• Carbon letters
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.74-78
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• 2003

Four kinds of plasma blacks were prepared by plasma pyrolysis under various metallic catalysts coated on honeycomb, and investigated the catalytic effect on the characteristics of the plasma blacks prepared under plasma pyrolysis condition. Pt, Pt-Rh, and Pd catalysts were employed as active materials to prepare the plasma blacks. In the experimental range studied, the metallic catalysts influenced on surface area, particle size, surface oxygen content and electrical conductivity of the plasma blacks prepared. It was showed that more dense particle of plasma blacks were prepared under existence of metallic catalysts. Presence of the metallic catalyst reduces the electrical resistivity of plasma blacks due to the decrease in the amount of oxygen functional groups. The highest electrical conductivity of plasma black was observed in the Pt catalyst and then followed by those Pt-Rh, Pd and bare cordierite honeycomb.

• Carbon letters
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2005

Plasma carbon blacks of 20~30 nm diameter were synthesized by direct decomposition of natural gas using a hybrid plasma torch system with 50 kW direct current and 4 MHz of radio frequency. The insulating rector which inside diameter of 400 mm and length of 1500 mm, respectively was kept at 300~$400^{\circ}C$ during the preparation. The ultimate analysis of plasma carbon blacks reveals that the raw plasma carbon blacks contains a large quantity of volatile which is mainly consist of hydrogen. Therefore devolatilization of raw plasma carbon blacks were carried out at $900^{\circ}C$ for one hour under nitrogen atmosphere. The devolatilization leads to the decrease in electrical resistivity and surface oxygen functional groups of plasma carbon black significantly. In order to investigate the plasma carbon as a catalyst support, devolatilized plasma black at $900^{\circ}C$ (DPB) supported PtAu catalyst was synthesized by sodium boronhydride reduction method. Electrochemical measurements and direct formic acid fuel cell test indicated that catalytic activity of DPB supported PtAu catalyst for formic acid oxidation was similar to that of Vulcan XC-72 of commercial carbon black supported one.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.94-101
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• 2001

In this work, the effect of NE plasma treatment generated by radio-frequency was investigated in acid-base surface values, ion adsorption characteristics, and surface free energies of carbon blacks. As the results, it was clearly found that the obvious improvement of the treatment is in the London dispersive component (${\gamma}s^L$) of surface free energy of carbon blacks. Also both electron-acceptor ( ${\gamma}s^+$) and -donor (${\gamma}s^-$) parameters for the specific component (${\gamma}s^{sp}$) were also increased with increasing the treatment time, resulting in increasing the surface functional groups of the carbon blacks studied, together with a consequence of the increases of acidic and basic surface functional groups, ion exchange, zeta potential, and ion mobility.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.756-760
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• 2005

In this study, the effect of $N_2$-plasma treatment on carbon blacks (CBs) was investigated by analyzing acid-base surface values and surface functional groups of CBs. The surface characteristics of the CBs were determined by fourier transformed-infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Boehm's titration method. Electrochemical properties of the plasma-treated CBs-supported Pt (Pt/CBs) catalysts were analyzed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) experiments. From the results of FT-IR and acid-base values, $N_2$-plasma treatment at 300 W intensity on the CBs led to the formation of the free radical. The peak intensity was increased with increasing the treatment time due to the formation of new basic functional groups(such as C-N, C=N, $-NH_3{^+}$, -NH, and =NH) by the free radical. Accordingly, the basic values were increased by the basic functional groups. However, after a specific reaction time, $N_2$-plasma treatment could hardly influence change of surface functional groups of CBs, due to the disappearance of free radical. Consequently, it was found that optimal treatment time was 30 second for electro activity of Pt/CBs catalysts.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.99-106
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• 2002

In this work, the surface properties and mechanical interfacial properties of the carbon blacks treated by oxygen plasma were investigated. The surface properties of carbon black by oxidation process of oxygen plasma were studied in acid-base surface value, zeta potential, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). And their mechanical interfacial properties of the carbon black/rubber composites were evaluated by the composite tearing energy ($G_{III}c$). As a result, it was found that the introduction rate of oxygen-containing polar functional groups, such as carboxyl, hydroxyl, lactone, and carbonyl groups, onto the carbon black surfaces was increased by increasing the plasma treatment time. It revealed that the polar rubber, such as acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), showed relatively a high degree of interaction with oxygen-containing functional groups of the carbon black surfaces, resulting in improving the tearing energy ($G_{III}c$) of the carbon black/acrlyonitrile butadiene rubber composites.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.84-89
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• 2007

Direct decomposition of hydrocarbon (methane, propane) was studied using a thermal plasma to produce high purity hydrogen and carbon black. Thermodynamic equilibrium compositions were calculated based on the minimization of Gibb's free energy, and decomposition experiments were performed on the basis of calculation results. The purity of hydrogen was found to be depended strongly on the flow rate of hydrocarbon. The decomposition conditions for high purity hydrogen were investigated. The purity of hydrogen produced from methane decomposition was higher than that from propane. In the case of propane, it was investigated that by products such as methane, acetylene, and ethane etc., by radical recombination under thermal plasma were produced more than that of methane. Produced carbon blacks were characterized by material analyses, such as XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, and particle size analysis. In both methane and propane decompositions, well-crystallized carbon blacks were produced and showed uniform and sphere-like morphologies. The size of carbon black synthesized from methane was observed to be smaller than that from propane.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.331-334
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• 2010

In the present study, carbon supports mixed with purified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and carbon blacks (CBs) were used to improve the cell performance of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). Additionally, the effect of $O_2$ plasma treatment on CBs/MWNTs supports was investigated for different plasma RF powers of 100, 200, and 300 W. The surface and structural properties of the CBs/MWNTs supports were characterized by FT-IR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and inductive coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The electrocatalytic activity of PtRu/CBs/MWNTs catalysts was investigated by cyclic voltammetry measurement. In the experimental results, the oxygen functional groups of the supports were increased with increasing plasma RF power, while the average Pt particle size was decreased owing to the improvement of dispersibility of the catalysts. The electrochemical activity of the catalysts for methanol oxidation was gradually improved by the larger available active surface area, itself due to the introduction of oxygen functional groups. Consequently, it was found that $O_2$ plasma treatments could influence the surface properties of the carbon supports, resulting in enhanced electrocatalytic activity of the catalysts for DMFCs.

• Carbon letters
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.121-125
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• 2013

In this study, PtRu nanoparticles deposited on binary carbon supports were developed for use in direct methanol fuel cells using carbon blacks (CBs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The particle sizes and morphological structures of the catalysts were analyzed using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, and the PtRu loading content was determined using an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer. The electrocatalytic characteristics for methanol oxidation were evaluated by means of cyclic voltammetry with 1 M $CH_3OH$ in a 0.5 M $H_2SO_4$ solution as the electrolyte. The PtRu particle sizes and the loading level were found to be dependent on the mixing ratio of the two carbon materials. The electroactivity of the catalysts increased with an increasing MWCNT content, reaching a maximum at 30% MWCNTs, and subsequently decreased. This was attributed to the introduction of MWCNTs as a secondary support, which provided a highly accessible surface area and caused morphological changes in the carbon supports. Consequently, the PtRu nanoparticles deposited on the binary support exhibited better performance than those deposited on the single support, and the best performance was obtained when the mass ratio of CBs to MWCNTs was 70:30.