• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.221-226
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• 2008

Silver coated copper composite powders were prepared by electroless plating method by controlling the activation and deposition process variables such as feeding rate of silver ions solution, concentration of reductant and molar ratio of activation solution $(NH_4OH/(NH_4)_2SO_4)$ at room temperature. The characteristics of the product were verified by using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic absorption (A.A.). It is noted that completely cleansing the copper oxide layers and protecting the copper particles surface from hydrolysis were important to obtain high quality Ag-Cu composite powders. The optimum conditions of Ag-Cu composite powder synthesis were $NH_4OH/(NH_4)_2SO_4$ molar ratio 4, concentration of reductant 15g/l and feeding rate of silver ions solution 2 ml/min.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.522-533
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• 2014

Bionanotechnology has revolutionized nanomaterial synthesis by providing a green synthetic platform using biological systems. Among such biological systems, microalgae have tremendous potential to take up metal ions and produce nanoparticles by a detoxification process. The present study explores the intracellular and extracellular biogenic syntheses of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) using the unicellular green microalga Scenedesmus sp. Biosynthesized SNPs were characterized by AAS, UV-Vis spectroscopy, TEM, XRD, FTIR, DLS, and TGA studies and finally checked for antibacterial activity. Intracellular nanoparticle biosynthesis was initiated by a high rate of $Ag^+$ ion accumulation in the microalgal biomass and subsequent formation of spherical crystalline SNPs (average size, 15-20 nm) due to the biochemical reduction of $Ag^+$ ions. The synthesized nanoparticles were intracellular, as confirmed by the UV-Vis spectra of the outside medium. Furthermore, extracellular synthesis using boiled extract showed the formation of well scattered, highly stable, spherical SNPs with an average size of 5-10 nm. The size and morphology of the nanoparticles were confirmed by TEM. The crystalline nature of the SNPs was evident from the diffraction peaks of XRD and bright circular ring pattern of SAED. FTIR and UV-Vis spectra showed that biomolecules, proteins and peptides, are mainly responsible for the formation and stabilization of SNPs. Furthermore, the synthesized nanoparticles exhibited high antimicrobial activity against pathogenic gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Use of such a microalgal system provides a simple, cost-effective alternative template for the biosynthesis of nanomaterials in a large-scale system that could be of great use in biomedical applications.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1759-1764
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• 2002

Two crystal structures of dehydrated $Ag^+-andTl^+$-exchanged zeolite X$Ag_{27}Tl_{65-}X\;and\;Ag_{23}Tl_{69-}X$have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques in the cubic space group Fd3 at 21(1) $^{\circ}C(a=24.758(4)\AAa=24.947(4)$, ${\AA}respectively).$, Their structures were refined to the final error indices $R_1$=0.055 and $wR_2$=0.057 with 375 reflections, and $R_1$=0.057 and $wR_2$=0.057 with 235 reflections, respectively, for which I > $3\sigma(I).$ In the structure of $Ag_{27}Tl_{65-}X,\;27\;Ag^+$ ions were found at two crystallographic sites: 15$Ag^+$ ions at site I at the center of the hexagonal prism and the remaining 12$Ag^+$ ions at site II' in the sodalite cavity. Sixty-five $Tl^+$ ions were located at three crystallographic sites: 20$Tl^+$ ions at site II opposite single six-rings in the supercage, 18$Tl^+$ ions at site I' in the sodalite cavity opposite the D6Rs, and the remaining 27$Tl^+$ ions at site III' in the supercage. In the structure of $Ag_{23}Tl_{69-}X$, 23$Ag^+$ ions were found at two crystallographic sites: 15 at site I and 8 at site II'. Sixty-nine $Tl^+$ ions are found at four crystallographic sites: 24 at site II, 17 at stie I', and the remaining 28 at two III' sites with occupancies of 22 and 6.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.301-309
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• 2016

Due to undesirable hazardous interactions with biological systems, this investigation was undertaken to evaluate the effect of chronic exposure to silver on certain biochemical and some oxidative stress parameters with histopathological examination of brain, as well as the possible protective role of selenium and/or vitamin E as nutritional supplements. Thirty six male rats were divided into six groups of six each: the first group used as a control group. Group II given both vitamin E (400 mg/kg) of diet and selenium (Se) (1 mg/L) in their drinking water. Group III given silver as silver nitrate ($AgNO_3$) (20 mg/L). Group IV given vitamin E and $AgNO_3$. Group V given both $AgNO_3$ and selenium. Group VI given $AgNO_3$, vitamin E and Se. The animals were in the same exposure conditions for 3 months. According to the results which have been obtained; there was an increase in serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), lipase activities and cholesterol level, a decrease in serum total protein, calcium and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in Ag-intoxicated rats. Moreover, the findings showed that $Ag^+$ ions affected antioxidant defense system by decreasing superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and increasing vitamin E concentration with a high level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in brain tissue. The histological examination also exhibited some nervous tissue alterations including hemorrhage and cytoplasm vacuolization. However, the co-administration of selenium and/or vitamin E ameliorated the biochemical parameters and restored the histological alterations. In conclusion, this study indicated that silver could cause harmful effects in animal body and these effects can be more toxic in high concentrations or prolonged time exposure to this metal. However, selenium and vitamin E act as powerful antioxidants which may exercise adverse effect against the toxicity of this metal.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.583-589
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• 2009

