• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.210-215
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• 2012

Whitening phenomena of the EPDM composites with different inorganic filler compositions which were aged at $90^{\circ}C$ for 7 days in air and tap water atmospheres, respectively, were investigated. The aged samples in tap water containing stearic acid exhibited severe whitening phenomena, while all the samples aged in air did not show any whitening. Depending on the filler compositions, there was no big difference in the whitening phenomena. The whitening materials were analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), image analysis, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The whitening materials were identified to be salts of stearic acid. The salts of stearic acid were formed by reaction of metal cation in tap water and stearic acid in the sample.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2007

An atmospheric plasma pre-treatment method was applied to polyurethane foam to improve its contact angle and adhesion. In order to investigate the optimum reaction condition of plasma treatment, type of reaction gas (nitrogen, argon, oxygen, air), rate of gas flow (30~150 mL/min), and reaction time (0~30 sec) were examined in a plate plasma reactor. Also, the effects were compared to those of a conventional vacuum plasma pre-treatment system. The result of the surface modification with respect to the treatment procedure was characterized by using SEM and ATR-FTIR. Due to a decrease of the contact angle of polyurethane foam, the greatest adhesion strength was achieved at a flow rate of 100 mL/min and at a reaction time of 10s for N2 gas. Consequently, the atmospheric plasma treatment reduced the contact angle of the polyurethane foam and also resulted in the improvement of the peel strength.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.299-304
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• 2005

There have been many efforts to use anionic hydrogels as oral protein delivery carriers due to their pH-responsive swelling behavior. The dynamic swelling behavior of poly(methacrylic acid-co-methacryloxyethyl glucoside) [P(MAA-co-MEG)] hydrogels was investigated to determine the mechanism of water transport through these anionic hydrogels. The exponential relation $M_t/M_{\infty}=kt^n$ was used to calculate the exponent, n, describing the Fickian or non-Fickian behavior of swelling polymer networks. The mechanism of water transport through these gels was significantly affected by the pH of the swelling medium. The mechanism of water transport became more relaxation-controlled in the swelling medium of pH 7.0 that was higher than the $pK_a$ of the gels. Experimental results of time-dependent swelling behavior of the gels were analyzed with several mathematical models. Using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, the effect of ionization of the carboxylic acid groups in the polymer networks on the water transport mechanism was investigated.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.307-312
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• 2009

The fabrication of PHBV nanofibers containing various plant polyphenols by electrospinning has been examined. It has been found that the average diameters of fibers increased by the adding of polyphenols. The resulting fibers exhibited a uniform diameter ranging from 340 to 450 nm. As the concentration of polyphenols increased, the diameter of fibers increased due to the hydrogen bonding interaction between the ester groups of PHBV and hydroxyl groups of polyphenols. The interaction between PHBV and polyphenols, which forms a complex together in solution, was verifed by UV measurement. ATR-FTIR analysis confirmed the existence of the hydrogen bonding interaction. The semicrystalline structure of the PHBV nanofiber was observed from XRD pattern. The crystallinity of PHBV nanofibers was increased by the adding of polyphenols. PHBV nanofibers containing polyphenols showed superior antimicrobial activities.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.431-436
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• 2013

Polycarbonate (PC) films have been irradiated with various kinds of ions according to energy and dose. Change of the optical transmittance and chemical characteristics were confirmed by UV-VIS and FTIR (ATR) spectroscopy respectively. These UV-A block in 400 nm was variable from 10 to 100% according to energy and doses. Surface electrical resistance of PC film irradiated by ion beam was $10^6-10^{13}{\Omega}/cm^2$, which reveal variation of conduction. Contact angle of film irradiated by ion beam was decreased than the pristine film. Polymer surface morphology was examined by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM). As expected, degradation of polymer film was higher after irradiation with heavier Xe ions but the roughness in the polymer surface morphology were more pronounced for Ar ions. This observed effect can be explained by stronger compaction of polymer surface layer in the case of Xe irradiation, connected with a reduction of free volume available.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.84-90
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• 2009

