• Advanced Composite Materials
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.259-275
• /
• 2008

This study aims to optimize the mechanical and electrical properties of electrically conductive polymer composites (CPCs) for use as a material of bipolar plates for PEM fuel cells. The thin CPCs consisting of conductive fillers and polymer resin were fabricated by a preform molding technique. Expanded graphite (EG), flake-type graphite (FG) and carbon fiber (CF) were used as conductive fillers. This study tested two types of CPCs, EG/FG filled CPCs and EG/CF filled CPCs, to optimize the material properties. First, the characteristics of EG/FG filled CPCs were investigated according to the FG ratio for 7 and $100{\mu}m$ sized FG. CPCs using $100{\mu}m$ FG showed optimal material properties at 60 wt% FG ratio, which were an electrical conductivity of 390 S/cm and flexural strength of 51 MPa. The particle size was an important parameter to change the mechanical and electrical behaviors. The flexural strength was sensitive to the particle size due to the different levels of densification. The electrical conductivity also showed size-dependent behavior because of the different contributions to the conductive network. Meanwhile, the material properties of EG/CF filled CPCs was also optimized according to the CF ratio, and the optimized electrical conductivity and flexural strength were 290 S/cm and 58 MPa, respectively. The electrical conductivity of this case decreased similarly to the EG/FG filled case. On the other hand, the behavior of the flexural strength was more complicated than the EG/FG filled case, and the reason was attributed to the interaction between the strengthening effect of CF and the deterioration of voids.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.223-240
• /
• 2016

In this study, poly(vinyl-alcohol) and water insoluble ${\beta}$-cyclodextrin polymer (${\beta}$-CDP) cross-linked with citric acid, have been used as macrocyclic carrier in the preparation of polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) for aniline (as molecule model) extraction from aqueous media. The obtained membranes were firstly characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared and water swelling test. The transport of aniline was studied in a two-compartment transport cell under various experimental conditions, such as carrier content in the membranes, stirring rate and initial aniline concentration. The kinetic study was performed and the kinetic parameters were calculated as rate constant (k), permeability coefficient (P) and flux (J). These first results demonstrated the utility of such polymeric membranes for environmental decontamination of toxic organic molecules like aniline. Predictive modeling of transport flux through these materials was then studied using design of experiments; the design chosen was a two level full factorial design $2^k$. An empirical correlation between aniline transport flux and independent variables (Poly ${\beta}$-CD membrane content, agitation speed and initial aniline concentration) was successfully obtained. Statistical analysis showed that initial aniline concentration of the solution was the most important parameter in the study domain. The model revealed the existence of a strong interaction between the Poly ${\beta}$-CD membrane content and the stirring speed of the source solution. The good agreement between the model and the experimental transport data confirms the model's validity.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.18 no.8
• /
• pp.841-850
• /
• 1997

A simple molecular theory of mixtures is formulated based on the nonrandom two-fluid lattice-hole theory of fluids. The model is applicable to mixtures over a density range from zero to liquid density. Pure fluids can be completely characterized with only two molecular parameters and an additional binary interaction energy is required for a binary mixture. The thermodynamic properties of ternary and higher order mixtures are completely defined in terms of the pure fluid parameters and the binary interaction energies. The Quantitative prediction of vapor-liquid, and solid-vapor equilibria of various mixtures are demonstrated. The model is useful, in particular, for mixtures whose molecules differ greatly in size. For real mixtures, satisfactory agreements are resulted from experiment. Also, the equation of state (EOS) is characterized well, even the liquid-liquid equilibria behaviors of organic mixtures and polymer solutions with a temperature-dependent binary interaction energy parameter.

• Elastomers and Composites
• /
• v.54 no.3
• /
• pp.209-219
• /
• 2019

It is important to analyze crosslink densities of rubber articles because the physical properties are dependent on the crosslink densities. In this paper, analytical techniques for the measurement of crosslink densities of rubber vulcanizates are described. The most widely used method to measure the crosslink density is a swelling method combined with the Flory-Rehner equation. Application of the interaction parameter (${\chi}$) of rubber and swelling solvent is critical because the crosslink density is absolutely dependent on the ${\chi}$ value. Methods for obtaining ${\chi}$ employ not only solubility parameters of the polymer and swelling solvent but also inverse gas chromatography (IGC). The solubilities of rubbers can be obtained using micro differential scanning calorimetry (${\mu}DSC$), intrinsic viscosity measurement, and UV-visible spectroscopy. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been also used for the measurement of the crosslink density using the $T_2$ relaxation time, which is determined by spin-spin relaxation in solid-state NMR. For sulfur-cured rubber vulcanizates, crosslink densities according to the crosslink types of mono-, di-, and polysulfides are measured by treating the rubber samples with a chemical probe composed of thiol and amine compounds. Measurement methods of physical crosslinking by filler, crystallization, and ionic bonding have also been introduced.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.10 no.5
• /
• pp.718-725
• /
• 1999

