• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.23-36
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• 2008

Polymer-clay nanocomposites, a novel organic-inorganic hybrid, attract much attention from both scientific fields and engineering fields due to their balanced improvements in mechanical properties as well as diffusion behaviors, including flame-retarding and barrier properties, with small amounts of clay. Preparation of polymer-clay nanocomposites, summarized as a process for uniform dispersion of hydrophilic layered clays in hydrophobic polymer matrixes, includes several technologies and scientific phenomena, such as surface-modifications of clay layers, physical properties of clays in liquids and dried states, polymer synthesis, polymer rheology, behaviors of polymer solutions/or monomers in the confined geometry, mechanical properties of polymers and clays. To comprehend complicated physical/chemical phenomena involved in the fabrication of nanocomposites, we reviewed physical properties of clays, structures of clays in nanocomposites, characterization of nanocomposites, the relation between morphology and physical property of nanocomposites, surveyed recent research trends, and then suggested a few strategies or methods for fabrication of nanocomposites reflecting future research directions.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.326-332
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• 2010

Nanocomposite films were prepared by blending poly(amic acid)(PAA), poly(o-hydroxyamide)( PHA) and organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) that has a layered structure. XRD, SEM and TEM were used to study the morphology of PAA/PHA nanocomposites, and DMA, TGA, UTM, LOI and PCFC techniques were used to characterize the mechanical and thermal properties, and flame retardancy of the nanocomposites. TEM images revealed that OMMT layers were well dispersed in the PAA/PHA matrix and showed exfoliation and intercalation behavior. The addition of 3 wt% OMMT to the PAA/PHA blend increased the initial modulus of PAA/ PHA blend to 3.68 GPa that was ca. 48% higher than that of the control PAA/PHA blend. Above 4 wt%, however, both the initial modulus and the tensile strength were found to decrease, which might be due to the aggregation of OMMT in PAA/PHA matrix. When the OMMT content was below 3 wt%, the thermal stability and flame retardancy of the PAA/PHA nanocomposites increased with increasing OMMT content.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.46-67
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• 2014

The Dinosaur track-bearing deposits recently found at Bangudae Petroglyph site in Ulju (National Treasure No. 285) have been studied in the aspects of sedimentology, paleoenvironments, and significance in natural history. The dinosaur tracks occur in the Daegu Formation (late Early Cretaceous), and over 80 footprints including 43 ornithopod footprints, 36 sauropod footprints, and 2 theropod footprints are preserved in this tracksite. The track-bearing deposits consist of irregularly interlaminated siltstone and mudstone, calcareous sandy to silty mudstone, thin-bedded tuffaceous sandstone, planar- to cross-laminated sandstone, and thin- to medium-bedded graded sandstone, and they are interpreted to be sheetflood deposits on an alluvial plain. Diverse types of ripples and mudcracks, rainprints, and invertebrate trace fossils are observed in these deposits, and the crest-lines of wave ripples do not show preferred orientation. Dinosaur footprints occur as true prints, underprints, overtracks, and casts on the bedding surfaces, and the orientation of trackways are scattered. It is interpreted that paleoclimatic condition of the track-bearing deposits were semiarid with alternation of wetting and drying periods, and that dinosaurs frequented small and shallow ponds during wetting periods and recorded their tracks on an alluvial plain. The frequent occurrence of dinosaur tracks in study area indicates that the Cretaceous deposits around Daegokcheon Stream are very useful sedimentological and paleontological records to understand the paleoecology and paleoenvironments during the dinosaur age in Korean Peninsula. Consequently the dinosaur track-bearing deposits around Daegokcheon Stream should be further studied in sedimentary geology and paleontology in order to enhance cultural heritage value of the Petroglyphs of Bangudae Terrace as the World Heritage.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.105-112
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• 1994

To investigate the migration behavior of contaminants in rocks. adsorption and diffusion experiments for Sr as a sorbing contaminant and for Cr-EDTA as a non-sorbing contaminant were carried out on granitic rocks. The Sr adsorption on separated minerals and crushed rocks tends to slightly increase with increasing pH. It also greatly decreases with the increase of ionic strength in NaCl solution. Among separated minerals, biotite and sericite have adsorbed much more amount of Sr than other rock-forming minerals, such as quartz, plagioclase, and potassic feldspar, because the specific surfaces and cation exchange capacities of phyllosilicates are generally much greater than those of the other rock-forming minerals. The intrinsic diffusion coefficients of Cr-EBTA for granitic rocks differ little from those of Sr. This indicates that they are independent of water-rock interactions. Experimental data show that the intrinsic diffusion coefficients are positively correlated with the porosities of the rocks. They are close to the theoretically predicted values, especially in pre-steady state diffusion region, with the increase of rock sample thickness.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.154-166
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• 2017

Polymeric films for gas barrier applications such as food packaging and electronic devices have attracted great interest due to their cheap, light and easy processability among gas barrier materials. Especially in electronic devices, extremely low gas permeance is necessary for maintaining the device performance. However, current polymeric barrier films still suffer from relatively high gas permeance than other materials. Therefore, there have been strong needs to enhance the gas barrier performance of polymeric barrier films while keep their own advantages. Recently, graphene is highlighted as a 2D-layered material for gas barrier applications. However, owing to the poor workability and difficulty to produce in engineering scale, graphene oxide (GO) is on the rise. GO consists of oxygen-containing functional groups on surface with intrinsic 2D-layered structure and high aspect ratio, and it can be well-dispersed in aqueous polar solvents like water, resulting in scalable mass production. Here, we prepared GO incorporated polyimide (PI) nanocomposites. PI is widely used barrier polymer with high mechanical strength and thermal and chemical stability. We demonstrated that PI/GO nanocomposites could perform as a gas barrier. Furthermore, surfactants (Triton X-100 (TX) and Sodium deoxycholate (SDC)) are introduced to enhance the gas barrier performance by improving the degree of dispersion of GO in PI matrix. As a result, TX enhanced the gas barrier performance of PI/GO nanocomposites which is similar to predicted value. This finding will provide new insight to polymer nanocomposites for gas barrier applications.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.467-472
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• 2011

