• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.94-101
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• 2013

Amorphous silica particles, whose applications are increasing in many biomedical fields, are known to be less toxic than crystalline silica. In this study, the inflammatory effects of amorphous silica nanoparticles were investigated using 30-nm amorphous silica nanoparticles and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) or purified monocytes. As a result, production of IL-$1{\beta}$ and IL-8 were increased. In addition, the mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) was detected, which may lead to mitochondrial membrane disruption. Most importantly, inflammasome formation was observed. Therefore, these results provide immunological information about amorphous silica nanoparticles and suggest that amorphous silica nanoparticles can evoke innate immune reactions in human monocytes through production of IL-$1{\beta}$ and IL-8.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.497-508
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• 2020

In the geochemical field, the chemical speciation of hexavalent uranium (U(VI)) has been widely investigated by performing measurements to determine its luminescence properties, namely the excitation, emission, and lifetime. Of these properties, the excitation has been relatively overlooked in most time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) studies. In this study, TRLFS and continuous-wave excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy are adopted to characterize the excitation properties of U(VI) surface species that interact with amorphous silica. The luminescence spectra of U(VI) measured from a silica suspension and silica sediment showed very similar spectral shapes with similar lifetime values. In contrast, the excitation spectra of U(VI) measured from these samples were significantly different. The results show that distinctive excitation maxima appeared at approximately 220 and 280 nm for the silica suspension and silica sediment, respectively.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.287-293
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• 2018

Amorphous silica ($SiO_2$) silt grains were found in some soils of Korean Peninsula. Scanning electron microscopy of polished section of soils revealed ellipsoidal amorphous $SiO_2$ grains with numerous submicron pores concentrated in the interior. Their amorphous structure was confirmed by lattice imaging and electron diffraction under transmission electron microscope. Amorphous $SiO_2$ grains were not found in the eolian sediment of the Chinese loess plateau. Although the origin of the amorphous $SiO_2$ grain is uncertain, they are likely either phytolith or weathering product of volcanic ash. The amorphous $SiO_2$ silt grains are not useful as a tracer of long-range transport mineral dust in soils.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.271-282
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• 2012

We explore the effect of removal of organic ligand on the atomic configurations around oxygen in hydroxyl groups in amorphous silica gel (synthesized through hydrolysis of $SiCl_4$ in diethyl-ether) using high resolution $^{17}O$ solid state NMR spectroscopy. $^1H$ and $^{29}Si$ MAS NMR spectra for amorphous silica gel showed diverse hydrogen environments including water, hydroxyl groups (e.g., hydrogen bonded silanol, isolated silanol), and organic ligands (e.g., alkyl chain) that may interact with surface hydroxyls in the amorphous silica gel, for instance, forming silica-organic ligand complex (e.g., Si-$O{\cdots}R$). These physically and chemically adsorbed organic ligands were partly removed by ultrasonic cleaning under ethanol and distilled water for 1 hour. Whereas $^{17}O$ MAS NMR spectra with short pulse length ($0.175{\mu}s$) at 9.4 T and 14.1 T for as-synthesized amorphous silica gel showed the unresolved peak for Si-O-Si and Si-OH structures, the $^{17}O$ MAS NMR spectra with long pulse length ($2{\mu}s$) showed the additional peak at ~0 ppm. The peak at ~0 ppm may be due to Si-OH structure with very fast relaxation rate as coupled to liquid water molecules or organic ligands on the surface of amorphous silica gel. The observation of the peak at ~0 ppm in $^{17}O$ MAS NMR spectra for amorphous silica gel became more significant as the organic ligands were removed. These results indicate that the organic ligands on the surface of amorphous silica gel interact with oxygen atoms in Si-OH and provide the information about atomic structure of silanol and siloxane in amorphous silica gel. The current results could enhance the understanding of dehydration mechanism of diverse silicates, which is known as atomic scale origins of intermediate depth (approximately, 70~300 km) earthquakes in subduction zone.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.209-213
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• 2015

Synthesis of nano-silica using water glass in a Sol-Gel process is one of several methods to manufacture nano-silica. In nano-silica synthesized from water glass, there are various metal impurities. However, synthesis of nano-silica using water glass in a Sol-Gel process is an interesting method because it is relatively simple and cheap. In this study, nano-silica was synthesized from water glass; we investigated the effect of pH on the synthesis of nano-silica. The morphology of the nanosilica with pH 2 was flat, but the surface of the nano-silica with pH 10 had holes similar to small craters. As a result of ICP-OES analysis, the amount of Na in the nano-silica with pH 2 was found to be 170 mg/kg. On the other hand, the amount of Na in the nano-silica with pH 10 was found to be 56,930 mg/kg. After calcination, the crystal structure of the nano-silica with pH 2 was amorphous. The crystal structure of the nano-silica with pH 10 transformed from amorphous to tridymite. This is because elemental Na in the nano-silica had the effect of decreasing the phase transformation temperature.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.395-400
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• 2008