In order to investigate the interaction characteristics of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) with various solvents such as water, ethanol, and iso-propanol, Inverse Gas Chromatography(IGC) at finite concentration, which is a very fast, accurate, and thus promising technique in thermodynamic study of polymer systems, is employed. By measuring the specific retention volumes of the probes, the interaction parameters are calculated by means of the Flory-Huggins equation. From the results, the interaction parameters of the probes are, as expected due to the hydrophobicity of the polymer, found to be of large positive values (2$2.0{\times}10^{-3}mol/g$. For the linear PDMS, interpretation of the space distribution of molecules is performed by the Kirkwood-Buff-Zimm(KBZ) integrals, which give intuitive information about physical properties. From the KBZ integrals, water does not show the tendency of preferential solvation with the PDMS but formed self-cluster. The larger solvent molecules show a stronger tendency to distribute more randomly in the mixture.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.67 no.5
• /
• pp.517-525
• /
• 2018

In this study, we investigate the vibration of single-walled carbon nanotubes embedded in a polymeric matrix using nonlocal elasticity theories with account arbitrary boundary conditions effects. A Winkler type elastic foundation is employed to model the interaction of nanobeam and the surrounding elastic medium. Influence of all parameters such as nonlocal small-scale effects, Winkler modulus parameter, vibration mode and aspect ratio of nanobeam on the vibration frequency are analyzed and discussed. The mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes and polymer matrix are treated and an analytical solution is derived using the governing equations of the nonlocal Euler-Bernoulli beam models. Solutions have been compared with those obtained in the literature and The results obtained show that the non-dimensional natural frequency is significantly affected by the small-scale coefficient, the vibrational mode number and the elastic medium.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.307-312
• /
• 2009

Core-shell hydrogel nanocomposite was fabricated by encapsulating a silica-gold nanoshell (SGNS) with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) (PNIPAM-co-AAc) copolymer. The oleylamine-functionalized SONS was used as a nanotemplate for the shell-layer growth of hydrogel copolymer. APS (ammonium persulfate) was used as a polymerization initiator to produce a hydrogel-encapsulated SGNS (H-SGNS). The amounts of NIPAM (N-isopropylacrylamide) monomers were optimized to reproduce the hydrogel-encapsulated SGNS. The shell-layer thickness was increased with the increase of polymerization time and no further increase in the shell-layer thickness was clearly observed over 16 h. H-SGNS exhibited the systematic changes of particle size corresponding to the variation of pH and temperature, which was originated from hydrogen-bonding interaction between PNIPAM amide groups and water, as well as electrostatic forces attributed by the ionization of carboxylic groups in acrylic acid.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.22-31
• /
• 1996

Pervaporation experiments of isopropanol-water mixtures through a polydimethytsiloxane(PDMS) membrane were carried out at 35$^{\circ}$C and the effect of isopropanol concentration on the separation characteristics was investigated. The total permeation rate showed the largest deviation from the ideal permeation rate at the isoprpanol volume fraction from 0.5 to 0.7, which resulted from the interaction effect between permeants. The plasticizing effect of isopropanol enhanced the permeation of water, while the existance of water resulted in the depression of isopropanol permeation. Both the permeation rate and the selectivity were predicted using Flory-Huggins thermodynamics and modified Maxwell-Stefan equation. The concentration-dependent diffusion coefficients were expressed by Vignes equation. The Flory-Huggins interaction parameter between isopropanol and water was calculated using excess Gibbs energy correlation and the interaction parameters between liquid and polymer membrane were determined by equilibrium swelling experiments. The predicted permeation rates were in accord with the experimental ones within maximum error range of 35 %. The predicted permeation selectivities were in good agreement with the experimental values.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.30 no.12
• /
• pp.650-654
• /
• 2020

A combination of Polycarbonate (PC) material and Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), fabricated using an injection molding machine, has been investigated to determine its advantages, as studied in Ref. 1). This paper aims to investigate the optimization of PMMA/PC blend for both tensile yield strength and impact strength. Furthermore, interaction effects of process conditions on mechanical properties including tensile yield strength and impact strength of PMMA/PC blend by injection molding process are interpreted in this study. Tensile and impact specimens are designed following ASTM, type V, and are fabricated by injection molding process. The processing conditions such as melt temperature, mold temperature, packing pressure, and cooling time are applied; each factor has three levels. As a result, in comparison with optimization of separated responses, mechanical properties of PMMA/PC are found to decrease when optimizing both tensile and impact strengths simultaneously. The melt temperature is found to be the most significant interaction parameter with the mold temperature and packing pressure. In addition, there is more interaction between the mold temperature and cooling time. This investigation provides a useful understanding of the control of injection molding processing of polymer blends in optical application.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.50-56
• /
• 2022

In this work, the solvent permeation and separation performance of organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) membranes were evaluated. Particularly, the PuraMem (PM) series developed for nonpolar solvents were analyzed and tested in dead-end filtration system. PM membranes exhibited higher permeance for nonpolar solvents compared to polar solvents, and their rejection data did not follow conventional trends with respect to solute size. The data showed that simple solution-diffusion model is not suitable to describe the OSN membrane behavior, and a better solvent-solute-membrane interaction parameter must be developed.