Activated carbon has long been used in purification processes for indoor air quality. However, the bioaerosol removal by activated carbon is not often sufficient to be used in an air control devise. In order to overcome these problems, silver nano-particles have been proposed as an antibacterial agent on the surface of activated carbon. Silver or silver ions have been known for antimicrobial activities. In this study, bioaerosol generated by using an Escherichia coli culture was introduced to a lab-scale column packed with activated carbon (AC) and silver nano-particles attached to activated carbon (Ag-AC). E. coli was almost completely removed in the Ag-AC column, whereas bioaerosol penetrated through the AC column. To determine the antibacterial effect of different filter materials in a full-scale air-handling system, another experiment was conducted using a wind tunnel equipped with a heat exchanger and three filter materials including commercial fabric, AC and Ag-AC. It was found that E. coli proliferated on the surface of the heat exchanger after 5 days, which dramatically increased bioaerosol counts in the effluent air stream. The fabric filter could not control the increased bioaerosol and most of the E. coli penetrated the filter. The bacterial removal efficiency was found to be approximately 45% in the AC filter, while the antibacterial efficiency increased to 70% using the Ag-AC filter. Consequently, the Ag-AC filter can be an effective method to control bioaerosol and improve indoor air quality.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.1367-1375
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• 2018

Silver nanoparticles have been widely applied for biomedical areas owing to their potent antiviral and antibacterial activities. Synthesis of silver nanoparticles using biomacromolecules is more efficient, environment-friendly, and cost-saving compared with the traditional approach. In this paper, a novel approach was developed to establish a reaction system with $Ag^+-BH4^--sericin$ to synthesize silver nanoparticles conjugated to sericin (AgNPs-Sericin). Sericin could be as a good dispersant and stabilizing agent, which is able to modify nanoscaled AgNPs, the average diameter of which was only $3.78{\pm}1.14nm$ prepared in a 0.3 mg/ml sericin solution. The characterizations of the AgNPs-Sericin were determined by FTIR, thermogravimetry, and XRD analyses. The results showed that the synthesized AgNPs conjugated with sericin as organic phase. Via SAED and XRD analysis, we showed that these AgNPs formed polycrystalline powder with a face-centered cubic structure of bulk metals. Moreover, we investigated the antiviral and antibacterial activities of AgNPs-Sericin, and the results showed that AgNPs-Sericin exhibited potent anti-HIV-1 activity against CCR5-tropic and CXCR4-tropic strains, but no significant cytotoxicity was found toward human genital epithelial cells compared with free silver ions, which are accepted as a commonly used potent antimicrobial agent. Moreover, its antibacterial activity was determined via flow cytometry. The results showed that AgNPs-Sericin could suppress gram-negative (E. coli) and gram-positive (S. aureus) bacteria, but more was potent for the gram-negative one. We concluded that our AgNPs-Sericin could be a potential candidate as a microbicide or antimicrobial agent to prevent sexually transmitted infections.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.160-171
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• 2019

The sword with a ring pommel, which was excavated from the first stone chamber of the ancient tombs of Jeongchon Village in Naju, is a sword with a pentagon undecorated ring pommel consisting of a mother sword and two child swords. The sword with an undecorated ring pommel of Jeongchon comprises a ring pommel, a hilt, a knife, and a knife end decoration. This sword was coated with lacquer. The ring pommel is an iron frame covered with silver plate; however the silver tarnished into a light purple due to silver chloride corrosion, and iron corrosion originated from the inside is visible on the surface. Silver chloride corrosion is produced when silver objects are exposed to water, dissolved salts, and dissolved chloride ions when in a buried state. It changes objects into powder, making it difficult to preserve original shapes. The other silver artifacts found in the Jeongchon ancient tombs show similar signs of corrosion. The results of X-ray irradiation and a CT analysis showed that the sword had a ring at the end of the handle, a T-shaped hilt, and was probably connected to the handle end of a knife. If the shape of the mother sword can be inferred from the child swords, the mother sword had a ring pommel, decorations of the handle, covered with silver plate, and a gold ring and a silver line wound around the handle. It is assumed that the ring pommel was connected to the knife by welding because no holes were observed. The end decoration of the knife was made by using an iron plate formed into a shape, half covered by silk, and the other half decorated with silver plate and a gold ring. The sword with an undecorated ring pommel excavated from the ancient tombs of Jeongchon Village comprises the metals of gold, silver, and iron, and includes features of Baekje, Silla, and Gaya, which highlights the influence of surrounding historic sites and various cultures.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.40 no.7
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• pp.474-482
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• 1996

