than the mineralization of simazine during photocatalysis. Two bioassays using V. fischeri and D. magna were employed to measure the toxicity reduction in the reaction solutions treated by both photocatalysis and photolysis. Simazine and its photocatalysis treated water did not exert any significant toxicity to V. fischeri, marine bacterium. However, the acute toxicity test using D. magna indicates that initial acute toxicity ($EC_{50}$ = 57.30%) was completely reduced ($EC_{50}$ = 100%) after 150 min under both photocatalysis and photoysis of simazine. This results indicates that photocatalysis and photolysis of simazine reduced the acute toxicity through mineralization.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.215-220
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• 2016

A new immobilization technique of nanoscale $TiO_2$ powder to expanded polystyrene (EPS) balls with temperature-controlled melting method was developed, and the photocatalytic activity of $TiO_2$ powder-embedded EPS balls were evaluated using methylene blue (MB) solution under ultraviolet irradiation (${\lambda}=254nm$). Based on the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images and associated energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis, the components of the intact EPS balls were mainly carbon and oxygen, whereas those of $TiO_2$-immobilized EPS balls were carbon, oxygen, and titanium, indicating that relatively homogenous patches of $TiO_2$ and glycerin film were coated on the surface of EPS balls. Based on the comparison of degradation efficiencies of MB between intact and $TiO_2$-immobilized EPS balls under UVC illumination, the degradation efficiencies of MB can be significantly improved using $TiO_2$-immobilized EPS balls, and surface reactions in heterogeneous photocatalysis were more dominant than photo-induced radical reactions in aqueous solutions. Thus, $TiO_2$-immobilized EPS balls were found to be an effective photocatalyst for photodegradation of organic compounds in aqueous solutions without further processes (i.e., separation, recycling, and regeneration of $TiO_2$ powder). Further study is in progress to evaluate the feasibility for usage of buoyant $TiO_2$-immobilized EPS to inhibit the excessive growth of algae in rivers and lakes.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.142-150
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• 2009

In this paper, non-treated ACF (Activated Carbon Fiber) /$TiO_2$ and Zn-treated ACF/$TiO_2$ were prepared. The prepared composites were characterized in terms of their structural crystallinity, elemental identification and photocatalytic activity. XRD patterns of the composites showed that the non-treated ACF/$TiO_2$ composite contained only typical single and clear anatase forms while the Zn-treated ACF/$TiO_2$ contained a mixed anatase and rutile phase with a unique ZnO peak. SEM results show that the titanium complex particles are uniformly distributed on and around the fiber and that the titanium complex particles are more regularly distributed on and around the ACF surfaces upon an increase of the $ZnCl_2$ concentration. These EDX spectra show the presence of peaks from the C, O and Ti elements. Moreover, peaks of the Zn element were observed in the Zn-treated ACF/$TiO_2$ composites. The prominent photocatalytic activity of the Zn-treated ACF/$TiO_2$ can be attributed to the three different effects of photo-degradation: doping, absorptivity by an electron transfer, and adsorptivity of porous ACFs between the Zn-$TiO_2$ and Zn-ACF.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.226-232
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• 2020

Bismuth vanadate (BiVO₄) is considered a potentially attractive candidate for the visible-light-driven photodegradation of organic pollutants. In an effort to enhance their photocatalytic activities, BiVO₄ nanofibers with controlled microstructures, grain sizes, and crystallinities are successfully prepared by electrospinning followed by a precisely controlled heat treatment. The structural features, morphologies, and photo-absorption performances of the asprepared samples are systematically investigated and can be readily controlled by varying the calcination temperature. From the physicochemical analysis results of the synthesized nanofiber, it is found that the nanofiber calcines at a lower temperature, shows a smaller crystallite size, and lower crystallinity. The photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine-B (RhB) reveals that the photocatalytic activity of the BiVO₄ nanofibers can be improved by a thermal treatment at a relatively low temperature because of the optimization of the conflicting characteristics, crystallinity, crystallite size, and microstructure. The photocatalytic activity of the nanofiber calcined at 350℃ for the degradation of RhB under visible-light irradiation exhibits a greater photocatalytic activity than the nanofibers synthesized at 400℃ and 450℃.