• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.585-596
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• 2012

PVDF(poly vinylidene fluoride) and P(VDF-TrFE)(poly vinylidene fluoride-tetrafluoroethylene) are the typical piezoelectric polymers with unique properties. Even they are inferior to conventional piezoelectric ceramics PZT in electromechanical conversion efficiency and interior loss, though they are superior in receiving sensitivity and frequency bandwidth. Their acoustic impedances are relatively close to water or biological tissue and it is easier to make thin film than other piezoelectric materials. Futhermore, the film is so flexible that it is easy to attach on a complex surface. Those properties are suitable for the ultrasound transducers which are useful for medical and biological application, so that various types of polymer transducers have been developed. In this paper, several important considerations for design and fabrication of piezoelectric polymer transducers were described and their effect on the transducer performance were demonstrated through the KLM model analysis. Then, it was briefly reviewed about the structures of the polymer transducers developed for obtaining images as well as the characteristics of the images in several important medical and biological application fields.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.412-421
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• 2023

Ultrasound brain stimulation is spot-lighted by its capability of inducing brain cell activation in a localized deep brain region and ultimately treating impaired brain function while the efficiency and directivity of neural modulation are highly dependent on types of stimulus waveforms. Therefore, to optimize the types of stimulation parameters, we propose a cell-cultivable ultrasonic transducer having a series stack of a spin-coated polymer piezoelectric element (Poly-vinylidene fluoride-trifluorethylene, PVDF-TrFE) and a parylene insulating layer enhancing output acoustic pressure on a glass-coverslip which is commonly used in culturing cells. Due to the uniformity and high accuracy of stimulus waveform, tens of neuronal cell responses located on the transducer surface can be recorded simultaneously with fluorescence microscopy. By averaging the cell response traces from tens of cells, small changes to the low intensity ultrasound stimulations can be identified. In addition, the reduction of stimulus distortions made by standing wave generated from reflections between the transducers and other strong reflectors can be achieved by placing acoustic absorbers. Through the proposed ultrasound transducer, we could successfully observe the calcium responses induced by low-intensity ultrasound stimulation of 6 MHz, 0.2 MPa in astrocytes cultured on the transducer surface.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.712-715
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• 2016

In this paper, we fabricated flexible CNT/PVDF piezoelectric composite device by introducing CNTs (carbon nanotubes) into PVDF (poly-vinylidene fluoride) solution using spray coating technique. Flexible PEDOT:PSS conducting polymer was used as electrodes. We tried to improve the piezoelectric performance from the CNT/PVDF composite film by increasing the portion of the ${\beta}$-phase PVDF in the film. We confirmed the structural conformation of the CNT/PVDF composite film as a function of CNT concentration by using FT-IR (fourier transform infra-red). As increasing CNT concentration, portion of the ${\beta}$-phase PVDF and resulting piezoelectric performance increased in the CNT/PVDF composite film. We found that CNTs introduced were played as seeds for formation of the ${\beta}$-phase PVDF in the CNT/PVDF composite film and resulting improvement of the piezoelectric performance.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.175-182
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• 2019

This study examines paraelectric $Bi_{1.5}Zn_{1.0}Nb_{1.5}O_7$ (BZN), which has no hysteresis and high dielectric strength, for energy density capacitor applications. To increase the breakdown dielectric strength of the BZN film further, poly(vinylidene fluoride) BZN-PVDF composite film is fabricated by aerosol deposition. The volume ratio of each composition is calculated using dielectric constant of each composition, and we find that it was 12:88 vol% (BZN:PVDF). To modulate the structure and dielectric properties of the ferroelectric polymer PVDF, the composite film is heat-treated at $200^{\circ}C$ for 5 and 30 minutes following quenching. The amount of ${\alpha}-phase$ in the PVDF increases with an increasing annealing time, which in turn decreases the dielectric constant and dielectric loss. The breakdown dielectric strength of the BZN film increases by mixing PVDF. However, the breakdown field decreases with an increasing annealing time. The BZN-PVDF composite film has the energy density of $4.9J/cm^3$, which is larger than that of the pure BZN film of $3.6J/cm^3$.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.620-623
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• 2013

