• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.4052-4059
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• 2021

The microstructure of the fuel pellet plays an essential role in fission gas buildup and release and is critical for the safe and continued operation of nuclear power stations. Structural analysis of uranium dioxide (UO₂)-molybdenum (Mo) composite fuel pellets prepared at a range of sintering temperatures from 1300 to 1800 ℃ was performed. Mo micro and nanoparticles were used in making the composite pellets. A systematic investigation into the influence of processing parameters during Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) of the pellets on the microstructure, texture, grain size, and grain boundary characters of UO₂-Mo is presented. UO₂-Mo composite show significant differences in the fraction of general boundaries and also special/coincident site lattice (CSL) boundaries. EBSD orientation maps demonstrated that <111> texturing was observed in the pellets fabricated at 1500 ℃. The experimental investigations suggest that UO₂-Mo composite pellets have favorable microstructural features compared to the UO₂ pellet.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.125-129
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• 2013

Composites of platinum and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were prepared in various reduction conditions and characterized using cyclic voltammetry. The MWNTs were functionalized with carboxylic acid and/or hydroxyl groups in acidic solutions prior to the formation of MWNT-Pt composites. Platinum nanoparticles were deposited onto the chemically-oxidized MWNTs in 1-propanol and 1,3-propanediol. The reduction of Pt precursors in other solutions could induce differences in their morphologies in composite thin films. The morphologies of MWNTs with Pt deposited were dependent on the reduction solutions, and the electrocatalytic activities on alcohols changed accordingly. The electrochemical activities of the as-prepared MWNT-Pt thin films on common alcohols such as methanol and ethanol were investigated.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2020

This article deals with the buckling analysis in the plates containing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) subject to axial load. In order to control the plate smartly, a piezoelectric layer covered the plate. The plate is located in elastic medium which is modeled by spring elements. The Mori-Tanaka low is utilized for calculating the equivalent mechanical characteristics of the plate. The structure is modeled by a thick plate and the governing equations are deduced using Hamilton's principle under the assumption of higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). The Navier method is applied to obtain the bulking load. The effects of the applied voltage to the smart layer, agglomeration and volume percent of CNT nanoparticles, geometrical parameters and elastic medium of the structure are assessed on the buckling response. It has been demonstrated that by applying a negative voltage, the buckling load is increased significantly.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.94-100
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• 2001

Fe-Co-Ni particles with an average size of 45 and 135 nm are characterized in terms of magnetic phase transformation and magnetic properties at room temperature. BCC structure of Fe-Co-Ni spherical particles can be synthesized from Fe-Co-Ni-Al-Cu precursor films by heating at 600-80$0^{\circ}C$ for the phase separation of Fe-Co rich Fe-Co-Ni particles, followed by a post heating at $600^{\circ}C$ for 5 hours. The average size of nanoparticles was directly determined by the thickness of precursor films. Exchange interactive hysteresis was observed for the nano-composite (Fe-Co-Ni)+(Fe-Ni-Al) films resulting from the short exchange interface between ferromagnetic Fe-Co-Ni particles surrounded by almost papramagnetic Ni-Al-Fe matrix. Arraying the isolated Fe-Co-Ni nano-particles in a random arrangement on $Al_2O_3$substrate the particle assembly showed a behavior of dipole interactive ferromagnetic clusters depending on their volume and inter-particle distance.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2013

Graphene/Ni-Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) hybrid materials were synthesized by a hydrothermal reaction. Hexagonal Ni-Al LDH particles nucleated and grew on graphene sheets, thus preventing restacking of the graphene sheets and aggregation of the Ni-Al LDH nanoparticles upon drying. Electrode made from the graphene/Ni-Al LDH hybrid materials showed a substantial improvement in electrochemical capacitance relative to those made with pure Ni-Al LDH nanoparticles. In addition, the graphene/Ni-Al LDH hybrid composite materials showed remarkable stability after 4000 cycles with over 100% capacitance retention. These materials are thus very promising for use in electrochemical capacitor electrodes.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.211-215
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• 2007

