• Carbon letters
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.111-116
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• 2003

Carbon/carbon composites were developed using PAN based carbon fibres and phenolic resin as matrix in different volume fractions and heat treated to temperatures between $1000^{\circ}C$ to $2500^{\circ}C$. Although both the starting precursors are nongraphitizing hard carbons individually, their composites lead to very interesting properties e.g. x-ray diffractograms show the development of graphitic phase for composites having fibre volume fractions of 30~40%. Consequently the electrical resistivity of such composites reaches a value of $0.8\;m{\Omega}cm$, very close to highly graphitic material. However, it was found that by increasing the fibre volume fraction to 50~60%, the trend is reversed. Optical microscopy of the composites also reveals the development of strong columnar type microstructure at the fibre (matrix interface due to stress graphitization of the matrix. The study forcasts a unique possibility of producing high thermal conductivity carbon/carbon composites starting with carbon fibres in the chopped form only.

• Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry
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• v.67
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• pp.28-51
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• 2018

Graphitic carbon nitride ($g-C_3N_4$) as a fascinating visible light active semiconductor photocatalyst has medium band gap, non-toxic nature, stable chemical structure and high thermal stability. Recently, intensive researches are focused on photocatalytic activity of $g-C_3N_4$ for wastewater treatment. This review demonstrates latest progress in fabrication of graphitic carbon nitride $C_3N_4$ incorporated nanocomposite to explore photocatalytic ability for water purification. The $g-C_3N_4$-based nanocomposites were categorized as $g-C_3N_4$ metal-free nanocomposite, noble metals/$g-C_3N_4$ heterojunction, non-metal doped $g-C_3N_4$, transition and post transition metal based $g-C_3N_4$ nanocomposite. Apart from fabrication methods, we emphasized on elaborating the mechanism of activity enhancement during photocatalytic process.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.627-634
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• 2023

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) has attracted considerable attention since its discovery for its catalysis of water splitting to hydrogen and oxygen under visible light irradiation. However, pristine g-C₃N₄ confers only low photocatalytic efficiency and requires surface cocatalysts to reach moderate activity due to a lack of accessible surface active sites. Inspired by the high specific surface area and superior electron transfer of graphene, we developed a strongly coupled binary structure of graphene and g-C₃N₄ aerogel with 3D porous skeleton. The as-prepared 3D structure photocatalysts achieve a high surface area that favors efficient photogenerated charge separation and transfer, enhances the light-harvesting efficiency, and significantly improves the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate as well. The photocatalyst performance is observed to be optimized at the ratio 3:7 (g-C₃N₄:GO), leading to photocatalytic H₂ evolution of 16125.1 mmol. g^-1. h^-1 under visible light irradiation, more than 161 times higher than the rate achieved by bulk g-C₃N₄.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.204-211
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• 2021

We report, synthesis of high surface area composite carbon aerogel using additive based polymerization technique by incorporating graphitic porous carbon as additive. This additive was separately prepared using sol-gel polymerization of resorcinol-furfuraldehyde in iso-propyl alcohol medium at much above the routine gelation temperature to yield porous carbon (CA-IPA) having graphitic layered morphology. CA-IPA exhibited a unique combination of meso-pore dominated surface area (~ 700 m²/g) and good conductivity of ~ 300 S/m. The composite carbon aerogel (CCA) was synthesized by traditional aqueous medium based resorcinol-formaldehyde gelation with CA-IPA as additive. The presence of CA-IPA favored enhanced meso-porosity as well as contributed to improvement in bulk conductivity. Based on the surface area characteristics, CCA-8 composition having 8% additive was found to be optimum. It showed specific surface area of ~ 2056 m²/g, mesopore area of 827 m²/g and electrical conductivity of 180 S/m. The electrode formed with CCA-8 showed improved electrochemical behavior, with specific capacitance of 148 F/g & ESR < 1 Ω, making it a better choice as super capacitor for energy storage applications.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.672-677
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• 2015