The carbon nanotube / poly-vinylidene fluoride (CNT/PVDF) composite films for the nano-generator devices were fabricated by spray coating method using the CNT/PVDF solution, which was prepared by adding PVDF pellets into the CNT dispersed N-Methyl-2-pyrroli-done (NMP) solution. The flexible CNT/PVDF composite films were investigated by the scanning electron microscopy, which revealed that the CNTs were uniformly dispersed in the PVDF matrix and thickness of the films was approximately $20{\mu}m$. Fourier transform infra-red spectra were used to investigate crystal structure of the as-spray-coated CNT/PVDF films, and we found that they revealed extremely large portion of the ${\beta}$ phase PVDF. The capacitance of the CNT/PVDF films increased by adding CNTs into the PVDF matrix, and finally saturated. However, the resistance didn't show any saturation effect in the CNT concentration range of 0~4 wt%. Finally, the resulting nano-generator devices revealed reasonable current output after given mechanical stress.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.62 no.8
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• pp.1115-1119
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• 2013

The carbon nanotube/poly-vinylidene fluoride (CNT/PVDF) composite films for the use of electronic devices were fabricated by spray coating method using the CNT/PVDF solution, which was prepared by adding PVDF pellets into the CNT dispersed N-Methyl-2-pyrroli-done (NMP) solution. The CNT/PVDF composite films were peeled off from the glass substrate and were investigated by the scanning electron microscopy, which revealed that the CNTs were uniformly dispersed in the PVDF films and thickness of the films were approximately $20{\mu}m$. The capacitance of the CNT/PVDF films increased dramatically by adding CNTs into the PVDF matrix, and finally saturated approximately 1880 pF. However, the I-V curves didn't show any saturation effect in the CNT concentration range of 0 ~ 0.04 wt%. Therefore we can control the performance of the devices from the CNT/PVDF composite film by adjusting the current level resulted from the CNT concentration with the uniform capacitance value.

• Proceedings of the Acoustical Society of Korea Conference
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• spring
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• pp.381-384
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• 2000

초음파 음장의 상대적인 변화를 측정하는데 사용하기 위한 극소형 수중 청음기를 제작하고 그 특성을 평가하였다. 압전체로서는 PVDF(Poly Vinylidene Di Fluoride) 고분자막을 사용하였으며, 수신 특성을 향상시키기 위해 임피던스 변환회로를 부가하였다. 본 논문에서는 설계된 수중 청음기의 초음파 수신특성을 Mason 등가회로에 의해 이론적으로 평가한 결과 및 극소형 수중 청음기의 제작 방법, 그리고 제작한 청음기의 초음파 수신 특성에 대하여 보고한다.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.74-79
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• 2013

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and its copolymer with hexafluoropropylene (HFP) were successfully prepared from free radical solution polymerizations using diisopropyl peroxidicarbonate (DIPPDC) in the presence of 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane (R-113). The reactivity ratios of VDF and HFP were estimated as$r_{VDF}=2.06{\pm}0.03$ and $r_{HFP}{\approx}0$. This result indicates that HFP cannot undergo self propagation. The weight-average molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of copolymers were found to decrease with increasing HFP content. The melting temperature of copolymers linearly decreased with the increase of HFP content because of the introduction of HFP. Moreover, no melting peak was observed for the copolymers with high HFP content. The glass transition temperature of copolymers gradually increased with the increase of HFP content due to the restricted flexibility of the polymer chains.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.539-553
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• 2016

As a novel hydrophobic monomer, polytetrahydrofuran diacrylate (PTMGDA) was synthesized by the esterification reaction between polyethylene tetrahydrofuran (PTMG) and acryloyl chloride (AC). In situ free radical polymerization reaction method was utilized to fabricate poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-PTMGDA-poly(ethylene oxide) dimethacrylate (PEGMA) ulrafiltration (UF) membranes. The performances of PVDF-PTMGDA-PEGMA UF membranes in terms of morphologies, mechanical properties, separation properties and hydrophilicities were investigated. The introduction of the PTMGDA-PEGMA dopants not only increased the membranes' pure water flux, but also improved their mechanical properties and the dynamic contact angles. The addition of the PTMGDA/PEGMA dopants led to the formation of the finger-like structure in the membrane bulk. With the increase concentration of PTMGDA/PEGMA dopants, the porosity and the mean effective pore size increased. Those performances were coincide with the physicochemical properties of the casting solutions.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.605-609
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• 2011

Composite nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning and thermal treatment from poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-$SiO_2$ blend solution. The nanofibers were stacked on layers to produce fully interconnected pores. TEM micrographs and EDX spectra confirmed the presence of $SiO_2$ in the composite nanofibers. The porosity of nanofibers was effectively enhanced by the introduction of electrospinning technique. ATR-FTIR and XRD results revealed that PVDF in the composite nanofibers exhibited the mixture crystal structure of ${\alpha}$-phase and ${\beta}$-phase. The crystal structure of ${\alpha}$-phase and crystallinity increased by the thermal treatment. In addition, the mechanical properties, thermal stability and hydrophobicity were markedly amplified by the thermal treatment.