• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.34-38
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• 2016

In this paper, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were synthesized using the sonochemical method, where equimolar amounts of zinc acetate dehydrate and sodium hydroxide were separately dissolved in deionized water, and then mixed for 30 min under magnetic stirring. The resultant white gel was sonicated for 60, 120, 180, 240, and 360 min with magnetic stirring. The obtained precipitates were centrifuged, repeatedly washed with ethanol to remove ionic impurities, and dried at 50 ℃ for 24 h. The formation of pure NPs was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, and their crystallinity and crystal phases were analyzed as well. Structural investigation was carried out by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The photocatalysis behavior of the ZnO NPs was investigated in a dark room under UV irradiation, using Rhodamine B. Spherical, rod, and flower-like ZnO NPs could be obtained by adjusting the sonication time, as observed by FE-SEM. The flower-like ZnO NPs exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.194-201
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• 2017

Objectives: Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are widely used in various commercial products, but they are exposed to the environment and can induce toxicity. In this study, we investigated the environmental fate and bioaccumulation of ZnO NPs in a microcosm. Methods: The microcosm was composed of water, soil (Lufa Soil 2.2) and organisms (Oryzias latipes, Neocaridina denticulata, Semisulcospira libertina). Point five and 5 mg/L of ZnO NPs were exposed in the microcosm for 14 days. Total Zn concentrations were measured using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) and intracellular NPs were observed using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Results: In the initial stages of exposure, the Zn concentrations in water increased in all exposure groups and then decreased, while the Zn concentration in soil increased after three hours for the 5 mg/L solution. Zn concentrations also showed increasing trends in N. denticulata and S. libertina at 0.5 and 5 mg/L, and in O. latipes at 5 mg/L. Accumulation of NPs was found in the livers of O. latipes and hepatopancreas of N. denticulata and S. libertina. Conclusions: In the early stages of exposure, ZnO NPs remained in the water, and then were transported to the soil and test species. Unlike other species, total Zn concentrations in N. denticulata and S. libertina increased for both 0.5 mg/L and 5 mg/L. Therefore, ZnO NPs were more easily accumulated in zoobenthos than in fish.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.455-461
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• 2023

We investigated the electrical characteristics of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) with air exposure that is a widely used electron transport layer for quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs). Upon air exposure, we observed changes in the density of states (DOS) of the trap levels of ZnO NPs. In particular, with air exposure, the concentration of deep trap energy levels in ZnO NPs decreased and electron mobility significantly improved. Consequently, the air-exposed ZnO reduced leakage current by approximately one order of magnitude and enhanced the external quantum efficiency at the low driving voltage region of the QLED. In addition, based on the excellent conductivity properties, high-brightness QLEDs could be achieved.

• Clean Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 2015

This study investigated the effects of six metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs: CuO, NiO, TiO₂, Fe₂O₃, Co₃O₄, ZnO) on seed germination and germination index (G.I) for five types of seeds: Brassica napus L., Malva verticillata L., Brassica olercea L., Brassica campestris L., Daucus carota L. NPs of CuO, ZnO, NiO show significant toxicity impacts on seed activities [CuO (6-27 mg/L), ZnO (16-86 mg/L), NiO (48-112 mg/L)], while no significant effects were observed at > 1000 mg/L of TiO₂, Fe₂O₃, Co₃O₄. Tested five types of seed showed different sensitivities on seed germination and root activity, especially on NPs of CuO, ZnO, NiO. Malva verticillata L. seed was highly sensitive to toxic metal oxide NPs and showed following EC₅₀s : CuO 5.5 mg/L, ZnO 16.4 mg/L, NiO 53.4 mg/L. Mostly following order of toxicity was observed, CuO > ZnO > NiO > Fe₂O₃ ≈ Co₃O₄ ≈ TiO₂, where slightly different toxicity order was observed for carrot, showing CuO > NiO ≈ ZnO > Fe₂O₃ ≈ Co₃O₄ ≈ TiO₂.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 2009

The optoelectrical characteristics of the ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) annealed in vacuum or oxygen condition from $200^{\circ}C$ to $600^{\circ}C$ were examined. Increased on-off ratio (or, the ratio of photocurrent to dark current) was observed when they were annealed at $300^{\circ}C$, $400^{\circ}C$ and $500^{\circ}C$ with the values enhanced about 4 orders compared to the as-prepared ZnO NPs in both annealing conditions, while the maximum efficiency was shown at the annealing temperature of $600^{\circ}C$ for the ZnO NPs annealed in vacuum with the value of 29.8 mA/W and at the temperature of $500^{\circ}C$ for those annealed in oxygen condition with the value of 40.3 mA/W. Photoresponse behavior of the ZnO NPs annealed in oxygen showed the sharp increase right after the ir exposure to the light followed by the slow decay and saturation during steady illumination, differing from the ZnO NPs annealed in vacuum which only exhibited the gradual increase. This difference occurred due to the curing effect of the oxygen vacancies. SEM images indicated no change in their morphologies with annealing, indicating the change in their internal structures by annealing, and most remarkably at $600^{\circ}C$. As for their photoluminescence(PL) spectra, the decrease of the deep-level(DL) emission was observed when they were annealed in oxygen at $400^{\circ}C$, and not at $200^{\circ}C$ and $600^{\circ}C$.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.157-163
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• 2015

