• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.42 no.6
• /
• pp.747-757
• /
• 2014

Since the air contamination by air pollutants from indoor construction materials and daily supplies has been increased in recent decades, the public interest of using environmentally friendly products and improving indoor air quality also attracted much attention. As known as effects of phytoncide, it has been used in construction materials and daily supplies with various method. In this study, hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) was used because of its high contents of phytoncide. The leaves of hinoki cypress (C. obtusa), which generated by pruning, were extracted by steam distillation, and then used as humidification water source. Volatile organic compound (VOC) from C. obtusa were characterized by GC-MS (Gas chromatograph-Mass spectrophotometry) in order to evaluate effects and risks of using C. obtusa extracts. Total 86 types and 116 types of VOC were detected from distilled water (DI water) and C. obtusa extracts, respectively. Aromatic compounds (DI water: 13 types, 53%; C. obtusa extracts: 13 types, 38%) and terpenoids (DI water: 16 types, 23%; C. obtusa extracts: 23 types, 33%) were detected more diverse types and higher amount than other compound categories. No additional aromatic compounds were found from C. obtusa extracts, so C. obtusa extracts did not affect on aromatic compounds emission. However, in terpenoids, total amount of emission from C. obtusa extracts increased to 33% from 23% (DI water) and 7 more types of compounds were found from C. obtusa extracts. Especially, from C. obtusa extracts, terpinen-4-ol was emitted 71 times higher than DI water. During the humidification with C. obtusa extracts, emitted terpenoid compounds were well known for higher anti-bacterial, anti-insect, and anti-septic functions, but also these had anti-hypertensive and anti-cancer activities. Therefore, terpenoids from C. obtusa extracts can help to improve public health by using humidifier.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.95-102
• /
• 2003

Microalgae are a diverse group of photosynthetic organisms and abundant in every ecosystem in the biosphere. They are common in aqueous environments including marine, brackish and fresh waters and in some habitats that lack eukaryotic life such as some hot springs and highly alkaline lakes. Microalgal biotechnology that is focused on the microalgae-based production of a variety of useful materials such as pharmaceutical comfounds, health foods, natural pigments, and biofuels is considered as an important discipline with the development of biotechnology. In addition, the mass cultivation of microalgae can also contribute to improving the environmental quality by reducing the concentration of $CO_2$ which is one of major gases lead to global warming. Consequently, it seems that the microalgae can be used as an efficient, renewable, environmentally friendly source of high-value biomaterials such as chemicals, pigments, energy, etc. and the microalgal biotechnology will most likely represent a larger portion of modern biotechnology.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.32 no.9
• /
• pp.1366-1375
• /
• 2008

This studies were carried out in order to develope environmentally-friendly fiber materials and substitute resources of Paper mulberry. Various plant fibers such as New Zealand flax, Indian mallow, Kuzu vine and Yucca were used as raw materials of hand-made papers. We rotted these 4 kinds of plant fibers and removed non-cellulose. After rotting, the pulping rate(%) and the length of fibers in pulps were measured. The physical characteristics of papers made of various plants fiber were investigated and the probabilities of practical use were considered. The results were as follow: The non-cellulose contents of plant fibers were $30{\sim}40%$ and those contents must be lower down to 8% to be able to manufacture the hand made papers. The lignin in pulps were removed almost and the hemicellulose were partially removed to reach up to appropriate level of the pulp rates and fiber lengths. The more hemicellulose removed, the finer fiber thickness were and rapidly the lower Hanji tensile strength were. But the tear strength of these plants of hand-made papers do not decreased so much as tensile strength. So the property of 4 types of plant fibers might be of great advantages to make hand-made papers. Both tensile and tear strengths of Hanji of New Zealand flax, Indian mallow, Kuzu vine and Yucca were higher than Paper mulberry hand-made paper. When 30% of mulberry paper were mixed, the mixing effect showed maximum. Because of the functions of all plant fiber hand-made papers showed better than those of Paper mulberry hand-made paper, 4 types of plant fibers could be substitute Paper mulberry.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.21 no.5
• /
• pp.877-888
• /
• 2021

