• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.120-126
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• 2016

Eco-friendly acrylic resin/clay nanocomposites containing pristine montmorillonite (PM) or modified clays (30B and 25A) were prepared from acrylic and styrenic monomers using non-aqueous dispersion (NAD) polymerization. Effect of nanoclays on physical properties of polymerization product and resulting nanocomposites was investigated. In view of NAD particle stability, addition of nanoclay at the beginning of polymerization is proved to be good. Results of gel fraction, acid value and viscosity of the NAD product showed that nanocomposites containing clay 25A showed better physical properties than the ones with other clays. GPC results exhibit the increase in molecular weight and decrease in polydispersity index for the 25A nanocomposite. Increase in layer distance confirmed from XRD analysis showed good dispersion of 25A in the nanocomposite. Thermal and dynamic mechanical analysis showed that highest glass transition temperature and storage modulus for 25A nanocomposites. These results indicate that 25A nanoclay gives the best properties in the process of non-aqueous dispersion polymerization of acrylic resin/nanoclay nanocomposites.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.51-60
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• 2019

In order to improve gas separation properties of polymeric membranes which have been widely applied in the industry field, aluminosilicate hollow nanoparticles named as allophanes were synthesized by sol-gel method and formulated in Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) matrix to investigate the gas separation properties of PDMS membrane. Transmission electron microscope (TEM), Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Surface area and pore size analyzer (BET) and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) were carried out to characterize the synthetic allophanes. Then the PDMS mixed matrix membranes were prepared by adding different volume fraction of allophanes. To examine the effect of allophanes addition in PDMS matrix using unmodified allophane and modified ones, the gas permeation experiments were performed using oxygen, nitrogen, methane and carbon dioxide. As the volume fraction of modified allophane increased up to 4.05 Vol% the permeability of four test gases through PDMS mixed matrix membranes increased. Also, the selectivity of $O_2/N_2$ and $CO_2/CH_4$ increased with the contents of the modified allophane. Further improvement of gas separation properties of PDMS mixed matrix membranes containing higher volume percent of allophanes can be expected as long as well dispersion of allophanes in PDMS matrix can be achieved for better PDMS membranes.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.571-577
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• 2000

A new type of filler for epoxy-clay nanocomposites has been prepared by the reaction of octadecyltrimethylammonium bromide and layered sodium montmorillonite (MMT) via an ion-exchange reaction. The gallery space was further modified by grafting the aminopropyl groups via a reaction between a octadecyltrimethylammonium-MMT and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APS). The interlayer modification of MMT was confirmed by XRD, IR, and solid-state $^{29}$ Si CP/MAS NMR. Furthermore, clay-polymer nanocomposites have been synthesized by the polymerization of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A(DGEBA) and $C_{18}$ H$_{37}$ N($CH_3$)$_3$-APS-MMT. The resulting hybrid nanocomposites were characterized by XRD, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results proved that the organomontmorillonite could be exfoliated and uniformly dispersed in the epoxy matrix.

• Composites Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2017

Epoxy resin (EP) is one of the most famous thermoset materials. In general, because EP has three-dimensional random network, it possesses thermal properties like a typical heat insulator. Recently, there has been increasing interest in controlling the network structure for making new functionality from EP. Indeed, the new modified EP represented as liquid crystalline epoxy (LCE) is spotlighted as an enabling technology for producing novel functionalities, which cannot be obtained from the conventional EPs, by replacing the random network structure to oriented one. In this paper, we review current progress in the field of LCEs and their application for the highly thermal conductive composite materials.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.470-477
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• 2013

Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) based nano-composite pastes having a high filler content are prepared for the facile fabrication of a counter electrode (CE) of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). A polystyrene-based functional block copolymer is prepared through a controlled "living" radical polymerization technique, affording a surface modifier for the dispersion control of MWCNT in the paste. Physical dispersion through a ball-milling method additionally confirms the importance of the dispersion control, providing DSSC with enhanced processibility and improved solar-to-electricity energy conversion efficiency (${\eta}$) values. The performances of the DSSCs are further improved through the incorporation of minor amount of platinum (Pt) nanoparticles into the MWCNT pastes. The DSSC with the Pt/MWCNT hybrid CE exhibits very high ${\eta}$ values, which is superior to that of DSSC with the standard Pt CE.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.382-387
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• 2013