Co-embedded graphitic porous carbon nanofibers(Co-GPCNFs) are synthesized by using an electrospinning method. Their morphological, structural, electrochemical, and photovoltaic properties are investigated. To obtain the optimum condition of Co-GPCNFs for dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs), the amount of cobalt precursor in an electrospinning solutuion are controlled to be 0 wt%(conventional CNFs), 1 wt%(sample A), and 3 wt%(sample B). Among them, sample B exhibited a high degree of graphitization and porous structure compared to conventional CNFs and sample A, which result in the performance improvement of DSSCs. Therefore, sample B showed a high current density(JSC, $12.88mA/cm^2$) and excellent power conversion efficiency(PCE, 5.33 %) than those of conventional CNFs($12.00mA/cm^2$, 3.78 %). This result can be explained by combined effects of the increased contact area between the electrode and elecytolyte caused by improved porosity and the increased conductivity caused by the formation of a high degree of graphitization. Thus, the Co-GPCNFs may be used as a promising alternative of Pt-free counter electrode in DSSCs.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.560-567
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• 2016

In this study, we characterized steam reforming reactions and surface of $Ni/Al_2O_3$ catalysts. Ni-Mo based catalysts were prepared by loading Mo as the co-catalyst and reaction activities of the Ni-Mo based catalysts were compared with those of Ni-based catalysts. Through the $H_2$-TPR and XPS analysis it was confirmed that this characteristic efficiency. $O_2$-TPO analysis was performed to examine the deposition characteristics, bonding structures and evaporation characteristics of carbon deposited on the surface of catalysts after long run experiments were performed for steam reforming reactions. As the results, it was found that durability was improved in Ni-Mo based catalysts inhibiting formation of graphitic carbon species which reduced reaction activities of the catalysts by strongly interacting with Ni in the steam reforming reaction.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.70-77
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• 2003

It is well Down that the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using a transition metal catalyst is greatly enhanced in a nitrogen environment. We show here that the enhanced growth is closely related to the activated nitrogen and it's incorporation into the CNT wall and cap during growth. This behavior is consistent with theoretical calculations of CNx thin films, showing that nitrogen incorporation to the graphitic basal plane reduces the elastic strain energy for curving the graphitic layer. Enhanced CNT growth by nitrogen incorporation is thus due to a decrease in the activation energies required for nucleation and growth of the tubular graphitic layer.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.2369-2376
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• 2011

Effect of heat treatment of carbon nanofibers (CNF) on electrical properties and crystallization behavior of polypropylene was reported. Two types of CNFs (untreated and heat treated at 2300 $^{\circ}C$) were incorporated into polypropylene (PP) using intensive mixing. A significant drop in volume resistivity was observed with composites containing untreated 5 wt % and heat treated 3 wt % CNF. In non-isothermal crystallization studies, both untreated and heat treated CNFs acted as nucleating agents. Composites with heat treated CNFs showed a higher crystallization temperature than composites with untreated CNFs did. TEM results of CNF revealed that an irregular structure of CNFs can be converted into the continuous graphitic structure after heat treatment. Furthermore, STM showed that the higher carbonization temperature leads to the higher graphite degree which presents the larger carbon network size, suggesting that a more graphitic structure of CNFs led to a higher crystallization temperature of PP.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.852-858
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• 1993

The effect of coal tar ptch-impregnated carbon materials which were made from petroleum coke was investigated at various pressure time and impregnation-sintering cycle. As a result, density and bending strength of the carbon materials were remarkably increased in the condition of pressure times of 5hrs and of the cycle of 3rd times. And the value of d002 and Lc of the graphitic carbon sintered at 230$0^{\circ}C$ shwoed 3.387$\AA$ and 167$\AA$, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.649-655
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• 2016

Ni nanoparticles (NPs)-graphitic carbon nanofiber (GCNF) composites were fabricated using an electrospinning method. The amounts of Ni precursor used as catalyst for the catalytic graphitization were controlled at 0, 2, 5, and 8 wt% to improve the photovoltaic performances of the nanoparticles and make them suitable for use as counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). As a result, Ni NPs-GCNF composites that were fabricated with 8 wt% Ni precursors showed a high circuit voltage (0.73 V), high photocurrent density ($14.26mA/cm^2$), and superb power-conversion efficiency (6.72%) when compared to those characteristics of other samples. These performance improvements can be attributed to the reduced charge transport resistance that results from the synergetic effect of the superior catalytic activity of Ni NPs and the efficient charge transfer due to the formation of GCNF with high electrical conductivity. Thus, Ni NPs-GCNF composites may be used as promising counter electrodes in DSSCs.