• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.574-581
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• 2016

In this study, CNT functionalized with pyrrolidine ring via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction with various amino acid and aldehyde was synthesized. Metallocene was subsequently immobilized on the functionalized CNT and CNT/polyethylene composite was prepared via in-situ ethylene polymerization. The polymerization activities of metallocene supported on CNT functionalized with glycine and benzaldehyde (Gly+BA-CNT) were similar to those of metallocene supported on CNT functionalized with N-benzyloxycarbonylglycine and paraformaldehyde (Z-Gly+PFA-CNT) although its Zr content was lower than that of Z-Gly+PFA-CNT. In the case of metallocene supported on Z-Gly+PFA-CNT, the even distribution of active sites hindered the diffusion of ethylene monomer and cocatalyst MAO due to steric hindrance during ethylene polymerization. Compared to polyethylene produced from homogeneous metallocene catalysts, CNT/PE composites had a higher initial degradation temperature ($T_{onset}$) and maximum mass loss temperature ($T_{max}$). It suggests that pyrrolidine functionalized CNT is uniformly dispersed and strongly interacted with the PE matrix, enhancing the thermal stability of PE.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.476-476
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• 2011

Introduction of CNTs into a metal matrix has been considered to improve the mechanical properties of the metal matrix. However, the binding energy between metals and pristine CNTs wall is known to be so small that the interfacial slip between CNTs and the matrix occurs at a relatively low external stress. The interfacial strength between CNT and metal matrix is thus one of the key factors for successful development of the CNT/metal composites. Defective or functionalized CNT has been considered to enhance the interfacial strength of nanocomposites. In the present work, we design the various realistic hybrid structures of the single wall CNT/Cu complexes and characterize the interaction between single wall CNTs and Cu nano-particle and Cu13 cluster using first principle calculations. The characteristics of functionalized CNTs with various surface functional groups, such as -COOH, -OH, and -O interacting with Cu are investigated. We found that the binding energy can be enhanced by the surface functional group including oxygen since the oxygen atom can mediate and reinforce the interaction between carbon and Cu. These results strongly support the recent experimental work which suggested the oxygen on the interface playing an important role in the excellent mechanical properties of the CNT/Cu composite.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.480.2-480.2
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• 2014

Electrochemical capacitors have been the most strong energy storage devices due to high power density and long cycle stability. Pristine carbon nanotubes are promising electrode materials for excellent electrical conductivity and high specific surface area in electrochemical capacitor. However, the practical application of pristine carbon nanotubes was limited by the aggregation into bundles due to van der Waals force. In this research, we explained how multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) functionalized by carboxyl, sulfonic, and amine groups (CNT-COOH, CNT-SO3H, CNT-NH2) to improve the performances of MWCNT. Functionalized CNTs showed two- to four-fold increase in capacitance over that of pristine CNTs, while maintaining reasonable cyclic stability. But, the CNT-COOH showed the lowest rate capability of 57% compared to 84%, 86% of CNT-SO3H and CNT-NH2. As demonstrated by the spectroscopic analysis, This reseach showed how surface functional group of carbon nanotubes change capacitor performances.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.267-272
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• 2012

Considering the properties of the carbon nano tubes (CNT), their inclusion into the polymer matrix vastly increases the properties of the resultant composite. However, this is not the case due to the poor interfacial adhesion of the CNT and the polymer matrix. The present approach focuses on increasing the interaction between the polymer matrix and the CNT through the chemical modification of the CNT resulting in allyl ester functionalized carbon nanotubes (ACNT) and silane functionalized carbon nano tubes (SCNT) which are capable of reacting with the polymer matrix during the curing reaction. The addition of ACNT/SCNT into unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) resulted in the improvement of the electrical properties of resulted nanocomposites in comparison to the CNT. The surface resistivity, volume resistivity, dielectric strength, dry arc resistivity, and the comparative tracking index of the nanocomposites were significantly improved in comparison to CNT. The chemical modification of CNT was confirmed via spectroscopy.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.539-544
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• 2013

