• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.1123-1127
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• 2010

We report a simple and quick route for the preparation of high-quality, nearly monodisperse $Bi_2Te_3$, $Sb_2Te_3$, and $Bi_xSb_{2-x}-Te_3$ nanocrystallites. The reactions of bismuth acetate or antimony acetate with Te in oleic acid result in pure phase of $Bi_2Te_3$ or $Sb_2Te_3$ nanoparticles, respectively. Also, ternary $Bi_xSb_{2-x}Te_3$ nanoparticles were successfully synthesized using the same method. The size and morphology of the nanoparticles were controlled by varying the stabilizing agents. The as-prepared nanoparticles are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and high-resolution transmission electron microscope using an energy dispersive spectroscopy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.1-1
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• 2011

We developed a new generalized synthetic procedure, called as "heat-up process," to produce uniform-sized nanocrystals of many transition metals and oxides without a size selection process. We were able to synthesize uniform magnetite nanocrystals as much as 1 kilogram-scale from the thermolysis of Fe-oleate complex. Clever combination of different nanoscale materials will lead to the development of multifunctional nano-biomedical platforms for simultaneous targeted delivery, fast diagnosis, and efficient therapy. In this presentation, I would like to present some of our group's recent results on the designed fabrication of multifunctional nanostructured materials based on uniform-sized magnetite nanoparticles and their medical applications. Uniform ultrasmall iron oxide nanoparticles of <3 nm were synthesized by thermal decomposition of iron-oleate complex in the presence of oleyl alcohol. These ultrasmall iron oxide nanoparticles exhibited good T1 contrast effect. In in vivo T1 weighted blood pool magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), iron oxide nanoparticles showed longer circulation time than commercial gadolinium complex, enabling high resolution imaging. We used 80 nm-sized ferrimagnetic iron oxide nanocrystals for T2 MRI contrast agent for tracking transplanted pancreatic islet cells and single-cell MR imaging. We reported on the fabrication of monodisperse magnetite nanoparticles immobilized with uniform pore-sized mesoporous silica spheres for simultaneous MRI, fluorescence imaging, and drug delivery. We synthesized hollow magnetite nanocapsules and used them for both the MRI contrast agent and magnetic guided drug delivery vehicle.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.479-486
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• 2003

In this study, poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) nanoparticles loaded with water-insoluble vitamins such as vitamin A (Retinol) and vitamin E acetate were prepared by the emulsification diffusion method. Polymer solution was prepared by the two water-miscible organic solvent, such as ethanol and acetone. Because of its biocompatible property, polyethyleneglycol-polypropyleneglycol diblock copolymer was used as surfactant and stabilizer. The influence of some preparative variables on the nanoparticle formation and on the loading efficiency of active agents, such as the type and concentration of stabilizing agent, the stirring methods, the water/oil phase ratio and the polymer concentration were investigated in order to control and optimize the process. After preparation of nanoparticles loaded with active agent, particle size and distribution were evaluated by the light scattering particle analyzer. The loading efficiency of active agents was evaluated by the UV-visible spectroscopy. As the results, particle size were 50-200 nm and dispersibility was monodisperse. The optimum loading efficiency of active agents was observed 50-60%. It was found that the appropriate of selections of binary solvent mixtures and polymeric concentrations in both organic and aqueous phases could provide good yield and favorable physical properties of PLGA nanoparticles.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.433-438
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• 2012

A chemical process involves polymerization within microspheres, whereas a physical process involves the dispersion of polymer in a nonsolvent. Nano-sized monodisperse microspheres are usually prepared by chemical processes such as water-based emulsions, seed suspension polymerization, nonaqueous dispersion polymerization, and precipitation polymerizations. Polymerization was performed in a four-necked, separate-type flask equipped with a stirrer, a condenser, a nitrogen inlet, and a rubber stopper for adding the initiator with a syringe. Nitrogen was bubbled through the mixture of reagents for 1 hr. before elevating the temperature. Functional silane (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) was used for the modification of silica nanoparticles and the self-assembled monolayers obtained were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), laser scattering system (LSS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), elemental analysis (EA), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). In addition, polymer microspheres were polymerized by radical polymerization of ${\gamma}$-mercaptopropyl modified silica nanoparticles (MPSN) and acrylamide monomer via precipitation polymerization; then, their characteristics were investigated. From the elemental analysis results, it can be concluded that the conversion rate of acrylamide monomer was 93% and that polyacrylamide grafted to MPSN nanospheres via the radical precipitation polymerization with AAm in ethanol solvent. The microspheres were successfully polymerized by the 'graft from' method.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.163-167
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• 2006

Ultrasonic irradiation in a solution during the chemical reaction may accelerate the rate of the reaction and the crystallization at low temperature. We have synthesized nanometer sized magnetite particles using coprecipitation method, sonochemical method without surfactant, and sonochemical method with surfactant, in order to investigate the effect of ultrasonic irradiation and surfactant on the coprecipitates of metal ions. The size of the magnetite nanoparticles prepared by coprecipitation method, and sonochemical method without surfactant showed broad distributions. But we got uniform nanoparticles using a sonochemical method with oleic acid. The average size of the particles can be controlled by the ratio $R=[H_2O]/[surfactant]$. The size of the magnetite nanoparticles prepared by this method showed narrow distributions. We have characterized the nanoparticles using an X-ray diffraction (XRD), a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), and atomic force microscope (AFM). The size and distribution of the magnetite nanoparticles were measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS) method.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.362-367
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• 2012

Magnetite nanoparticles(NPs) have been the subject of much interest by researchers owing to their potential use as magnetic carriers in drug targeting and as a tumor treatment in cases of hyperthermia. However, magnetite nanoparticles with 10 nm in diameter easily aggregate and thus create large secondary particles. To disperse magnetite nanoparticles, this study proposes the infiltration of magnetite nanoparticles into hybrid silica aerogels. The feasible dispersion of magnetite is necessary to target tumor cells and to treat hyperthermia. Magnetite NPs have been synthesized by coprecipitation, hydrothermal and thermal decomposition methods. In particular, monodisperse magnetite NPs are known to be produced by the thermal decomposition of iron oleate. In this study, we thermally decomposed iron acetylacetonate in the presence of oleic acid, oleylamine and 1,2 hexadecanediol. We also attempted to disperse magnetite NPs within a mesoporous aerogels. Methyltriethoxysilicate(MTEOS)-based hybrid silica aerogels were synthesized by a supercritical drying method. To incorporate the magnetite nanoparticles into the hybrid aerogels, we devised two methods: adding the synthesized aerogel into a magnetite precursor solution followed by nucleation and crystal growth within the pores of the aerogels, and the infiltration of magnetite nanoparticles synthesized beforehand into aerogel matrices by immersing the aerogels in a magnetite nanoparticle colloid solution. An analysis using a vibrating sample magnetometer showed that approximately 20% of the magnetite nanoparticles were well dispersed in the aerogels. The composite samples showed that heating under an inductive magnetic field to a temperature of $45^{\circ}C$ is possible.