• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.144-150
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• 2013

Objectives: Cooking activity in indoor environments can generate particulate matter. The objective of this study was to determine the concentrations of ultrafine particles (UFP), $PM_{2.5}$, and $PM_{10}$ in cooking and non-cooking areas of major department stores in Seoul. Methods: Eighteen department stores in Seoul, Korea were measured for concentrations of particulate matter. Using real-time monitors, concentrations of UFP, $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{10}$ were simultaneously measured in cooking and non-cooking areas on the floor with a food court and a non-cooking floor. Results: The concentrations of UFP, $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{10}$ were significantly higher in cooking areas than in noncooking areas and non-cooking floors (p<0.05). UFP and $PM_{2.5}$ were significantly correlated in cooking areas and non-cooking areas but not in non-cooking floors. $PM_{2.5}$ were consisted of approximately 81% in $PM_{10}$ and highly correlated with $PM_{10}$ in all places. Conclusion: A higher correlation between UFP and $PM_{2.5}$ was shown on cooking floor than on non-cooking floor in department stores. High levels of fine particles were caused by cooking activities at food courts. The further management of PM is needed to improve the indoor PM levels at food courts in department stores.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.1190-1196
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• 1998

Ultrafine ${\beta}$-SiC powders were synthesized by the vapor phase reaction of TMS[Si(CH3)4] in hydrogen The reaction temperature and TMS concentration were varied from 1000 to 1400$^{\circ}C$ and from 1 to 10% respectively. The average particle size and phase of the powders were analyzed by TEM and XRD. Ultrafine ${\beta}$-SiC powders were synthesized above 1000$^{\circ}C$ and the crystallinity of the powders increased with increasing reaction temperature. Shape of the particles were spherical and had average size of about 20 nm which showed no difference as the reaction temperature and TMS concentration increased. From the FT-IR analysis the absorption bands of Si-C of the powders shifted to higher wavenumber as the reaction temperature increased,. Under the condition of total gas flow above 1500cc/min ${\beta}$-SiC and poly-Si powders were obtained simultaneously. The Si-O bond intensity was increased under the condition of total gas flow rate above 1000cc/min which might be due to oxidation formed on poly-Si.

• Clean Technology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.80-87
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• 2010

In this study, micro- and submicron particles of itraconazole, a poorly water-soluble antifungal drug, were prepared for improving its aqueous solubility using an ultrasound-assisted supercritical fluid technique, called SAS-EM. The SAS-EM process used in our experiments was different from the conventional SAS-EM in that the ultrasound was applied directly to the spray nozzle. The effect of the ultrasonic power, temperature, and solvent on the formation of itraconazole particles were investigated. Smaller particles were obtained through our SAS-EM process compared with the ASES process, and the mean particle size decreased as the ultrasonic power increased. Our experimental results confirmed that the ultrasound-assisted supercritical fluid process is an efficient method for producing ultrafine particles.

• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.44-49
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• 2009

Angelicae gigantis Radix (dried root of Angelica gigas) including major bioactives such as decursin and decursinol angelate provides rich flavors and several healthy benefits. Recent studies have shown that ultrafine powders of herbal medicines provide better physical properties and biological activities. Thus, ultrafine Angelica powder was added into the oligosaccharide syrup to provide flavors and healthy benefits in this study. Angelicae gigantis Radix was pulverized into d(0.1) = 3.220, d(0.5) = 7.822, and d(0.9) = 7.817 $\mu$m respectively using an air-flow mill. The ultrafine Angelica powder was added into the oligosaccharide syrup process with different ratios of water to oligosaccharide syrup at 1:5, 1:8, 1:11, and 1:14. The physicochemical properties such as viscosity and bulk density were measured. The Stokes' law was applied to predict the sedimentation velocity of the added Angelica powder in the syrup. The Angelica syrup prepared in this experiment showed good stability since the Angelica particles precipitated down slowly. The ratio of water to oligosaccharide syrup at 1:11 showed the optimal preparation in terms of the stability and the viscosity. The ultrafine-sized herbal powders such as Angelicae gigantis Radix have potentials for various food and pharmaceutical applications.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.28
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• pp.7.1-7.9
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• 2013

Objectives We investigated the particle mass size distribution and chemical properties of air pollution particulate matter (PM) in the urban area and its capacity to induce cytotoxicity in human bronchial epithelial (BEAS-2B) cells. Methods To characterize the mass size distributions and chemical concentrations associated with urban PM, PM samples were collected by a 10-stage Micro-Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor close to nearby traffic in an urban area from December 2007 to December 2009. PM samples for in vitro cytotoxicity testing were collected by a mini-volume air sampler with $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ inlets. Results The PM size distributions were bi-modal, peaking at 0.18 to 0.32 and 1.8 to $3.2{\mu}m$. The mass concentrations of the metals in fine particles (0.1 to $1.8{\mu}m$) accounted for 45.6 to 80.4% of the mass concentrations of metals in $PM_{10}$. The mass proportions of fine particles of the pollutants related to traffic emission, lead (80.4%), cadmium (69.0%), and chromium (63.8%) were higher than those of other metals. Iron was the dominant transition metal in the particles, accounting for 64.3% of the $PM_{10}$ mass in all the samples. We observed PM concentration-dependent cytotoxic effects on BEAS-2B cells. Conclusions We found that exposure to $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{10}$ from a nearby traffic area induced significant increases in protein expression of inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and IL-8). The cell death rate and release of cytokines in response to the $PM_{2.5}$ treatment were higher than those with $PM_{10}$. The combined results support the hypothesis that ultrafine particles from vehicular sources can induce inflammatory responses related to environmental respiratory injury.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.42 no.8 s.279
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• pp.561-566
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• 2005