This paper indicates the investigation about the development of ET (Environmental Technology) industrial geopolymeric materials from mixture silica mine waste, coal fly ash and alkali activator solution (sodium silicate) by the geopolymer technique at ambient temperature. The results showed that higher compressive strength of geopolymeric mortar increased with a reduce of L/S ratio and increased along with an increase of coal fly ash content. The compressive strengths of geopolymer mortar on low silica of C Silica Mine and K Silica Mine are 18.7 MPa, 20.4 MPa, respectively. Compressive strength of geopolymeric mortar depends on L/S ratio and coal fly ash content added.. Additionally, scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques are used to characterize the microstructure of the geopolymeric mortars. SEM observation shows that it is possible to have amorphous aluminosilicate gel within mortar. XRD patterns indicate the fact that geopolymeric mortar is composed of amorphous aluminosilicate phase, calcite and quartz.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.166-173
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• 2019

In this paper, the reaction properties of silica source in the accelerated curing conditions using autoclave and the fundamental properties of inorganic Micro Defect Free(MiDF) concrete using silica source are studied. Studies show that Si ions elution rate from silica source in autoclave curing is higher in amorphous source. In tap water conditions, solids which is source after autoclaved curing show a higher mass reduction in amorphous materials, which is attributed to the higher elution rate of ion. In $Ca(OH)_2$ solution conditions, amorphous materials show higher mass increase, due to increase in C-S-H minerals. From experiment for influence on the properties of MiDF concrete by using nano silica materials, the specimen with silica fume shows an increase in compressive strength and a decrease in absorption depending on replacement rate up to 5.5%, while nano silica with amorphous phase and high-fineness shows a decrease in compressive strength and decrease in the water absorption. The specimen with nano silica increases the pore below 10,000nm, but reduces pore between 10,000 and 100,000nm. The above results show that the porosity and absorption rate of MiDF concrete can be reduced by using amorphous nano-size silica. However, to reduce the pore of 50 to 10,000nm, better dispersion of nano material in the cement matrix will be necessary. We will focus on the this item in the next research.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2013

X-ray powder diffraction is one of the most powerful techniques for qualitative and quantitative analysis of crystalline compounds. Thus, there exist a number of different methods for quantifying mineral mixtures using X-ray diffraction pattern. We present here the use of Rietveld and PONKCS (partial or no known crystal structure) methods for quantification of amorphous and crystallized mineral phases in synthetic mixtures of standard minerals (amorphous silica, quartz, mullite and corundum). Pawley phase model of amorphous silica was successfully built from the pattern of 100 wt% amorphous silica and internal standard-spiked samples by PONKCS approach. The average of absolute bias for quantities of amorphous silica was 1.85 wt%. The larger bias observed for lower quantities of amorphous silica is probably explained by low intensities of diffraction pattern. Averages of absolute bias for minerals were 0.53 wt% for quartz, 0.87 wt% for mullite and 0.57 wt% for corundum, respectively. The PONKCS approach achieved improved quantitative results compared with classical Rietveld method by using an internal standard.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.70-73
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• 1999

Amorphous silica was hydrothermally reacted for 48~120h at $170~180^{\circ}C$ in molar ratios of $SiO_{2}/(NaOH+Na_{2}CO_{3})=2~20\;and\;H_{2}O/(NaOH+Na_{2}CO_{3})=200~250$. Na-kenyaite nuclei were formed directly from amorphous silica without formation of Na-magadiite nuclei in wide range with $SiO_{2}/(NaOH+Na_{2}CO_{3})=3~20$. Above $SiO_{2}/(NaOH+Na_{2}CO_{3})=10$, Na-kenyaite always produced with a residual amorphous silica. Well-crystallized Na-kenyaite without residual amorphous silica were obtained in the range of $SiO_{2}/(NaOH+Na_{2}CO_{3})=3~10$. Morphology of Na-kenyaite exhibited that a large spherical and loosely packed aggregates changed into the smaller and individual platelets according to increase of reaction time.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.173-179
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• 1999

The effect of the surface activation treatment on the crystallization of the amorphous silicon film was investigated. The amorphous silicon film was deposited on the silica substrate with LPCVD technique. Wet blasting with silica slurry or exposure with Nd:YAG laser beam was applied on the amorphous silicon film before annealing for the crystallization. For the analysis of the crystallinity, XRD, Raman, and SEM were employed. In this investigation, the prior surface activation treatment like silica wet blasting or Nd:YAG laser beam exposure before annealing for the crystallization were found to be effective in the enhancement of the crystallization. It is believed that these treatment lower the activation energy required for the crystallization of the amorphous silicon film.