This study investigated illite/polypropylene (PP) composite filament formation via melt-spinning and evaluated their physical properties to prepare functional fibers using natural materials. When composite filaments were formed, the composite filaments exhibited smaller fiber diameters compared to that of neat PP filament because of the lubricant effect of illite induced by its layered structure. Moreover, fluorination effect increased interfacial affinity and dispersion in the polymer, resulting in smaller diameter of fluorinated illite/PP composite filament, which was 2/3 of the neat PP filament diameter. Addition of raw and fluorinated illite improved thermal stability of illite/PP composite filament. Raw illite/PP composite filament cannot be used for a practical application, because it broke during drawing process, whereas the fluorinated illite/PP composite filament can be used for a practical application, because it exhibited similar tensile strength of the neat PP filament and 50% increased modulus. Even with improved illite/PP interfacial affinity and illite dispersion in the polymer, illite/PP composite filament formed microcomposite, because non-expandable illite had strongly bound layers, resulting in only a little illite exfoliation and PP intercalation into illite.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.177-182
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• 2006

In this work, we have prepared organophilic MMT having thermal stability by ion exchange reaction of various aromatic ammonium salts with MMT containing sodium ion. The organic modifiers having alkyl side chains and amine functional group were successfully synthesized by effectively introducing the surfaces of MMT via ion exchange reaction to form organophilic MMTs with a view to improve the reactivity and thermal stability. The WAXD patterns of organophilic MMT showed the more increased gallery spacing by $3.3{\AA}$ than that of the pristine MMT and also the onset of initial decomposition of organophilic MMT was $275^{\circ}C$ as determined by a thermogravimetric analysis. The polyimide (PI) nanocomposite films based on poly(amic acid) and organophilic MMT were prepared by a solution blending followed by cyclodehydration reaction. We have investigated the dispersity of organophilic MMTs in PI matrix by using WAXD and the effect of the organophilic MMT content on the mechanical properties of PI nanocomposite films was studied.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.193-199
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• 1998

The mixtures of ultra-high molecular weight polythylene (UHMWPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), process oil (mineral oil) and potassium hexatitanate whisker were melted and mixed at $150^{\circ}C$ for 30min, and prepared by compression molding to the specimen of separator of about $200{\mu}m$ thickness at the same temperature and 5000 psi. Thereafter the pores were formed by extracting process oil with organic solvents. In this study, the range of PR (the ratio polymer to process oil) was varied from 0.1 to 0.5 because the specimen turned into rubbery phase at which PR was below 0.1 whereas it changed into gel phase at which PR was above 0.5. When the specimen was treated with nonpolar organic solvents, process oil was extracted nearly 98%. Tensile strength was $31kg/cm^2$ at PR = 0.426, and resistance of specimen was $37m{\Omega}/cm^2$ at PR = 0.186, and $53m{\Omega}/cm^2$ at PR = 0.426. The $N_2$ adsorption-desorption isotherm showed a hysteresis representing regions of capillary condensation, and the surface area at PR = 0.186 was relatively large as $130cm^2/g$. Potassium hexatitanate whisker was randomly dispersed in between PE layers. It might be that the whisker is intercalated through the PE thin layers oriented by compression.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2014

The effect of nanoclay (Cloisite 20A) on the self-adhesion behavior of uncured brominated-isobutylene-isoprene rubber (BIIR) has been studied. The dispersion state of nanoclay into the rubber matrix was examined by SEM, TEM and XRD analysis. The thermal degradation behavior of the filled and unfilled samples was examined by TGA and improvement in the thermal stability of the nanocomposites occurred based on the weight loss (%) measurements. Also, addition of nanoclay enhanced the cohesive strength of the material by reinforcement action thereby reducing the degree of molecular diffusion across the interface of butyl rubber. However, the average depth of penetration of the inter-diffused chains was still adequate to form entanglement on either side of the interface, and thus offered greater resistance to peeling, resulting in high tack strength measurements. The improvement in tack strength was only achieved at critical nanoclay loading above 8 phr. Contact angle measurement was also made to examine the surface characteristics. There was no significant interfacial property change by employing the nanoclay.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.494-499
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• 2013

Modified polypropylene (m-PP) was fabricated by furfuryl sulphide (FS) as branching agent and m-PP/nano-filler composites were prepared with silicate and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT), using a twin screw extruder. The chemical structures and thermal properties of the m-PP were investigated by FTIR and DSC. The chemical structure of the m-PP was confirmed by the existence of =C-H stretching peak of the branching agent at 3100 $cm^{-1}$. There was no district change in melting temperature in case of m-PP, but a certain increase in crystallization temperature was notified and the increase was in the range of $10-20^{\circ}C$. The rheological properties, filler dispersion and foaming behaviors of the m-PP/nano-filler composites were investigated by dynamic rheometer, X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and scanning/transmission electron microscope (SEM/TEM). m-PP/nano-filler composites showed a high complex viscosity at a low frequency, an increase in melt elasticity, and a high shear thinning effect. Compared to pure PP, m-PP and m-PP/nano-filler composites were sufficient to enhance the foaming behavior.