For the homogeneous dispersion of $ZrO_2$ particles in $Al_2O_3/ZrO_2$ceramics, Zr-precusors were mixed with oxide $Al_2O_3$powders by chemical routes such as partial precipitation or partial polymerization of Zr-nitrate solutions. In case of the mechanical mixing of ultrafine $Al_2O_3$ and $ZrO_2$ oxide powders, relatively homogeneous dispersion was difficult to achieve so that the particle size and distributions of $ZrO_2$ were relatively inhomogeneous after sintering at high temperature. But when the Zr-Y-hydroxide were co-precipitated to ultrafine $Al_2O_3$ oxide powders followed by calcinations, homogeneous dispersion of nano-sized $ZrO_2$ particles in $Al_2O_3/ZrO_2$ composite ceramics were obtained. But because of the coalescence of dispersed $ZrO_2$ particles, dispersed $ZrO_2$ was grown up to more than 0.2${mu}m$ (200 nm) when sintered at the temperature of higher than $1500^{\circ}C$ But when the sintering temperature was kept to lower than $1400^{\circ}C$ by using nano-sized $\alpha-alumina$, the particle size of dispersed $ZrO_2$ could be sustained below 0.1 ${\mu}m$. But the coalescence of dispersed $ZrO_2$ between $Al_2O_3$ particles could not be avoided so that the mechanical properties were not enhanced contrary to the expectations. So Zr-polyester precursors were precipitated and coated to the surface of ultrafine $\alpha-alumina$ powders by the polymerization of Ethylene Glycol with Citric Acid and Zirconium Nitrate. By this dispersion much more uniform dispersion of $ZrO_2$ was achieved at $1450\~1600^{\circ}C$ of sintering temperature ranges. And due to especially discrete dispersion of $ZrO_2$ between $Al_2O_3$ particles, their mechanical strength was more enhanced than mechanical mixing or hydroxide precipitation methods.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1991.07a
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• pp.217-220
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• 1991

Ni-Zn ferrite powders in the few hundred angstrum size range and up have been synthesized by a wet direct method. The coprecipitate were prepared by adding alkaline solution into the constituent metal ions solution. and subsequent calcined at various temperature. At 95, the particles were ultrafine spherical shaped particles of about 500(A) in diameter.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.288-303
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• 2012

In this study, real time measurements of particle number size distribution in urban Gwangju, coastal Taean, and industrial Yeosu in Korea were conducted in 2008 to understand the occurrence of ultrafine particle (UFP) (<100 nm) events, the variation of its concentration among different sampling sites, and UFP formation pathways. Also, to investigate seasonal and long-term variation of the UFP number concentration, data were collected for the period of 5 years (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012) in urban Gwangju. Photochemical and combustion events were found to be responsible for the formation of UFP in the urban Gwangju site, whereas only photochemical event led to the formation of UFP in the coastal Taean site. The highest UFP concentration was found in industrial Yeosu (the average UFP number fractions were 79, 59 and 58% in Yeosu, Gwangju, and Taean, respectively), suggesting that high amount of gas pollutants (e.g., $NO_2$, $SO_2$, and volatile organic carbon (VOC)) emitted from industries and their photochemical reaction contributed for the elevated UFP concentration in the industrial Yeosu site. The UFP fraction also showed a seasonal variation with the peak value in spring (61.5, 54.5, 50.5, and 40.7% in spring, fall, summer, and winter, respectively) at urban Gwangju. Annual average UFP number concentrations in urban Gwangju were $5.53{\times}10^3\;cm^{-3}$, $4.68{\times}10^3\;cm^{-3}$, $5.32{\times}10^3\;cm^{-3}$, $3.99{\times}10^3\;cm^{-3}$, and $2.16{\times}10^3\;cm^{-3}$ in the year 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively. Comparison of the annual average UFP number concentration with urban sites in other countries showed that the UFP concentrations of the Korean sites were lower than those in other urban cities, probably due to lower source strength in the current site. TEM/EDS analysis for the size-selected UFPs showed that the UFPs were classified into various types having different chemical species. Carbonaceous particles were observed in both combustion (soot and organics) and photochemical events (sulfate and organics). In the photochemical event, an internal mixture of organic species and ammonium sulfate/bisulfate was identified. Also, internal mixtures of aged Na-rich and organic species, aged Ca-rich particles, and doughnut shaped K-containing particles with elemental composition of a strong C with minor O, S, and K-likely to be originated from biomass burning nearby agricultural area, were observed. In addition, fly ash particles were also observed in the combustion event, not in the photochemical event.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.123-129
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• 2010

As the indoor activity increases in recent years, the indoor air quality becomes more important. One of the major contaminants in office space is the copy machines and the laser based printers. These devices usually emit nano-particles and chemical species that may give some health effect. The amount of particles generated by the printers and copy machines depend on printer models, printing speed, toners, papers, humidity and so on. To evaluate the emission rate of nano-particles from Laser Printers, the mass concentration measurement method has been used (BAM, 2004). However, the mass concentration measurement method for nano-particles is tedious and time consuming. Therefore, for the development of a new nano-particle counting method, the nano-particle emission characteristics and size distributions are evaluated.

• Proceedings of the Korea Air Pollution Research Association Conference
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• 2007.10a
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• pp.362-363
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• 2007