• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.411-417
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• 2019

Graphene doped zinc oxide nanoparticles (G-ZnO) were prepared using modified hummer's technique together with the ultrasonic method and characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Different samples of epoxy resin nanocomposites reinforced with G-ZnO nanoparticles were prepared and were marked as F1 (without adding nanoparticles), F2 (1% w/w G-ZnO), and F3 (2% w/w G-ZnO) in combination of ≈ 56:18:18:8w/w% with epoxy resin/hardener, ammonium polyphosphate, boric acid, and Chitosan. The peak heat release rate (PHRR) of the epoxy nanocomposites was observed to decrease dramatically with the increasing G-ZnO nanoparticles. However, the LOI values increased significantly with the increase in wt % of G-ZnO nanoparticles. From the UL-94V data, it was confirmed that the F2 and F3 samples passed the flame test and were rated as V-0. The results obtained in the present work clearly revealed that the synthesized samples can be used as efficient materials in fire-retardant coating technology.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.97-104
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• 2020

Due to the superior properties of nanoparticles, using them has been increased in concrete production technology. In this study, the effect of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles on the mechanical and smart properties of concrete was studied. At the first, the ZnO nanoparticles are dispersed in water using shaker, magnetic stirrer and ultrasonic devices. The nanoparticles with 3.5, 0.25, 0.75, and 1.0 volume percent are added to the concrete mixture and replaced by the appropriate amount of cement to compare with the control sample without any additives. In order to study the mechanical and smart properties of the concrete, the cubic samples for determining the compressive strength and cylindrical samples for determining tensile strength with different amounts of ZnO nanoparticles are produced and tested. The most important finding of this paper is about the smartness of the concrete due to the piezoelectric properties of the ZnO nanoparticles. In other words, the concrete in this study can produce the voltage when subjected to mechanical load and vice versa it can induce the mechanical displacement when subjected to external voltage. The experimental results show that the best volume percent for ZnO nanoparticles in 28-day samples is 0.5%. In other words, adding 0.5% ZnO nanoparticles to the concrete instead of cement leads to increases of 18.70% and 3.77% in the compressive and tensile strengths, respectively. In addition, it shows the best direct and reverse piezoelectric properties. It is also worth to mention that adding 3.5% zinc oxide nanoparticles, the setting of cement is stopped in the concrete mixture.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.101-101
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• 2010

ZnO shows a direct band gap of 3.37eV, large exciton binding energy (~60 meV), high oxidation ability, high sensitivity to many gases, and low cost, and it has been used in various applications such as transparent electrodes, light emitting diodes (LEDs), gas sensors and photocatalysts. Among these applications ZnO as photocatalyst has considerably attracted attention over the past few years because of its high activities in removing organic contaminants generated from industrial activities. In this research, ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by spray-pyrolysis method using the zinc acetate dihydrate as starting material at synthesis temperature of $900^{\circ}C$ with concentration varied from 0.01 to 1.0M. The physical and chemical properties of the synthesized ZnO nanoparticles were examined by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transformation Infrared (FT-IR), and UV-vis spectroscopy. The Miller indices of XRD patterns indicate that the synthesized ZnO nanoparticles showed a hexagonal wurtzite structure. With increased precursor concentration, a primary, secondary particle sizes of ZnO nanoparticles increased by 0.8 to $1.5{\mu}m$ and 15 to 35nm, and their crystallinity was improved. Methyleneblue (MB) solution ($1{\mu}M$) as a test comtaminant was prepared for evaluating the photocatalytic activities of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized in different precursor concentration. The results show that the photocatalytic efficiency of ZnO nanoparticles was gradually enhanced by increased precursor concentration.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.333-339
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• 2009

In this study, we investigated the biological toxicity of nano-scale Zn (0.1, 0.5, and 1 mol%)-doped $TiO_2$ and pure $TiO_2$ nanoparticles using zebrafish embryogenesis as our model organism. Zn-doped $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were prepared using a conventional hydrothermal method for the insertion of zinc into the $TiO_2$ framework. The characters of Zn-doped $TiO_2$ (0.1%, 0.5%, 1%Zn) and pure $TiO_2$ were about 7~8 nm. These sizes were smaller than 100~200 nm of $TiO_2$ was prepared using the sol-gel method. Particularly, in this study, we found no significant biological toxicity in the hatching rate and abnormal rate under expose pure $TiO_2$ and Zn-doped $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were prepared using a conventional hydrothermal method of zebrafish. It was different from the biological damage under $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were prepared using sol-gel method. We assessed that the damage was not linked to the particle's nanometer size, but rather due to the prepare method. Moreover, $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were prepared using a hydrothermal method were not shown to cause cytotoxic effects, like apoptosis and necrosis, that are the major markers of toxicity in organisms exposed to nanomaterials. Therefore, there is some relationship with biological toxicity of nanoparticles and the prepare method of nanometer size particles.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.222-227
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• 2018