Nanotechnology has advanced at an extremely rapid pace over the past several years in numerous fields of research. However, the uptake of nanoparticles (NPs) into the body after administration through various routes may pose a risk to human health. In this study, we investigated the potential ocular toxicity of 20-nm, negatively- charged zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs in rats using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and histopathological assessment. Animals were divided into four groups as control group, ZnO NPs treatment group (500 mg/kg/day), control recovery group, and ZnO NPs treatment and recovery group. Ocular samples were prepared from animals treated for 90 days (10 males and 10 females, respectively) and from recovery animals (5 males and 5 females, respectively) sacrificed at 14 days after final treatment and were compared to age-matched control animals. Micro-CT analyses represented the deposition and distribution of foreign materials in the eyes of rats treated with ZnO NPs, whereas control animals showed no such findings. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and energy dispersive spectrometry showed the intraocular foreign materials as zinc in treated rats, whereas control animals showed no zinc signal. Histopathological examination revealed the retinopathy in the eyes of rats treated with ZnO NPs. Neuronal nuclei expression was decreased in neurons of the ganglion cell layer of animals treated with ZnO NPs compared to the control group. Taken together, treatment with 20-nm, negatively-charged ZnO NPs increased retinopathy, associated with local distribution of them in ocular lesions.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.2051-2057
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• 2011

Several studies have demonstrated that nanoparticles (NPs) have toxic effects on cultured cell lines, yet there are no clear data describing the overall molecular changes induced by NPs currently in use for human applications. In this study, the in vitro cytotoxicity of three oxide NPs of around 100 nm size, namely, mesoporous silica (MCM-41), iron oxide ($Fe_2O_3$-NPs), and zinc oxide (ZnO-NPs), was evaluated in the human embryonic kidney cell line HEK293. Cell viability assays demonstrated that 100 ${\mu}g/mL$ MCM-41, 100 ${\mu}g/mL$ $Fe_2O_3$, and 12.5 ${\mu}g/mL$ ZnO exhibited 20% reductions in HEK293 cell viability in 24 hrs. DNA microarray analysis was performed on cells treated with these oxide NPs and further validated by real time PCR to understand cytotoxic changes occurring at the molecular level. Microarray analysis of NP-treated cells identified a number of up- and down-regulated genes that were found to be associated with inflammation, stress, and the cell death and defense response. At both the cellular and molecular levels, the toxicity was observed in the following order: ZnO-NPs > $Fe_2O_3$-NPs > MCM-41. In conclusion, our study provides important information regarding the toxicity of these three commonly used oxide NPs, which should be useful in future biomedical applications of these nanoparticles.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.49-53
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• 2022

In this study, quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) of the optimized EL performance with a radio frequency (RF) sputtered Zn_0.85Mg_0.15O thin film as an electron transport layer (ETL). In typical QLEDs, ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) are widely used materials for ETL layer due to their advantages of high electron mobility, suitable energy level and easy capable of solution processing. However, the instability problem of solution-type ZnO NPs has not yet been resolved. To solve this problem, ZnMgO thin film doped with 15% Mg of ZnO was fabricated by RF sputtering and optimized for the device applied as an ETL. The QLEDs of optimized ZnMgO thin film exhibited a maximum luminance of 15,972 cd/m² and a current efficiency of 7.9 cd/A. Efficient QLEDs using sputtering ZnMgO thin film show the promising results for the future display technology.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.59 no.5
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• pp.397-406
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• 2015

ZnO, II-VI group inorganic compound semi-conductor, has been receiving much attention due to its wide applications in various fields. Since the ZnO has 3.37 eV of a wide band gap and 60 meV of big excitation binding energy, it is well-known material for various uses such the optical property, a semi-conductor, magnetism, antibiosis, photocatalyst, etc. When applied in the field of photocatalyst, many research studies have been actively conducted regarding magnetic materials and the core-shell structure to take on the need of recycling used materials. In this paper, magnetic core-shell ZnFe₂O₄@SiO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) have been successfully synthesized through three steps. In order to analyze the structural characteristics of the synthesized substances, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were used. The spinel structure of ZnFe₂O₄ and the wurtzite structure of ZnO were confirmed by XRD, and ZnO production rate was confirmed through the analysis of different concentrations of the precursors. The surface change of the synthesized materials was confirmed by SEM. The formation of SiO₂ layer and the synthesis of ZnFe₂O₄@ZnO@SiO₂ NPs were finally verified through the bond of Fe-O, Zn-O and Si-O-Si by FT-IR. The magnetic property of the synthesized materials was analyzed through the vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The increase and decrease in the magnetism were respectively confirmed by the results of the formed ZnO and SiO₂ layer. The photocatalysis effect of the synthesized ZnFe₂O₄ @ZnO@SiO₂ NPs was experimented in a black box (dark room) using methylene blue (MB) under UV irradiation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.412-412
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• 2014

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is one of the most powerful materials for purifying organic pollutants using photocatalytic activity. In this study, we have introduced a novel method to design highly photoreactive flexible 3 dimensional (3D) ZnO nanocomposite [F-ZnO-m (m: reaction time, min)] by electrospinning and simple-step ZnO growth processing (one-step ZnO seed coating/growth processing). Significantly, the F-ZnO-m could be a new platform (or candidate) as a photocatalytic technology for both morphology control and large-area production. The highest photocatalytic degradation rate ([k]) was observed for F-ZnO-m at 2.552 h-1, which was 8.1 times higher than that of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs; [k] = 0.316 h-1). The enhanced photocatalytic activity of F-ZnO-m may be attributed to factors such as large surface area. The F-ZnO-m is highly recyclable and retained 98.6% of the initial decolorization rate after fifteen cycles. Interestingly, the F-ZnO-m samples show very strong antibacterial properties against both Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) after exposure to UV-light for 30 min. The antibacterial properties of F-ZnO-m samples are more effective than those of ZnO NPs. More than 96.6% of the E. coli is sterilized after ten cycles. These results indicate that F-ZnO-m samples might have utility in several promising applications such as highly efficient water/air treatment and inactivation of pathogenic microorganisms.