Biodegradable polyurethane (PU)/clay nanocomposite films were prepared via extrusion compounding process followed by casting film process. Organically modified montmorillonite (denoted as C30B) with a large amount of hydroxyl groups on its surface was used for the formation of strong bonding with PU resin. From both XRD analysis and TEM observations, the intercalated and exfoliated structure, and dispersion state of silicate platelets in the compounded nanocomposite films were confirmed. In addition, the rheological and tensile properties, optical transparency, oxygen permeability of the prepared nanocomposites were investigated as a function of added nanoclay content, and moreover based on these results, the corelation between the morphology and the resulting properties of the nanocomposites could be presented. The inclusion of nanoclays at appropriate content resulted in remarkable improvement in the nanocomposite performance including tensile modulus, elongation, transparency, and oxygen barrier property, however at excess amount of nanoclays, reduction or very slight increase was observed due to poor dispersion. The biodegradability of the prepared nanocomposite film was evaluated by examining the deterioration in the barrier and tensile properties during degradation period under compost.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.380-384
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• 2005

Fluoroalkyl methacrylate and acrylic acid were bulk radical copolymerized in the presence of pure sodium montmorillonite or macromer intercalated sodium montmorilonite to get a fluorinated acrylic ionomer/sodium montmorillonite composite, and their physical properties, such as X-ray diffraction pattern, tensile properties, and water uptake, were examined. These composites were used to preparean ionic acrylic polymer-platinum composite (IPMC). The current and deformation responses of these IPMCs by external voltage applied across the platinum electrodes deposited on both sides of IPMC showed that the cation migration from anode to cathode was suppressed in the presence of sodium montmorillonite, causing reduced current and deformation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.214-217
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• 2004

The cure kinetics of blends of epoxy(tetraglycidyl-4,4'-diaminodiphenylmethane ; TGDDM)/curing agent(diaminodiphenyl sulfone ; DDS) resin with amine terminated polyetherimide-CTBN-amine terminated polyetherimide triblock copolymer(ABA) were studied using differential scanning calorimetry under isothermal conditions to determine the reaction parameters such as activation energy and reaction constants. By increasing the amount of ABA in the blends, the final cure conversion was decreased. Lower values of the final cure conversions in the epoxy/ABA blends indicated that ABA hinders the cure reaction between the epoxy and curing agents. 1be value of the reaction order, m, for the initial autocatlytic reaction was not affected by blending ABA with epoxy resin, and the value was approximately 1.0. The value of n for the nth order component in the autocatalytic analysis was increased by increasing the amount of ABA in the blends, and the value increased from 2.0-3.4. A diffusion controlled reaction was observed as the cure conversion increased and the rate equation was successfully analyzed by incorporating the diffusion control term for the epoxy/DDS/ABA blends.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.143-146
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• 2002

Unsized AS-4 carbon fibers were etched by RF plasma and then coated via plasma polymerization in order to enhance adhesion to vinyl ester resin. The gases utilized for the plasma etching were Ar, $N_2 and O_2$, while the monomers used for the plasma polymerization coating were acetylene, butadiene and acrylonitrile. The conditions for the plasma etching and the plasma polymerization were optimized by measuring interfacial adhesion with vinyl ester resin via micro-droplet tests. Among the treatment conditions, the combination of Ar plasma etching and acetylene plasma polymerization provided greatly improved interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of 69MPa compared to 43MPa with as-received carbon fiber. Based on the SEM analysis of failure surface and load-displacement curve, it was assume that the failure might be occurred at the carbon fiber and plasma polymer coating. The plasma etched and plasma polymer coated carbon fibers were subjected to analysis with SEM, XPS, FT-IR or Alpha-Step, and dynamic contact angles and tensile strengths were also evaluated. Plasma polymer coatings did not change tensile strength and surface roughness of fibers, but decreased water contact angle except butadiene plasma polymer coating, possibly owing to the functional groups introduced, as evidenced by FT-IR and XPS.

• Composites Research
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.306-314
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• 2016

In this study, to improve the thermal stabilities of the epoxy composite specimens in addition to the enhanced mechanical properties, those were reinforced with carbon nanotubes and micrometer-sized silica particles. To disperse the filler in matrix relatively simple physical process, specimens were fabricated using shear mixing and sonication. Tensile strength, coefficients of thermal expansion and thermal conductivity of the specimens were measured with varied contents of the two fillers. The mechanical and thermal properties were also discussed, and the experimental results of thermal expansion related to the thermal stability of the specimens were compared with those from several micromechanics models. The hybrid composites specimens incorporating 0.6 wt％ of carbon nanotubes and 50 wt％ of silica particles showed better mechanical properties than the others with increase in tensile strength up to 11％, with respect to those of the baseline specimens. As the silica contents were increased the thermal expansion was reduced down to 36%, and the thermal stability was improved with the decreased thermal deformation. Thermal conductivity of the epoxy composite specimens incorporating 50 wt％ of silica particles was enhanced, which demonstrate improvement of 72%. The mechanical and thermal properties of the hybrid composites specimens incorporating the two fillers were improved simultaneously.