This study used three types of temporary shelters, tents, and prefabricated houses provided by the Chinese government for victims after the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 as case study objects. Through literature review, 12 evaluation items were selected from the social, economic, and environmental elements of the sustainability of residential space design to analyze and evaluate three types of temporary shelters, and derive their respective characteristics and problems. The analysis results show that the temporary centralized settlements and tents had problems such as imperfect infrastructure, poor sanitation, narrow living space, no personal space, and inconvenience in life. Prefabricated houses had problems such as high construction costs, non-environmentally friendly building materials, occupation of arable land, low recycling rate of materials, and environmental pollution by waste. The common problem of the three types of shelters was that the government took the lead in the construction and distribution of shelters, and the disaster victims passively accept government support. Therefore, disaster victims were not actively involved in the construction and management of temporary communities. Secondly, the designs of all three types of temporary shelters did not fully consider the psychological needs of the victims, especially the need for safe and hygienic personal space. Finally, this research proposes improvement plans for the problems in the sustainable design of three temporary shelters and the construction and management of temporary communities.

• Composites Research
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.371-377
• /
• 2022

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) devices have generated a lot of interest in recent decades. TENG technology, which is one of the technologies for harvesting mechanical energy among the energy wasted in the environment, is obtained by the dual effect of electrostatic induction and triboelectric charging. Recently, a multilayer thin film stacking method (or layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly technique) is being considered as a method to improve the performance of TENG and apply it to new fields. This LbL assembly technology can not only improve the performance of TENG and successfully overcome the thickness problem in applications, but also present an inexpensive, environmentally friendly process and be used for large-scale and mass production. In this review, recent studies in the accomplishment of LbL-based materials for TENG devices are reviewed, and the potential for energy harvesting devices reviewed so far is checked. The advantages of the TENG device fabricated by applying the LbL technology are discussed, and finally, the direction and perspective of this fabrication technology for the implementation of various ultra-thin TENGs are briefly presented.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• v.49 no.2
• /
• pp.159-167
• /
• 2023

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is commonly used in sunscreen formulations to protect the skin surface and prevent the penetration of harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays by the physical scattering action of light. However, a disadvantage of using TiO₂ is that it can cause white turbidity when used on skin due to its inactive mineral ingredient. In addition, when TiO₂ particles are reduced to nanosize to eliminate opacity, they can increase the transmittance of visible light and reduce whitening, but may lead to serious skin problems, such as allergic inflammation. To overcome these issues, the bandgap of TiO₂ was controlled by adjusting the amount of oxygen defect and nitrogen amount, resulting in color TiO₂ tailored to the skin. This innovative technology can reduce the whitening phenomenon and effectively block blue light, which is known to cause skin aging by inducing active oxygen. The bandgap controlled TiO₂ compounds proposed in this study are hypoallergenic, broad-spectrum, and environmentally friendly. Furthermore, these compounds have been shown to significantly enhance sun protection factor (SPF) of sunscreens, demonstrating their compatibility with blue light blocking products.

• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2012

A total of 20 agricultural organic materials including inorganic compounds, plant oils and plant extracts were used in the study for assessing the control efficacy on pepper diseases. Among inorganic compounds, only copper hydroxide showed inhibitory effect on both Phytophthora capsici causing Phytophthora blight and Colletotrichum acutatum causing anthracnose. Phosphorous acid inhibited the growth of P. capsici on PDA, and Sulfur/quicklime had it on that of C. acutatum. Plant essential oil, rosemary oil, and rapeseed oil among plant oils and plant extract of Japanese apricot/ginkgo nut inhibited the mycelial growth of the two pathogens. In the screening using pepper plant seedlings, the control efficacy on Phytophthora blight in 6-leaf stage of seedling was superior to that in 4-leaf stage of seedling. A protective effect on Phytophthora blight was displayed by copper hydroxide, sulfur/quicklime, water soluble calcium, phosphorous acid, plant essential oil, and cloves extract. When C. acutatum was inoculated by the non-wound method, copper hydroxide and rapeseed oil showed excellent protective activities with control values of 91.3% and 82.6%, respectively. However, copper hydroxide did not show any activity, when C. acutatum was inoculated after wounding pepper fruits. All organic materials never showed the curative effect on Phytophthora blight and anthracnose in pepper seedling assay and fruit assay.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.47-54
• /
• 2020

