• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.247-256
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• 2015

This study prepared fabric-heating elements of carbon nanofiber composite to characterize morphologies and electrical properties. Carbon nanofiber composite was prepared with 15wt% PVDF-HFP/acetone solution, and 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16wt% carbon nanofiber. Dispersion of solution was conducted with stirring for a week, sonification for 24 hours, and storage for a month, until coating. Carbon nanofiber composite coated fabrics were prepared by knife-edge coating on nylon fabrics with a thickness of 0.1mm. The morphologies of carbon nanofiber composite coated fabrics were measured by FE-SEM. Surface resistance was determined by KS K0555 and worksurface tester. A heating-pad clamping device connected to a variable AC/DC power supply was used for the electric heating characteristics of the samples and multi-layer fabrics. An infrared camera applied voltages to samples while maintaining a certain distance from fabric surfaces. The results of morphologies indicated that the CNF content increased specifically to the visibility and presence of carbon nanofiber. The surface resistance test results revealed that an increased CNF content improved the performance of coated fabrics. The results of electric heating properties, surface temperatures and current of 16wt% carbon nanofiber composite coated fabrics were $80^{\circ}C$ and 0.35A in the application of a 20V current. Carbon nanofiber composite coated fabrics have excellent electrical characteristics as fabric-heating elements.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.192-198
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• 2017

Carbon nanofiber (CNF) is used as an electrode material for electrical double layer capacitors (EDLCs), and is being consistently researched to improve its electrochemical performance. However, CNF still faces important challenges due to the low mesopore volume, leading to a poor high-rate performance. In the present study, we prepared the unique architecture of the activated mesoporous CNF with a high specific surface area and high mesopore volume, which were successfully synthesized using PMMA as a pore-forming agent and the KOH activation. The activated mesoporous CNF was found to exhibit the high specific surface area of $703m^2g^{-1}$, total pore volume of $0.51cm^3g^{-1}$, average pore diameter of 2.9 nm, and high mesopore volume of 35.2 %. The activated mesoporous CNF also indicated the high specific capacitance of $143F\;g^{-1}$, high-rate performance, high energy density of $17.9-13.0W\;h\;kg^{-1}$, and excellent cycling stability. Therefore, this unique architecture with a high specific surface area and high mesopore volume provides profitable synergistic effects in terms of the increased electrical double-layer area and favorable ion diffusion at a high current density. Consequently, the activated mesoporous CNF is a promising candidate as an electrode material for high-performance EDLCs.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.385-390
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• 2006

In this work, the effect of carbon nanofiber (CNF) on thermal properties, and friction and wear behavior of CNF/PMMA composites were examined. While thermal properties of the composites were investigated with differential scanning calorimetry, thermograyimetric analyzer, and dynamic mechanical analyzer friction and wear behaviors were examined using a friction and wear tester. The glass transition temperature (Tg), integral procedural decomposition temperature (IPDT), storage modulus (E'), and tan ${\delta}$ appeared at higher temperatures with increasing CNF content, which were probably attributed to the presence of strong interactions between the carbonaceous fillers and the PMMA resins matrix. The wear loss in the composites decreased at 0.1 wt% CNF and then increased with 5-10 wt% CNF content. This was due to the existence of large aspect ratio CNF in PMMA which led to an alignment of PMMA chains and an increase of mechanical interlocking, resulting in the formation of crosslinked structures between CNF and PMMA in the composite.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.142-147
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• 2009

The influence of graphitization of carbon support on the electrochemical corrosion of carbon and sintering of Pt particles are investigated by measuring $CO_2$ emission at a constant potential of 1.4 V for 30 min using on-line mass spectrometry and cyclic voltammogram. In comparison to commercial Pt/C (from Johnson Matthey), highly graphitized carbon nanofiber (CNF) supported Pt catalyst exhibits lower performance degradation and $CO_2$ emission. As the more carbon corrosion occurred, the more prominent changes were detected in electrochemical characteristics of fuel cell. This indicates that the carbon corrosion affects significantly the fuel cell durability. From the observed results, CNF is considered to be more corrosion resistant material as a catalyst support. However, CNF shows higher aggregation of Pt particles under repeated cyclic voltammetry between 0 and 0.8 V where the carbon corrosion is not initiated.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.127-136
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• 2017

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) has received widespread attention in the field of civil engineering because of its superior durability and corrosion resistance. This article presents the damage mechanisms of a novelty composite called carbon nanofiber modified flax fiber polymer (CNF-modified FFRP). The ability of acoustic emission (AE) to detect damage evolution for different configurations of specimens under uniaxial tension was examined, and some useful AE characteristic parameters were obtained. Test results shows that the mechanical properties of modified composites are associated with the CNF content and the evenness of CNF dispersed in the epoxy matrix. Various damage mechanisms was established by means of scanning electron microscope images. The fuzzy c-means clustering were proposed to classify AE events into groups representing different generation mechanisms. The classifiers are constructed using the traditional AE features -- six parameters from each burst. Amplitude and peak-frequency were selected as the best cluster-definition features from these AE parameters. After comprehensive comparison, a correlation between these AE events classes and the damage mechanisms observed was proposed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.117-120
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• 2003