$Zn_{1-x}Co_x$ Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework (ZIF) (x = 0~0.05) were prepared by the co-precipitation of $Zn^{2+}$ and $Co^{2+}$ using 2-methylimidazole, which were converted into pure and Co-doped ZnO nanoparticles by heat treatment at $600^{\circ}C$ for 2 h. Homogeneous Zn/Co ZIFs were achieved at x < 0.05 owing to the strong coordination of the imidazole linker to $Zn^{2+}$ and $Co^{2+}$, facilitating atomic-scale doping of Co into ZnO via annealing. By contrast, heterogeneous Zn/Co ZIFs were formed at $x{\geq}0.05$, resulting in the formation of $Co_3O_4$ second phase. To investigate the potential as high-performance gas sensors, the gas sensing characteristics of pure and Co-doped ZnO nanoparticles were evaluated. The sensor using 3 at% Co-doped ZnO exhibited an unprecedentedly high response and selectivity to trimethylamine, whereas pure ZnO nanoparticles did not. The facile, bimetallic ZIF derived synthesis of doped-metal oxide nanoparticles can be used to design high-performance gas sensors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.380.2-380.2
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• 2016

The emergence of new infectious diseases, the resurgence of several infections that appeared to have been controlled and the increase in bacterial resistance have created the necessity for studies directed towards the development of new antimicrobials. In the present study, we have synthesized a novel antioxidant ZnO nanoparticle that is newly designed and prepared by simple surface modification process. Antioxidative functionality is provided by the immobilization of antioxidant 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-2-propenoic acid (caffeic acid, CA) onto the surface of ZnO nanoparticles. Microstructure and physical properties of the ZnO@CA nanoparticles were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and steady state spectroscopic methods. Antimicrobial Activities of ZnO@CA nanoparticles were measured against various bacterial strains using antibacterial testing methods.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.204-208
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• 2017

Highly uniform and well-dispersed Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-7 (ZIF-7) particles were prepared by the precipitation of $Zn^{2+}$ using benzimidazole, which were converted into ZnO nanoparticles by heat treatment at $500^{\circ}C$ for 24 h. The ZIF-7 derived ZnO nanoparticles showed abundant mesopores, high surface area, and good dispersion. The gas sensing characteristics toward 5 ppm acetone, ethanol, trimethylamine, ammonia, p-xylene, toluene, benzene, and carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide were investigated at $350-450^{\circ}C$. ZIF-7 derived ZnO nanoparticles exhibited high response to 5 ppm acetone ($R_a/R_g=57.6$; $R_a$: resistance under exposure to the air, Rg: resistance under exposure to the gas) at $450^{\circ}C$ and negligible cross-responses to other interference gases (trimethylamine, ammonia, p-xylene, toluene, benzene, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide) and relatively low responses to ethanol. ZIF derived synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles can be used to design high performance acetone sensors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.318.1-318.1
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• 2014

Metal nano-crystals have been received much attentions owing to their excellent catalytic property and surface plasmon effect. In the last decade, many studies on synthesizing well-dispersive nanoparticles and on understanding their distinct physical properties have been performed. There were tremendous reports revealing the electrochemical activities and enhancement of surface plasmonic effect were dependent mainly on the size, shape, and composition. So far, most fabrication methods have been based on vacuum based deposition techniques, such as chemical vapor deposition and electron-beam evaporation, and then annealed them to transform into the nanoparticles. Recently, there were several reports regarding to the photoinduced nano-crystal synthesis as an effective way to produce the metal nanoparticles. In this study, we report synchrotron x-ray mediated synthesis of Au nanoparticles on ZnO nanowires. ZnO nanowires were fabricated by hydrothermal method, and then they were dip into a solution having Au clusters. Detailed structural evolution of Au nanoparticles was investigated using scanning electron microscopy and photoluminescence measurements. The results on formation of well-dispersive Au nanoparticles on ZnO nanowires will be presented.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.177-183
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• 2016

Sewage treatment using microorganisms is affected by multiple factors such as microbial properties, characteristics of sewage and operating conditions, and nanoparticles inflow may cause negative effects on sewage treatment system especially on the system stability and efficiency. It was studied to assess the toxic effects of nanoparticles on microorganism growth. The activated sludge in the sewage treatment plant of university was cultured in the optimized medium for each strain. Bacillus (gram-positive), Pseudomonas and E.coli (gram-negative) in the activated sludge were selected as target microorganisms, and ZnO and $TiO_2$ were chosen as nanoparticles. For same concentration of nanoparticles, average growth inhibition rate of Bacillus was 60% or more, while that of Pseudomonas was less than 10%. The toxicity of nanoparticles was shown to be higher for gram-positive bacteria than gram-negative bacteria because of their differences on structure of cell wall, components of cell wall protein, physiology of cells and metabolism. ZnO affected 3 times more negative on the growth of microorganisms as compared to $TiO_2$. It was assumed that, therefore, toxicity of ZnO was found to be greater than $TiO_2$.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.16-19
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• 2009

The influence of nanorods grown on substrate prior to YBCO deposition has been investigated. We studied the microstructures and characteristic of $YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta}$ films fabricated on $SrTiO_3$ (100) substrates with ZnO nanorods as one of the possible pinning centers. The growth density of ZnO nanorods was modulated through Au nanoparticles synthesized on top of the STO(100) substrates with self assembled monolayer. The density of Au nanoparticles is approximately $240{\sim}260\;{\mu}m^{-2}$ with diameters of 41~49 nm. ZnO nanorods were grown on Au nanoparticles by hot-walled PLD with Au nanoparticles. Typical size of ZnO nanorod was around 179 nm in diameter and $2{\sim}6\;{\mu}m$ in length respectively. The ZnO nanorods have apparently randomly aligned and exhibit single-crystal nature along (0002) growth direction. Our preliminary results indicate that YBCO film deposited directly on STO substrate shows the c-axis orientation while YBCO films with ZnO nanorods exhibit any mixed phases without any typical crystal orientation.