To develop the bright-vivid red- and yellow-inorganic fluorescent pigments with high luminescence properties, A₃V₅O₁₄ (A = K and Rb) and Cs₂V₄O₁₁ inorganic pigments were synthesized by a water assisted solid state reaction (WASSR) method and a conventional solid state reaction method. Although impurity peaks corresponding to the AVO₃ and AV₃O₈ (A = K, Rb, and Cs) were observed in all samples prepared, the trigonal structure A₃V₅O₁₄ (A = K and Rb) and orthorhombic structure Cs₂V₄O₁₁ were successfully obtained as a main phase. These inorganic pigments showed the broad absorption band (under 550 nm) originated from CT transitions of VO₄ polyhedron, and the strong broad red- and green-emission bands due to ³T₂ → ¹A₁ and ³T₁ → ¹A₁ transitions of the [VO₄]^3- group. The A₃V₅O₁₄ (A = K and Rb) and Cs₂V₄O₁₁ pigments showed a bright-vivid red- and yellow-body color, where the a* values of the A₃V₅O₁₄ (A = K and Rb) were +35.5 and +45.9, respectively, and b* value of Cs₂V₄O₁₁ pigments was +50.3. The L* values of the A₃V₅O₁₄ (A = K and Rb) and Cs₂V₄O₁₁ inorganic pigments were over +45. These results indicate that the A₃V₅O₁₄ (A = K and Rb) and Cs₂V₄O₁₁ inorganic pigments could be an attractive candidate as a bright-vivid red- and yellow inorganic pigments.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.153-161
• /
• 2023

The worldwide effects of COVID-19 have led to a surge in online shopping and contactless services. The consumption pattern has caused the issues such as the environmental pollution together with the increase of plastic waste. Reducing the reliance on the petroleum based plastic use for the package and replacing it with environmentally friendly material are the simple ways in order to solve those problems. Paper is an eco-friendly product with high recyclability as the food packaging materials but has still poor barrier properties. A barrier coating on surface of the paper can be achieved with the proper packaging materials featuring water, gas and grease barrier. Polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP) coatings which are generally laminated or coated to paper are widely used in food packaging applications to protect products from moisture and provide water or grease resistance. However, recycling of packaging containing PE or PP matrix is limited and costly because those films are difficult to degrade in the environment. This study investigated the recyclability of modified acrylic emulsion coating papers compared to PE and PP polymer matrixes as well as their mechanical and gas barrier properties. The results showed that PE or modified acrylic emulsion coated papers had better mechanical properties compared to the uncoated paper as a control. PE or PP coating papers showed strong oil resistance property, achieving a kit rating of 12. Those papers also had a significantly higher percentage of screen reject during the recycling process than modified acrylic coated paper which had a screen rejection rate of 6.25%. In addition an uncoated paper had similar value of a screen rejection rate. It may suggest that modified acrylic emulsion coating paper can be more easily recycled than PE or PP coating papers. The overall results of the study found that modified acrylic emulsion coating paper would be a viable alternative to suggest a possible solution to an environmental problem as well as enhancing the weak mechanical and poor gas barrier properties of the paper against moisture.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.36 no.6
• /
• pp.113-120
• /
• 2008

This study was performed to develop environmentally-friendly finishing materials for construction. In order to abate formaldehyde and ammonia in indoor air, liquid coating agents for indoor finishing were formulated with bamboo charcoal powder, cypress extracted water, and water-borne acrylic binder. Deodorization rate, far-infrared ray emission rate, anions emission amount, and anti-bacterial effect were investigated. Deodorization rate was increased as cypress extracted water content increased. Deodorization rates of the coating agents were 60.0~98.6% on formaldehyde and 76.7~86.2% on ammonia. No differences on far-infrared ray emission rate, anions emission amount, and anti-bacterial effect were found depending on different formulations. A 91.7% of far-infrared ray emission rate, 77 ea/cc of anions emission amount, and 99.4% of anti-bacterial effect were detected for all formulations. More effective application method of the coating agents revealed was a spray-gun. A $0.66kg/m^2$ of coating agent with a spray-gun and $0.94kg/m^2$ of coating agent with a brush was consumed each.