• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.11
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• pp.634-640
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• 2017

Toxicity and fate assessment is necessary in the evaluation of the environmental, health and safety risks of engineered nanomaaterials (ENMs). Therefore, in order to ensure the reproducibility, reliability and relevance of ENMs toxicity results, stable and monomodal dispersion protocols in toxicity test media are needed. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (nZnO) are widely used in various products such as cosmetic products, paper, paints etc. In this study, nZnO dispersions in ecotoxicity test media were produced by following a series of steps of modified National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special publication 1200-5. In addition, natural organic matter (humic acid (HA)) was used as a stabilizing agent to disperse nZnO in the test media. The hydrodynamic diameters (HDD) of the nZnO in dispersion ranged between 150 and 200 nm according to the dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurement. Based on these dispersions in ecotoxicity test using ecological species (Oryzias latipes, Daphnia magna, Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Chironomusus riparius), dispersion protocol was found to have a considerable potential in ecotoxicity test of ENMs.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.69-77
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• 2019

Agar-based nanocomposite films were prepared by incorporation of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONP) and grapefruit seed extract (GSE). The composite films were characterized using FT-IR, UV-visible spectroscopy and thermalgravimetric analysis (TGA). The composite films showed light absorption peaks at 220 and 380 nm, characteristic for GSE and ZnONP, respectively. The UV-light transmittance of the agar film was markedly reduced from 54.4 ± 1.3% to 5.8 ± 2.5% with little sacrifice of transparency when 3 wt% ZnONP and 5 wt% GSE were added. The mechanical and water vapor barrier properties increased slightly though they were not significant statistically by the addition of ZnONP and GSE. The nanocomposite films showed stronger antibacterial activity against L. monocytogenes than E. coli O157: H7 and the antibacterial activity was affected by bacterial types as well as concentrations of ZnONP and GSE. The nano-composite film incorporated with 3 wt% of ZnONP and 5 wt% of GSE exhibited strong antibacterial activity against Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli O157: H7. The results indicate that 3 wt% of ZnONP and 5 wt% of GSE are the optimal concentrations for producing functional agar/ZnONP/GSE composite films.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.179-184
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• 2017

In this paper, a $ZnO/SiO_2$ nano-composite was prepared by a simple chemical method at room temperature. For the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs), a sonochemical method was used, and $SiO_2$ NPs were prepared by precipitation method. The formation of $ZnO/SiO_2$ NCs was characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and confirmed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy(FT-IR). The photocatalytic properties of $ZnO/SiO_2$ NCs formed at different concentrations of $SiO_2$ were evaluated by rhodamine-B dye. It was confirmed that increasing $SiO_2$ concentration resulted in an increase in the photocatalytic property. In addition, the antibacterial activity of $ZnO/SiO_2$ NCs was conducted against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). As a result, the antibacterial activities of E.coli and S. aureus were increased in the presence of thick SiO NPs layer.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.1197-1205
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• 2018

UV protection cosmetics belong to functional cosmetics and contain organic or inorganic UV blocking pigments. The inorganic UV blocking pigments are mainly zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. It is known that inorganic UV blocking pigment has a diameter of 60 to 100 nm and has good blocking ability of UVA and UVB. Also, it has high inactivity against sunlight including UV and is excellent in safety. In addition, it is not absorbed or accumulated on the skin like organic pigments and does not cause skin irritation or allergy. In this study, mica, a plate-shaped inorganic pigment, nanosized titanium dioxide, an UV blocking material, and hydrophobic silica were surface-treated with surfactants. And then, titanium dioxide nanoparticles and silica were physically adsorbed on the mica by non-chemical mutual attraction due to differences in charge. Thereafter, the mica complex was surface-treated with silane to prepare a hydrophobic UV blocking pigment complex. The plate-shaped UV blocking composite improves the cohesiveness of a general nanoparticle material titanium dioxide, enhances UV blocking effect due to uniform dispersion, and can greatly improve dispersion stability in cosmetic formulations by surface treatment with hydrophobic property. The surface charge of the pigment was evaluated by zeta potential. The properties of the UV blocking pigment complex were evaluated by FE-SEM, XRD, FT-IR and UV-VIS.