• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.1331-1335
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• 2010

A novel spherical carbon composite material, in which nanosized disordered carbons are dispersed in a soft carbon matrix, has been prepared and investigated for use as a potential anode material for lithium ion batteries. Disordered carbons were synthesized by ball milling natural graphite in air. The composite was prepared by mixing the ball-milled graphite with petroleum pitch powder, pelletizing the mixture, and pyrolyzing the pellets at $1200^{\circ}C$ in an argon flow. The ballmilled graphite consists of distorted nanocrystallites and amorphous phases. In the composite particle, nanosized flakes are uniformly distributed in a soft carbon matrix, as revealed by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) experiments. The composite is compatible with a pure propylene carbonate (PC) electrolyte and shows high rate capability and excellent cycling performance. The electrochemical properties are comparable to those of hard carbon.

• Carbon letters
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.335-338
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• 2009

In this work, the effect of co-carbon fillers on the electrical and mechanical properties of epoxy nanocomposites was investigated. The graphite nanosheets (GNs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were used as co-carbon fillers. The results showed that the electrical conductivity of the epoxy nanocomposites showed a considerable increase upon an addition of MWNTs when GNs were fixed at 2 wt.%. This indicated that low content GNs formed the bulk conductive network and then MWNTs added were intercalated between the GN layers, resulted in the formation of additional conductive pathway. Furthermore, the flexural strength of the epoxy nanocomposites was enhanced with increasing the MWNT content. It was probably attributed to the flexible MWNTs compared with rigid GNs, resulted in the enhancement of the mechanical properties.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.187-195
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• 2003

The present article is concerned with the overview of carbonaceous materials used as anode materials for lithium ion secondary batteries. This article first classified carbonaceous materials into graphite, soft carbon and hard carbon according to their crystal structures, and then summarised the previous works on the characteristics of lithium intercalation/deintercalation into/from the carbonaceous materials. Finally this article reviewed our recent research works on the mechanism of lithium transport through graphite, soft carbon and hard carbon electrodes from the kinetic view point by the analysis of the theoretical and experimental potentiostatic current transients.

• Carbon letters
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.51-55
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• 2012

In this work, expanded graphite (EG)-reinforced poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) nanocomposites were prepared by the melt mixing method and the content of the EG was fixed as 2 wt%. The effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as a co-carbon filler on the electrical and mechanical properties of the EG/PET was investigated. The results showed that the electrical and mechanical properties of the EG/PET were significantly increased with the addition of MWCNTs, showing an improvement over those of PET prepared with EG alone. This was most likely caused by the interconnections in the MWCNTs between the EG layers in the PET matrix. It was found that the addition of the MWCNTs into EG/PET led to dense conductive networks for easy electron transfers, indicating a bridge effect of the MWCNTs.

• Carbon letters
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• v.19
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• pp.1-11
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• 2016

In efforts to characterize and understand the properties and processing of phenylethynyl-terminated imide (LaRC PETI-5, simply referred to as PETI-5) oligomers and polymers as a high-temperature sizing material for carbon fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites, PETI-5 imidization and thermal curing behaviors have been extensively investigated based on the phenylethynyl end-group reaction. These studies are reviewed here. In addition, the use of PETI-5 to enhance interfacial adhesion between carbon fibers and a bismaleimide (BMI) matrix, as well as the dynamic mechanical properties of carbon/BMI composites, are discussed. Reports on the thermal expansion behavior of intercalated graphite flake, and the effects of exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGnP) on the properties of PETI-5 matrix composites are also reviewed. The dynamic mechanical and thermal properties and the electrical resistivity of xGnP/PETI-5 composites are characterized. The effect of liquid rubber amine-terminated poly(butadiene-co-acrylonitrile) (ATBN)-coated xGnP particles incorporated into epoxy resin on the toughness of xGnP/epoxy composites is examined in terms of its impact on Izod strength. This paper provides an extensive overview from fundamental studies on PETI-5 and xGnP, as well as applied studies on relevant composite materials.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.383-383
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• 2011

Generally, field emitters can be categorized into two types according to the emitter shape, one is a planar field emitter and the other is a point emitter. The planar field emitter is used for displays, flat lamps and signage boards. On the other hands, the point field emitter is expected to play a significant role in x-ray sources and electron beam sources. Such applications of the point field emitters, especially, need large emission current and high emission stability with a small electron beam size. A few reports announced point emitters made by carbon nanotubes (CNTs). However, they still have suffered from poor reproducibility and low emission current. Here, we demonstrated high performance CNT point emitters by attaching CNTs onto graphite rod. Graphite rod exhibited good electrical conductivity and chemical stability. In this method, the shape of the point emitter could be easily controlled by changing the length and diameter of the graphite rod. The CNT point emitter showed emission current over 1 mA at an applied electric field of 1.4 V/${\mu}m$. We consider that the stable emission performance is attributed to the stable contact between CNTs and graphite rod.

