Jun Hyuk Heo

The development of eco-friendly flame retardants is crucial due to the hazardous properties of most conventional flame retardants. Herein, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is reported to be a highly efficient "all-in-one" green flame retardant as it consists of three essential groups, which lead to the formation of char with extreme intumescence, namely, three phosphate groups, providing an acid source; one ribose sugar, working as a char source; and one adenine, acting as a blowing agent. Polyureth

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are useful nanomaterials as transducers for colorimetric sensors because of their high extinction coefficient and ability to change color depending on aggregation status. Therefore, over the past few decades, AuNP-based colorimetric sensors have been widely applied in several environmental and biological applications, including the detection of water pollutants. According to various studies, water pollutants are classified into heavy metals or cationic metal ions, toxi

Whitening agents, such as hydrogen peroxide and carbamide peroxide, are currently used in clinical applications for dental esthetic and dental care. However, the free radicals generated by whitening agents cause pathological damage; therefore, their safety issues remain controversial. Furthermore, whitening agents are known to be unstable and short-lived. Since 2001, nanoparticles (NPs) have been researched for use in tooth whitening. Importantly, nanoparticles not only function as abrasives but

Abstract Rapid industrial growth has severely impacted ecosystems and aggravated economic and health risks to society. Monitoring of ecosystems is fundamental to our understanding of how ecosystem change impacts resources and is critical for developing data‐based sustainability. Thus, the design and development of optimized sensors for ecosystem monitoring have received increasing attention. This review provides a comprehensive overview of systematic sensor design strategies for ecosystem monito

The stability of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in biological samples is very important for their biomedical applications. Although various molecules such as polystyrenesulfonate (PSS), phosphine, DNA, and polyethylene glycol (PEG) have been used to stabilize AuNPs, it is still very difficult to stabilize large AuNPs. As a result, biomedical applications of large (30-100 nm) AuNPs are limited, even though they possess more favorable optical properties and are easier to be taken up by cells than smal

Owing to their unique optical and chemical properties, gold nanorods (AuNRs) are among the most frequently used nanomaterials for biomedical applications, including cancer therapy, imaging, and drug delivery. In particular, the longitudinal dipole plasmon wavelength of AuNRs can be verified from the visible to the near‐infrared (NIR) region, allowing AuNRs to be used as photodynamic/photothermal and imaging contrast agents. At the same time, the silica shell is important as it enhances stability

Multifunctional small biomolecules enhance the multifunctionality and performance of hydrogel-based strain sensors.

A AuNP–DNA complex highly stable in extremely high ionic strength media, such as seawater, was obtained by inserting a few thymine bases into the DNA strands.

We report the development of achromatic colorimetric sensors; sensors changing their colors from achromatic black to other chromatic colors. An achromatic colorimetric sensor was prepared by mixing a general colorimetric indicator, whose color changes between chromatic colors, and a complementary colored dye with no reaction to the targeted analyte. As the color of an achromatic colorimetric sensor changes from black to a chromatic color, the color change could be much easily recognized than gen

Considering that fire safety is a persistent problem for most polymeric materials, including polyurethane (PU) foam, the demand for flame retardants (FRs) is growing. However, the use of conventional FRs containing halogenated and brominated chemicals has been continuously regulated owing to their toxicity. Here, we demonstrate the layer-by-layer (LbL) coating of negatively charged adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and positively charged chitosan (CS) as the synergistic FR on PU foam, a model flammab

Although cellulose nanofiber (CNF) aerogels have promising applications in fields such as thermal insulation, adsorption, and separation, their use has been restricted because of their limited mechanical stability and flammability. To overcome these limitations, this study utilizes the unique properties of tannic acid (TA) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) biomolecules to fabricate a synergistic TA/ATP/CNF aerogel with exceptional features such as ultralightness, hydrophobicity, lipophilicity, fi