Nitinol alloy (TiNi) has been widely used in vascular stents. To improve the blood compatibility of Nitinol alloy, its surface was chemically modified in this study. Nitinol was first coated with gold, then chemisorbed with L-cysteine (C/N), and followed by grafting of zwitter ionic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) (PEG-$N^+-SO_3{^-}$) to produce TiNi-C/N-PEG-N-S. The zwitter ionic PEG grafted on the Nitinol surface was identified by ATR-FTIR, ESCA and SEM. The hydrophilized surface was proven by the decrease of water contact angle. In addition, from the blood compatibility tests such as protein adsorption, platelet adhesion, and blood coagulation time, the surface-modified TiNi alloy exhibited a better blood compatibility as compared to the untreated Nitinol control. These results indicated a feasibility of synergistic effect of hydrophilic PEG and antithrombotic zwitter ion.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.543-547
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• 2011

A study has been done to enhance the mechanical properties and processability of electrically conductive polyaniline(PANI) without the polymer's structural alternation. Functionalized acid doped PANI (PANI-DBSA) was prepared by an emulsion polymerization, and dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (DBSA) played both roles of surfactant and dopant. Also, PANI-DBSA was solution cast blended with high impact polystyrene (HIPS) to produce PANI-DBSA/HIPS blend film. The structure and electrical properties of the conducting polymer blends were observed through UV-vis and FTIR/ATR spectroscopy. A study of the blend was carried by focusing on observation of mechanical and electrical properties based on dispersibility and changes in polymer morphology. The conductivity of the blends was increased by increasing the content of PANI-DBSA, and the sudden increase of conductivity to $3.5{\times}10^{-4}$ S/cm was observed even under a low content of 9 wt%. There was a strong association of continuous network formation with percolation and conductivity in the conducting polymer blends.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2000

Surface modification of hydrophobic polymeric materials to be hydrophilic or to have specific functional groups is of great importance for a diversity of applications of the materials. In this study, polyethylene (PE) film surfaces were modified by vapor phase photografting of hydrophilic vinyl monomers with different functional groups. The functional monomers were introduced on PE films by introducing the monomers in vapor phase using a vapor phase photografting apparatus designed by our laboratory. Functional monomers used were acrylic acid (negatively chargeable), acrylamide and allylalcohol (neutral), and allylamine and N,N-dimethyl aminopropyl acryamide (positively charged). The functional monomer-grafted PE film surfaces were characterized by the measurement of water contact angles and the attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The vapor phase photografting seems to be effective means for introduction of various functional groups onto polymeric substrates.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.433-439
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• 2008

An atmospheric plasma pre-treatment method was applied to polyurethane foam (density: 0.27) and rubber (butadiene rubber) to improve its contact angle and adhesion using atmospheric plate type reactor. In order to investigate the optimum reaction condition of plasma treatment, type of treatment gas (nitrogen, argon, oxygen, air), rate of gas flow ($30{\sim}100\;mL/min$), and treated time ($0{\sim}30\;s$) were examined in a plate plasma reactor. The result of the surface modification with respect to the treatment procedure was characterized by using SEM and ATR-FTIR. Due to a decrease of the contact angle of various materials, the greatest adhesion strength was achieved at optimum condition such as flow rate of 100 mL/min, reaction time of polyurethane foam 10 s and rubber 3 s for an atmosphere nitrogen gas. Consequently, the atmospheric plasma treatment reduced the wettability of the polyurethane foam and rubber also resulted in the improvement of the adhesion.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.124-129
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• 2023

This study assessed the influences of fluorine introduced into DLC films on the structural and mechanical properties of the sample. In addition, the effects of the fluorine incorporation on the compressive stress in DLC films were investigated. For this purpose, fluorinated diamond-like carbon (F-DLC) films were deposited on cobalt-chromium-molybdenum substrates using radio-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor. The coatings were examined by Raman scattering (RS), Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis (ATR-FTIR), and a combination of elastic recoil detection analysis and Rutherford backscattering (ERDA-RBS). Nano-indentation tests were performed to measure hardness. Also, the residual stress of the films was calculated by the Stony equation. The ATR-FTIR analysis revealed that F was present in the amorphous matrix mainly as C-F and C-F₂ groups. Based on Raman spectroscopy results, it was determined that F made the DLC films more graphitic. Additionally, it was shown that adding F into the DLC coating resulted in weaker mechanical properties and the F-DLC coating exhibited lower stress than DLC films. These effects were attributed to the replacement of strong C = C by feebler C-F bonds in the F-DLC films. F-doping decreased the hardness of the DLC from 11.5 to 8.8 GPa. In addition, with F addition, the compressive stress of the DLC sample decreased from 1 to 0.7 GPa.