• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.595-605
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• 2018

In recent years, researches on organic-inorganic coating films have conducted a nanocomposite system composed of organic resin matrices having excellent flexibility and chemical stability and inorganic materials having excellent mechanical properties. The o-phenylphenoxyethyl acrylate (OPPEA) used as the acrylate monomer has a high refractive index of 1.58, and the bisphenol A ethoxylate diacrylate (BAEDA) has a low refractive index but improves the chemical stability of the organic resin. In addition, zirconia used as an inorganic material exhibits excellent durability and optical properties. In this study, the BAEDA contents in acrylate monomer were controlled to produce a film with suitable optical transparency. And optimum conditions were established by comparing the changes in surface properties of PET films detected with pencil hardness tester, Abbe's refractometer, and UV-vis spectrophotometer. The hydrophobicity and the dispersibility of zirconia in acrylate monomer were much improved after modification with ${\gamma}$-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS), which is a silane coupling agent. And the existence of ester C=O bond peak at $1716cm^{-1}$ introduced by MPS through FT-IR ATR spectrophotometer confirmed the completion of surface modification of zirconia with MPS. In addition, the presence of silicon atom on the surface modified zirconia was also proved using X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. When the photocurable hybrid coating was prepared by introducing chemically modified zirconia into acrylate monomer, the refractive index of this coated PET film was improved by 1.2%, compared to the only acrylate coated PET film. The homogeneous distribution of zirconia in acrylate coating layer on PET film was also identified through SEM/EDS mapping analysis technique.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.261-265
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• 2010

In this paper, we attempt to improve the electrical characteristics of epoxy resin at high temperature (above $80^{\circ}C$) by adding magnesium oxide (MgO), which has high thermal conductivity. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the dispersion of specimens with added MgO reveals that they are evenly dispersed without concentration. The dielectric breakdown characteristics of $SiO_2$ and MgO nanocomposites are tested by measurements at different temperatures to investigate the filler's effect on the dielectric breakdown characteristics. The dielectric breakdown strength of specimens with added $SiO_2$ decreases slowly below $80^{\circ}C$ (low temperature) but decreases rapidly above $80^{\circ}C$ (high temperature). However, the gradient of the dielectric breakdown strength of specimens with added MgO is slow at both low and high temperatures. The dielectric breakdown strength of specimens with 0.4 wt% $SiO_2$ is the best among the specimens with added $SiO_2$, and that of specimens with 3.0 wt% and 5.0 wt% MgO is the best among those with added MgO. Moreover, the dielectric strength of specimens with 3.0 wt% MgO at high temperatures is approximately 53.3% higher than that of specimens with added $SiO_2$ at $100^{\circ}C$, and that of specimens with 5.0 wt% of MgO is approximately 59.34% higher under the same conditions. The dielectric strength of MgO is believed to be superior to that of $SiO_2$ owing to enhanced thermal radiation because the thermal conductivity rate of MgO (approximately 42 $W/m{\cdot}K$) is approximately 32 times higher than that of $SiO_2$ (approximately 1.3 $W/m{\cdot}K$). We also confirmed that the allowable breakdown strength of specimens with added MgO at $100^{\circ}C$ is within the error range when the breakdown probability of all specimens is 40%. A breakdown probability of up to 40% represents a stable dielectric strength in machinery and apparatus design.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.158-172
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• 2020

In the aspect of saving energy and water, facilitating the separation membrane for the water treatment has been rising recently as one of the possible solutions. However, microbial biofouling effect is the biggest obstacle that hinders reaching higher permeability over a prolonged period of nanofiltration operation. To solve this problem and fully utilize the filtration membranes with enhanced performance, largely two kinds of solutions are studied and the first and the most commonly mentioned type is the one using the silver nanoparticles. Since silver nanoparticles are important to be well tailored on membrane surface, various methods have been applied and suggested. Using silver nanoparticles however also has the drawbacks or possible toxicity risks, raising the need for other types of utilizing non silver particles to functionalize the membrane, such as copper, graphene or zinc oxides, and amine moieties. Each attempt included in either kind has produced some notable results in killing, preventing, or repelling the bacteria while at the same time, left some unsolved points to be evaluated. In this review, the effects of metal nanoparticles and other materials on the antifouling properties of water treatment membranes are summarized.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.502-507
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• 2016

This study was conducted to develop novel antimicrobial nano-composites, with the aim of fully utilizing antimicrobial properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), nickel (Ni) and zinc oxide (ZnO). Ni coated-MWCNTs (Ni-CNT) were prepared and evaluated for their potential application as an antimicrobial material for inactivating bacteria. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to characterize the Ni coating and morphology of Ni-CNT. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coil (E. coil) were employed as the target bacterium on antimicrobial activities. Comparing with the nitric acid treated MWCNTs and Ni-CNT which have been previously reported to possess antimicrobial activity towards S. aureus and E. coil, Ni-CNT/ZnO exhibited a stronger antimicrobial ability. The nickel coating was confirmed to play an important role in the bactericidal action of Ni-CNTs/ZnO composites. Also, the addition of ZnO to the developed nanocomposite is suggested to improve the antimicrobial property.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.343-348
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• 2009

In this study, an efficient sequential bridging method to characterize both the particle size effect and concentration effect on the mechanical properties of nanocomposites at high volume fraction is suggested through a molecular dynamics(MD) simulations and micromechanics of composites materials. The Young's modulus and the shear modulus of the nanocomposites at various particle radius and at 12% volume fraction were obtained from MD simulations and multi-inclusion model was adopted to describe both modulus in continuum model. In order to describe the particle size effect, an additional phase, effective interface, was adopted as characteristic phase and the non-dilute concentration effect which appears at 12% volume fraction was describe via the variation of the elastic modulus of the infinite medium. Both the elastic modulus of the interface and infinite medium were fitted into functions of particle radius for the applicability of the present bridging method at various particle radii. Using the present bridging method the elastic modulus of the nanocomposites was efficiently obtained with accuracy. In addition, the effect of the interface thickness and modulus on the elastic modulus of the nanocomposite was investigated.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.291-296
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• 2021

Recently, there has been increasing demand for advancing photocatalytic techniques that are capable of the efficient removal of organic pollutants in water. TiO₂, a representative photocatalytic material, has been commonly used as an effective photocatalyst, but it is rather expensive and an alternative is required that will fulfill the requirements of both high performing photocatalytic activities and cost-effectiveness. In this work, ZnO, which is more cost effective than TiO₂, was synthesized by using a microreactor-assisted nanomaterials (MAN) process. The process enabled a continuous production of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) with a flower-like structure with high uniformity. In order to resolve the limited light absorption of ZnO arising from its large band gap, Ag NPs were uniformly decorated on the flower-like ZnO surface by using the MAN process. The plasmonic effect of Ag NPs led to a broadening of the absorption range toward visible wavelengths. Ag NPs also helped inhibit the electron-hole recombination by drawing electrons generated from the light absorption of the flower-like ZnO NPs. As a result, the Ag-ZnO nanocomposites showed improved photocatalytic activities compared with the flower-like ZnO NPs. The photocatalytic activities were evaluated through the degradation of methylene blue (MB) solution. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed the successful synthesis of Ag-ZnO nanocomposites with high uniformity. Ag-ZnO nanocomposites synthesized via the MAN process offer the potential for cost-effective and scalable production of next-generation photocatalytic materials.