Hybrid thin film nanostructures composed of metal nanoparticles (NPs) and self-assembled polymer films with different spatial distributions of NPs were analyzed by optical waveguide spectroscopy (OWS). Specifically, the dielectric constants were calculated using effective medium theory for the incorporation of 1 vol% Au NP into the block copolymer (BCP) films having a cylindrical nanodomain morphology. Three cases were considered: uniform distribution of NPs in the film; selective distribution of NPs only in the cylindrical domains; and segregation of NPs to the center of the cylindrical domains. The optical waveguide spectra derived from the calculated dielectric constants demonstrate the feasibility of experimentally distinguishing the composite nanostructures with different inner morphologies in the hybrid metal NP-BCP nanostructures, by the measurement of the dielectric constants using OWS.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.125-131
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• 2020

Carrageenan-based functional films were prepared by adding two different types of sulfur nanoparticles (SNP) synthesized from sodium thiosulfate (SNPSTS) and elemental sulfur (SNPES). The films were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). Also, film properties such as UV-visible light transmittance, water contact angle (WCA), water vapor permeability (WVP), mechanical properties, and antibacterial activity were evaluated. SNPs were uniformly dispersed in the carrageenan matrix to form flexible films. The addition of SNP significantly increased the film properties such as water vapor barrier and surface hydrophobicity but did not affect the mechanical properties. The carrageenan/SNP composite film showed some antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogenic bacteria, L. monocytogenes and E. coli.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.177-187
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• 2021

The effect of nanoparticle volume fraction on the elastic properties of a polymer-based nanocomposite was experimentally investigated and the obtained results were compared with various existing theoretical models. The nanocomposite was consisted of high density polyethylene (HDPE) as polymeric matrix and 0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 wt.% multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) prepared using twin screw extruder and injection molding technique. Nanocomposite samples were molded in injection apparatus according to ASTM-D638 standard. Therefore, in addition to morphological investigations of the samples, tensile tests at ambient temperature were performed on each sample and stress-strain plots, elastic moduli, Poisson's ratios, and strain energies of volume units were extracted from primary strain test results. Tensile test results demonstrated that 1 wt.% nanoparticles presented the best reinforcement behavior in HDPE-MWCNT nanocomposites. Due to the agglomeration of nanoparticles at above 1 wt.%, Young's modulus, yielding stress, fracture stress, and fracture energy were decreased and Poisson's ratio and failure strain were increased.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.67 no.6
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• pp.415-419
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• 2023

In this study, we report the one-pot synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) containing platinum nanoparticles with catalytic activity to break down hydrogen peroxide as a peroxidase-mimicking catalyst. A single reducing agent was used to reduce graphene oxide and a platinum precursor at a moderately low temperature of 70℃. The rGO was homogeneously decorated with platinum nanoparticles. The catalytic activity of Pt-rGO was investigated for the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'- tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), a peroxidase substrate, in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The Pt-rGO coupled with glucose oxidase was also able to detect glucose at millimolar concentrations (up to 1 mM). Our results show that the Pt-rGO composite is a promising catalyst for the detection of hydrogen peroxide. This method was also applied for the detection of glucose.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.118-122
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• 2012

We synthesized porous $Co_3O_4/RuO_2$ composite using the soft template method. Cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) was used to make micell as a cation surfactant. The precipitation of cobalt ion and ruthenium ion for making porosity in particles was induced by $OH^-$ ion. The porous $Co_3O_4/RuO_2$ composite was completely synthesiszed after anealing until $250^{\circ}C$ at $3^{\circ}C$/min. From the XRD ananysis, we were able to determine that the porous $Co_3O_4$/RuO2 composite was comprised of nanoparticles with low crystallinity. The shape or structure of the porous $Co_3O_4/RuO_2$ composite was studied by FE-SEM and FE-TEM. The size of the porous $Co_3O_4/RuO_2$ composite was 20~40 nm. From the FE-TEM, we were able to determine that porous cavities were formed in the composite particles. The electrochemical performance of the porous $Co_3O_4/RuO_2$ composite was measured by CV and charge-discharge methods. The specific capacitances, determined through cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurement, were ~51, ~47, ~42, and ~33 F/g at 5, 10, 20, and 50 mV/sec scan rates, respectively. The specific capacitance through charge-discharge measurement was ~63 F/g in the range of 0.0~1.0 V cutoff voltage and 50 mAh/g current density.