• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.206-209
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• 2004

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.253-260
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• 2008

Environmentally friendly biocomposites were made using plant-based natural fibers, such as henequen and kenaf. The natural fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP) and unsaturated polyester (UP) biocomposites were examined in terms of the reinforcing effect of natural fibers on thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers. Kenaf (KE) and henequen (HQ) fibers were treated with an electron beam (EB) of 10 and 200 kGy doses, respectively, or with a 5 wt% NaOH solution. Four types of biocomposites (KE/PP, HQ/PP, KE/UP and HQ/UP) were fabricated by compression molding and each biocomposite was characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. The kenaf fiber had the larger reinforcing effect on the dynamic mechanical properties of both PP and UP biocomposites than the henequen fiber. The highest storage modulus was obtained from the biocomposite with the combination of UP matrix and 200 kGy EB treated kenaf fibers.

• Composites Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.32-38
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• 2007

Natural fibers can refer to all types of fibres only produced by nature. Their lengths vary from particles to long strands. Natural fibers are categorized roughly by six types, depending on the types of sources; base, leaf, seed, grasses, fruit and wood. Of these fibers, jute, flax, sisal and ramie are the most commonly used as reinforced materials in preparing polymer composites. In development and improvement of these composites, many studies have been implemented to overcome the drawbacks such as incompatibility, moisture problems and so on. The range of industry sectors of natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites becomes more extensive gradually and many of the companies all over the world are engaged in fabrications or applications. This paper mainly discussed the recent status of the domestic/overseas market and research issues of natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites. We made an exception of wood-polymer composites market which have played a great role because they had been often dealt with.

• Carbon letters
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.16-20
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• 2011

Commercial PAN fibers were thermally stabilized at 220 or $240^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. Those fibers were further stabilized using radio-frequency (RF) capacitive plasma discharge during 5 or 15 min. From Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results, it was observed that an additional plasma treatment led to further stabilization of PAN fibers. After stabilization, carbonization was performed to investigate the final tensile properties of the fabricated carbon fibers (CFs). The results revealed that a combination of thermal and plasma treatment is a possible stabilization process for manufacturing CFs. Morphology of CFs was investigated using scanning electron microscopy. The morphology shows that the plasma stabilization performed by the RF large gap plasma discharge may damage the surface of the CF, so it is necessary to select a proper process condition to minimize the damage.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.29 no.4 s.235
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• pp.512-518
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• 2005

Polymeric fibers with nanometer-scale diameters are produced by electrospinning. When the electrical forces at the surface of a polymer solution or melt overcome the surface tension then electrospinning occurs. Polycarbonate has been electrospun. Electrospun fibers are observed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The surface morphology of e-spun fiber has been studied by many variables that are involved in different polymer concentrations, solvent mixing ratios and ambient parameters. The average diameters of the electrospun fibers range from 200 nm to 4,570 nm when the PC concentration is decreasing from 15.5\;wt{\%}\;to\;25\;wt{\%}.$ The higher concentration of the polymer solution makes the fibers thicker due to preventing the fiber stretching. With respect evaporation effects, the solvent mixing ratios cause significant changes of the fiber size distribution. As a matter of fact the fiber diameter steadily increases with increasing amount of DMF until the solvent mixture is at THF:DMF ratio of 60:40.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2003

Electrospinning is emerging as a simple means of producing fibers with diameters ranging from 0.02 $\mu\textrm{m}$ to many microns. Electrospinning, however, relies on the force generated by an electric field on the surface of a polymer solution to either enhance instabilities in a thinning jet or to rapidly elongate a jet of polymer solution form a nozzle. In this article the fundamental physics and fluid dynamics on the subject matter are described, and tome of the relevant parameters in electrodynamic instabilities at polymer interfaces are discussed in some detail.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.196-201
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• 2012

Electrospinning is a versatile process used to prepare micro or nano sized fibers from various materials dissolved in volatile solvents. This study reports electrospun pullulan fibrous webs fabricated through electrospinning using water as a solvent. The electrospinning conditions such as pullulan (PUL) concentration and applied voltage were optimized in order to obtain smooth electrospun fibers. The concentration of PUL greatly influenced the viscosity and surface tension of PUL solution. PUL beaded electrospun fibers were obtained from PUL solutions with concentrations lower than 5 wt%, while homogenous electrospun fibers were prepared from solutions with high concentration and high viscosity. The average diameters of PUL fibers were decreased to 200 nm when the polymer concentration was kept at 10 wt% and the applied voltage was fixed at 15 kV during electrospinning. PUL electrospun fiber exhibited higher solubility, flexibility, softness and adhesive strength.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.258-258
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• 2006

Electrospun fibers of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were successfully prepared and applied as drug carriers for transdermal drug delivery system. Sodium Salicylate (SS) was the model drug and it was incorporated in the PVA fibers by adding 20 % of SS in a PVA solution prior to electrospinning. Electrospinning of SS-containing PVA solution resulted in the formation of beaded fibers. In order to control the rate of SS release and decrease water solubility of PVA, the SS-loaded electrospun PVA mat was cross-linked by either glutaraldehyde or glyoxal vapor. The morphology, thermal behavior, swelling behavior, release characteristic, kinetics of drug release and also toxicity of the cross-linked sample were investigated.

• Carbon letters
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.131-137
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• 2011

Kenaf fibers, cellulose-based natural fibers, were used as precursor for preparing kenafbased carbon fibers. The effects of carbonization temperature ($700^{\circ}C$ to $1100^{\circ}C$) and chemical pre-treatment (NaOH and $NH_4Cl$) at various concentrations on the thermal change, chemical composition and fiber morphology of kenaf-based carbon fibers were investigated. Remarkable weight loss and longitudinal shrinkage were found to occur during the thermal conversion from kenaf precursor to kenaf-based carbon fiber, depending on the carbonization temperature. It was noted that the alkali pre-treatment of kenaf with NaOH played a role in reducing the weight loss and the longitudinal shrinkage and also in increasing the carbon content of kenaf-based carbon fibers. The number and size of the cells and the fiber diameter were reduced with increasing carbonization temperature. Morphological observations implied that the micrometer-sized cells were combined or fused and then re-organized with the neighboring cells during the carbonization process. By the pre-treatment of kenaf with 10 and 15 wt% NaOH solutions and the subsequent carbonization process, the inner cells completely disappeared through the transverse direction of the kenaf fiber, resulting in the fiber densification. It was noticeable that the alkali pre-treatment of the kenaf fibers prior to carbonization contributed to the forming of kenaf-based carbon fibers.

• KCI Concrete Journal
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.65-77
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• 1999

A portland cement was reinforced by incorporating carbon fiber(CF), silica powder, and impregnating the pores with styrene monomers which were polymerized in situ. The effects of type, length, and volume loading of CF, mixing conditions, curing time and, curing conditions on mechanical behavior as well as freeze-thaw resistance and longer term stability of the carbon-fiber reinforced cement composites (CFRC) were investigated. The composite Paste exhibited a decrease in flow values linearly as the CF volume loadings increased. Tensile, compressive, and flexural strengths all generally increased as the CF loadings in the composite increased. Compressive strength decreased at CF loadings above approx. 3% in CFRC having no impregnated polymers due to the increase in porosity caused by the fibers. However, the polymer impregnation of CFRC improved all the strength values as compared with CFRC having no Polymer impregnation. Tensile stress-strain curves showed that polymer impregnation decreased the fracture energy of CFRC. Polymer impregnation clearly showed improvements in freeze-thaw resistance and drying shrinkage when compared with CFRC having no impregnated polymers.