A simple synthetic process is demonstrated for the preparation of MnS/carbon nanotube (CNT) composites for Li ion battery electrodes. CNTs were initially treated using a strong acid solution to generate carboxylate ions ($-COO^-$) on their surfaces. The MnS/CNT composites were synthesized by a polyvinyl-pyrrolidone-assisted hydrothermal method in the presence of as-functionalized CNTs. The phase and morphology of the MnS/CNT composites and pure MnS microspheres were characterized using X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, the Li electroactivity levels of the MnS/CNT composites and MnS microspheres were investigated using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic cycling. The MnS/CNT composite electrodes showed higher specific capacities exceeding 365 $mA\;h\;g^{-1}$ at a C/10 current rate and enhanced cyclic performance compared to pure MnS microspheres.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.61-61
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• 2010

In the present work, we present the optimized the hybrid structures of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and metal nanocomposites including Cu, Al, Co and Ni using the first principle calculations based on the density functional theory. Introduction of CNTs into a metal matrix has been considered to improve the mechanical properties of the metal matrix. However, the binding energy between metals and pristine CNTs wall is known to be so small that the interfacial slip between CNTs and the matrix occurs at a relatively low external stress. The application of defective or functionalized CNTs has thus attracted great attention to enhance the interfacial strength of CNT/metal nanocomposites. Herein, we design the various hybrid structures of the single wall CNT/metal complexes and characterize the interaction between single wall CNTs and various metals such as Cu, Al, Co or Ni. First, differences in the binding energies or electronic structures of the CNT/metal complexes with the topological defects, such as the Stone-Wales and vacancy, are compared. Second, the characteristics of functionalized CNTs with various surface functional groups, such as -O, -COOH, -OH interacting with metals are investigated.We found that the binding energy can be enhanced by the surface functional group including oxygen since the oxygen atom can mediate and reinforce the interaction between carbon and metal. The binding energy is also greatly increased when it is absorbed on the defects of CNTs. These results strongly support the recent experimental work which suggested the oxygen on the interface playing an important role in the excellent mechanical properties of the CNT-Cu composite[1].

• Membrane Journal
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.388-394
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• 2018

Carbon nanotube (CNT) based membranes are promising candidates for separation membranes by showing high water transport rate and ion rejection rate according to their radii. The ion selectivity is an important factor to discover the full potential of CNT membranes, and it is affected by the functionalization of CNTs. With multivalent/size ion mixtures, the ion selectivity is affected by not only ion-functional groups interaction but also ion-ion interactions and ion size exclusion in a complex manner. In this study, molecular dynamics simulations are performed to study the ion selectivity of functionalized carbon nanotubes when multivalent/size ions are contained. The permeation energy barriers are calculated by plotting potential of mean force profiles, and various factors, such as CNT size and partial charges, affecting ion selectivity are investigated. The results presented here will be useful for designing CNT membranes for ion separation, biomimetic ion channels, etc.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.187-193
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• 2016

In this study, preparation of positively and negatively charged carbon nanotube (CNT)-collagen (CG) hydrogels with pH sensitive characteristic was reported. The positive and negative characteristics of the prepared hydrogels were created by introduction of positively functionalized CNT-NH₂ and negatively functionalized CNT-COOH, respectively, into the collagen hydrogel. The surface charge of CNTs (CNT-NH₂ and CNT-COOH), CG and CNTs/CG hydrogels was measured by Zetasizer. The swelling ratios of CNT-NH₂/CG and CNT-COOH/CG hydrogels in aqueous solution were checked by measuring of weight changes of the hydrogels in the range of pH 2~10. In detail, the positively charged CNT-NH₂/CG hydrogel swelled up to 5% at pH 4 in comparison to the weight at pH 7, while the negatively charged CNT-COOH/CG hydrogel swelled up to 10% at pH 10. The prepared CNT-NH₂/CG and CNT-COOH/CG hydrogels will be very useful as pH sensitive oral drug-delivering systems for gastrointestine (pH ~2) and small intestine (pH ~9), respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.404-405
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• 2008

In this work, we investigated the effect of the functionalized SWNT-polymer composites for increasing sensitivity and imparting selectivity to nanotube sensors. To do this, CNT -based gas sensors were fabricated with two types of dispersed SWNT solution involving different polymer resin of TEOS (Tetraethyl orthosilicate) or MTMS (Methyl trimethoxysilane) which is blended to adhere to substrate well. As the surfaces of TEOS and MTMS surrounding SWNTs remain functionalized to -OH and $-CH_3$ groups respectively after hardening, gas adsorption will be affected differently according to the type of gases. In the experiment, we examined the response of electrical conductance for alcohol vapour gas. As the result, the conductance in the sensors using TEOS decreased considerably while that of MTMS was nearly invariable.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1925-1926
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• 2007