Electro-micromechanical techniques were applied using four-probe method for carbon nanotube (CNT) or nanofiber (CNF)/epoxy composites with their content. Carbon black (CB) was used to compare with CNT and CNF. The fracture of carbon fiber was detected by nondestructive acoustic emission (AE) relating to electrical resistivity for double-matrix composites test. Sensing for fiber tension was performed by electro-pullout test under uniform cyclic strain. The sensitivity for fiber damage such as fiber fracture and fiber tension was the highest for CNT/epoxy composites, and in CB case they were the lowest compared with CNT and CNF. Reinforcing effect of CNT obtained from apparent modulus measurement was the highest in the same content. The results obtained from sensing fiber damage were correlated with the morphological observation of nano-scale structure using FE-SEM. The information on fiber damage and matrix deformation and reinforcing effect of carbon nanocomposites could be obtained from electrical resistivity measurement as a new concept of nondestructive evaluation.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.3-8
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• 2008

Self-sensing was evaluated for carbon nanofiber (CNF)/epoxy composites with two different aspect ratios via electro-micromechanical technique and wettability test. Volumetric electrical resistance was measured to evaluate the comparative dispersion degree indirectly and it decreased due to the increase of electric contacts with increasing CNF concentration. The dispersion degree was evaluated indirectly by calculating coefficient of variation (COV) of volumetric electrical resistance. The CNF type A with a high aspect ratio showed better self-sensing than the case of CNF type B with a short aspect ratio. The CNF type B/epoxy composite showed little self-sensing at a concentration higher than 2 vol% probably due to poor dispersion. The apparent modulus of CNF type B was higher than that of CNF type A due to the orientation effect and the high surface area. The thermodynamic work of adhesion was consistent with the result of apparent modulus.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.2369-2376
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• 2011

Effect of heat treatment of carbon nanofibers (CNF) on electrical properties and crystallization behavior of polypropylene was reported. Two types of CNFs (untreated and heat treated at 2300 $^{\circ}C$) were incorporated into polypropylene (PP) using intensive mixing. A significant drop in volume resistivity was observed with composites containing untreated 5 wt % and heat treated 3 wt % CNF. In non-isothermal crystallization studies, both untreated and heat treated CNFs acted as nucleating agents. Composites with heat treated CNFs showed a higher crystallization temperature than composites with untreated CNFs did. TEM results of CNF revealed that an irregular structure of CNFs can be converted into the continuous graphitic structure after heat treatment. Furthermore, STM showed that the higher carbonization temperature leads to the higher graphite degree which presents the larger carbon network size, suggesting that a more graphitic structure of CNFs led to a higher crystallization temperature of PP.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.521-528
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• 2005

Electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers were carbonized with or without iron (III) acetylacetonate to induce catalytic graphitization within the range of 900-1,500$^{circ}C$, resulting in ultrafine carbon fibers with a diameter of about 90-300 nm. Their structural properties and morphologies were investigated. The carbon nanofibers (CNF) prepared without a catalyst showed amorphous structures and very low surface areas of 22-31 $m^{2}$/g. The carbonization in the presence of the catalyst produced graphite nanofibers (GNF). The hydrogen storage capacities of these CNF and GNF materials were evaluated through the gravimetric method using magnetic suspension balance (MSB) at room temperature and 100 bar. The CNFs showed hydrogen storage capacities which increased in the range of 0.16-0.50 wt$\%$ with increasing carbonization temperature. The hydrogen storage capacities of the GNFs with low surface areas of 60-253 $m^{2}$/g were 0.14-1.01 wt$\%$. Micropore and mesopore, as calculated using the nitrogen gas adsorption-desorption isotherms, were not the effective pore for hydrogen storage.

• Carbon letters
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.38-40
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• 2010

Carbon supported electrocatalysts are commonly used as electrode materials for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells(PEMFCs). These kinds of electrocatalysts provide large surface area and sufficient electrical conductivity. The support of typical PEM fuel cell catalysts has been a traditional conductive type of carbon black. However, even though the carbon particles conduct electrons, there is still significant portion of Pt that is isolated from the external circuit and the PEM, resulting in a low Pt utilization. Herein, new types of carbon materials to effectively utilize the Pt catalyst are being evaluated. Carbon nanofiber/activated carbon fiber (CNF/ACF) composite with multifunctional surfaces were prepared through catalytic growth of CNFs on ACFs. Nickel nitrate was used as a precursor of the catalyst to synthesize carbon nanofibers(CNFs). CNFs were synthesized by pyrolysising $CH_4$ using catalysts dispersed in acetone and ACF(activated carbon fiber). The as-prepared samples were characterized with transmission electron microscopy(TEM), scanning electron microscopy(SEM). In TEM image, carbon nanofibers were synthesized on the ACF to form a three-dimensional network. Pt/CNF/ACF was employed as a catalyst for PEMFC. As the ratio of prepared catalyst to commercial catalyst was changed from 0 to 50%, the performance of the mixture of 30 wt% of Pt/CNF/ACF and 70wt% of Pt/C commercial catalyst showed better perfromance than that of 100% commercial catalyst. The unique structure of CNF can supply the significant site for the stabilization of Pt particles. CNF/ACF is expected to be promising support to improve the performance in PEMFC.