Two crystal structures of the vacuum dehydrated $Ag^+$-exchanged zeolite X have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques in the cubic space group Fd3 at 21(1)$^{\circ}C$ (a=24.922(1)${\AA}$ and a=24.901(1)${\AA}$, respectively). Each crystal was ion exchanged in flowing streams of aqueous $AgNO_3$ for three days. The first crystal was dehydrated at 300$^{\circ}C$ and $2{\times}10^{-6$torr for two days. The second crystal was similarly dehydrated at 350$^{\circ}C$. Their structures were refined to the final error indices, $R_1=0.095\;and\;R_2=0.092$ with 227 reflections, and $R_1=0.096\;and\;R_2=0.087$ with 334 reflections, respectively, for which I > 3${\sigma}$(I). In the first crystal, Ag species are found at five different crystallographic sites: sixteen $Ag^+$ ions fill the site I, the center of the double 6-ring, thirty-two Ag0 atoms fill the I' site in the sodalite cavities opposite double six-rings, seventeen $Ag^+$ ions lie at the 32-fold site II' inside the sodalite cavity at the single six-oxygen ring in the supercage, fifteen Ag+ ions lie at the 32-fold site II, in the supercage, and the remaining twelve $Ag^+$ ions lie at site III' in the supercage at a little off two-fold axes. In the second crystal, all Ag species are located similarly as crystal 1; 16 at site I, 28 at site I', 16 at site II, 16 at site II', 6 at site III and 6 at site III'. Total 88 silver species were found per unit cell. The remaining four Ag atoms were migrated out of the zeolite framework to form small silver crystallites on the surface of the zeolite single crystal. In the first structure, the numbers of Ag atoms per unit cell are approximately 32.0 and these may form tetrahedral $Ag_4$ clusters at the centers of the sodalite cavities. The probable four-atom cluster is stabilized by coordination to two $Ag^+$ ions. The Ag-Ag distance in the cluster, ca. 3.05 ${\AA}$, is a little longer than 2.89 ${\AA}$, Ag-Ag distance in silver metal. At least two six-ring $Ag^+$ ions on sodalite cavity (site II') must necessarily approach this cluster and this cluster may be viewed as a distorted octahedral silver cluster, (Ag6)2+.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.215-221
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• 2017

The electroless plating process largely consists of substrate cleaning, seed formation (activator formation), and electroless plating. The most widely used activator in the seed formation step is Pd, and Sn ions are used to facilitate the formation of this Pd seed layer. This is problematic because the Sn ions interfere with the reduction of Cu ions during electroless plating; thus, the Sn ions must be removed by a hydrochloric acid cleaning process. This method is also expensive due to the use of Pd. In this study, Cu electroless plating was performed by forming a seed layer using a silver nanosol instead of Pd and Sn. The effects of the Ag nanosol concentration in the pretreatment solution and the pretreatment time on the thickness and surface morphology of the Cu layer were investigated. The degrees of adhesion to the substrate were similar for the electroless-plated Cu layers formed by conventional Pd activation and those formed by the Ag nanosol.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.917-930
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• 2018

Intracellular synthesis of silver/silver chloride nanoparticles (Ag/AgCl-NPs) using Meyerozyma guilliermondii KX008616 is reported under aerobic and anaerobic conditions for the first time. The biogenic synthesis of Ag-NP types has been proposed as an easy and cost-effective alternative for various biomedical applications. The interaction of nanoparticles with ethanol production was mentioned. The purified biogenic Ag/AgCl-nanoparticles were characterized by different spectroscopic and microscopic approaches. The purified nanoparticles exhibited a surface plasmon resonance band at 419 and 415 nm, confirming the formation of Ag/AgCl-NPs under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, respectively. The planes of the cubic crystalline phase of the Ag/AgCl-NPs were confirmed by X-ray diffraction. Fourier-transform infrared spectra showed the interactions between the yeast cell constituents and silver ions to form the biogenic Ag/AgCl-NPs. The intracellular Ag/AgCl-NPs synthesized under aerobic condition were homogenous and spherical in shape, with an approximate particle size of 2.5-30nm as denoted by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The reaction mixture was optimized by varying reaction parameters, including temperature and pH. Analysis of ultrathin sections of yeast cells by TEM indicated that the biogenic nanoparticles were formed as clusters, known as nanoaggregates, in the cytoplasm or in the inner and outer regions of the cell wall. The study recommends using the biomass of yeast that is used in industrial or fermentation purposes to produce Ag/AgCl-NPs as associated by-products to maximize benefit and to reduce the production cost.