• Carbon letters
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.316-324
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• 2010

The effects of geometrical parameters on mechanical properties of graphite-vinylester nanocomposites and their constituents (matrix, reinforcement and interface) are studied using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Young's modulii of 1.3 TPa and 1.16 TPa are obtained for graphene layer and for graphite layers respectively. Interfacial shear strength resulting from the molecular dynamic (MD) simulations for graphene-vinylester is found to be 256 MPa compared to 126 MPa for graphitevinylester. MD simulations prove that exfoliation improves mechanical properties of graphite nanoplatelet vinylester nanocomposites. Also, the effects of bromination on the mechanical properties of vinylester and interfacial strength of the graphene.brominated vinylester nanocomposites are investigated. MD simulation revealed that, although there is minimal effect of bromination on mechanical properties of pure vinylester, bromination tends to enhance interfacial shear strength between graphite-brominated vinylester/graphene-brominated vinylester in a considerable magnitude.

• Carbon letters
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.326-334
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• 2007

In this study, graphite composites were fabricated by warm press molding method to realize commercialization of PEM fuel cells. Graphite composites have been considered as alternative economic materials for bipolar plate of PEM fuel cells. Graphite powder that enables to provide electrical conductivity was selected as the main substance. The graphite powder was mixed with phenolic resin and the mixture was pressed using a warm press method. First of all, the graphite powder was pulverized with a ball mill for the dense packing of composite. As the ball milling time increases, the average size of particles decreases and the size distribution becomes narrow. This allows for improvement of the uniformity of graphite composite. However, the surface electrical resistivity of graphite composite increases as the ball milling time increases. It is due to that graphite particles with amorphous phase are generated on the surface due to the friction and collision of particles during pulverizing. We found that the contact electrical resistivity of graphite particles increases as the particle size decreases. The contact electrical resistivity of graphite powders was reduced due to high molding pressure by warm press molding. This leads to improvement of the mechanical properties of graphite composite. Hydrogen gas impermeability was measured with the graphite composite, showing a possibility of the application for bipolar plate in fuel cell. And, I-V curves of the graphite composite bipolar plate exhibit a similar performance to the graphite bipolar plate.

• Carbon letters
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.142-145
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• 2014

Isotropic synthetic graphite scrap and phenolic resin were mixed, and the mixed powder was formed at 300 MPa to produce a green body. New bulk graphite was produced by carbonizing the green body at $700^{\circ}C$, and the bulk graphite thus produced was impregnated with resin and re-carbonized at $700^{\circ}C$. The bulk density of the bulk graphite was $1.29g/cm^3$, and the porosity of the open pores was 29.8%. After one impregnation, the density increased to $1.44g/cm^3$ while the porosity decreased to 25.2%. Differences in the pore distribution before and after impregnation were easily confirmed by observing the microstructure. In addition, by using an X-ray diffractometer, the degrees-of-alignment (Da) were obtained for one side perpendicular to the direction of compression molding of the bulk graphite (the "top-face"), and one side parallel to the direction of compression molding (the "side-face"). The anisotropy ratio calculated from the Da-values obtained was 1.13, which indicates comparatively good isotropy.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.615-619
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• 2018

To produce carbon electrodes for use in perovskite solar cells, electrode samples are prepared by mixing various weight ratios of 35 nm nano carbon(NC) and $1{\mu}m$ graphite flakes(GF), GF/(NC+GF) = 0, 0.5, 0.7, and 1, in chlorobenzene(CB) solvent with a $ZrO_2$ binder. The carbon electrodes are fabricated as glass/FTO/carbon electrode devices for microstructure characterization using transmission electron microscopy, optical microscopy, and a field emission scanning electron microscopy. The electrical characterization is performed with a four-point probe and a multi tester. The microstructure characterization shows that an electrode with excellent attachment to the substrate and no surface cracks at weight ratios above 0.5. The electrical characterization results show that the sheet resistance is <$70{\Omega}/sq$ and the interface resistance is <$70{\Omega}$ at weight ratios of 0.5 and 0.7. Therefore, a carbon paste electrode with microstructure and electrical properties similar to those of commercial carbon electrodes is proposed with an appropriate mixing ratio of NC and GF containing a CB solvent and $ZrO_2$.