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

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.33 no.10
• /
• pp.3258-3264
• /
• 2012

Aluminum oxide ($Al_2O_3$) nanofibers were treated thermally under an ammonia ($NH_3$) gas stream balanced by nitrogen to form a thin aluminum nitride (AlN) layer on the nanofibers, resulting in the enhancement of thermal conductivity of $Al_2O_3$/epoxy nanocomposites. The micro-structural and morphological properties of the $NH_3$-assisted thermally-treated $Al_2O_3$ nanofibers were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AEM), respectively. The surface characteristics and pore structures were observed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Zeta-potential and $N_2$/77 K isothermal adsorptions. From the results, the formation of AlN on $Al_2O_3$ nanofibers was confirmed by XRD and XPS. The thermal conductivity (TC) of the modified $Al_2O_3$ nanofibers/epoxy composites increased with increasing treated temperatures. On the other hand, the severely treated $Al_2O_3$/epoxy composites showed a decrease in TC, resulting from a decrease in the probability of heat-transfer networks between the filler and matrix in this system due to the aggregation of nanofiber fillers.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.527-533
• /
• 2011

CNFs had been well addressed due to numerous promising applications in science and technology. Besides the same physicochemical properties of ordinary carbon materials such as active carbons and carbon black, they exhibit specific, e.g., tubular or fibrous structures, a large surface area, high electrical conductivity stability, as well as extremely high mechanical strengh and modulus, which make them a superior material for electrochemical capacitors. In this study, CNFs were pretreated by mechanical milling with different time in mortar and pestle. The milled CNFs were used as active material of electrode whose electrochemical property was tested to find physicochemical characterization variation. CNF electrode milled for 5 min has the highest electric capacitance. XPS spectrum were employed to explore changes in functional group induced from mechanical milling. Crystal size was calculated to analyze change of peak from different milling time by XRD. The CNF milled for 5 min has the largest crystal size and the highest electric capacitance.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2017

Adsorption is a plausible technology using solid adsorbents for dry capture of carbon dioxide ($CO_2$). In general, narrow size distribution of tiny pores and surface chemical functionalities of solid adsorbents enhance the adsorption capacity of gaseous $CO_2$ molecules. In order to utilize the advantages of fibrous adsorbents, this work prepared activated carbon nanofibers (ACNFs) via the electrospinning process using a polymer precursor of polyacylonitrile (PAN). The spun fibers were 390 nm to 580 nm in thickness with an average surface area of $27.3m^2/g$. The surface structure was improved by a programmed thermal activation at $800^{\circ}C$ in $CO_2$ atmosphere. It was also found that the nitrogen-groups including pyrrole and pyridine were created during the activation facilitaing the selective adsorption as forming enhanced active sites. The finally obtained adsorption capacities were 2.74 mmol/g for pure $CO_2$ flow and 0.74mmol/g for 3000 ppm.

• Proceeding of EDISON Challenge
• /
• 2015.03a
• /
• pp.304-307
• /
• 2015

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely accepted and used as the enhancer for polymer nano-composites due to their remarkable mechanical properties. Understandably, the CNT fiber-polymer matrix interface plays a major role in determining the properties of the CNT-polymer nano-composites. Here, using the LCAODFT Lab tool available on the EDISON Nano-Physics site, we performed first-principles density-functional theory calculations to determine the atomic configurations and binding energies of the CNTs in contact with polymers. For the polymer matrixes, we chose poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN), which is one of the most well-known polymer matrixes for the carbon nanofiber nanocomposites. Different chiralities and diameters of pristine CNTs were considered, and several PAN-CNT configurations were prepared based on the atomistic positions and directions of cyano group in PAN. The most favorable configuration of PAN was obtained when the PAN bound parallel to the surface of CNT. Our finding indicates the binding configurations are determined by the direction of the cyano group dominantly rather than the atomistic position of PAN, or the symmetry of CNTs. The result of increasing the length of CNT diameter suggests that PAN is inclinable to align evenly on the surface of relatively large size of CNT with the configuration parallel to the surface. These results obtained in this study will provide the starting point for the design of improved PAN-CNT composites for the next-generation ultra-strong and ultra-light carbon nanofibers.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.113-118
• /
• 2015

To improve the methanol electro-oxidation in direct methanol fuel cells(DMFCs), Pt electrocatalysts embedded on porous carbon nanofibers(CNFs) were synthesized by electrospinning followed by a reduction method. To fabricate the porous CNFs, we prepared three types of porous CNFs using three different amount of a styrene-co-acrylonitrile(SAN) polymer: 0.2 wt%, 0.5 wt%, and 1 wt%, respectively. A SAN polymer, which provides vacant spaces in porous CNFs, was decomposed and burn out during the carbonization. The structure and morphology of the samples were examined using field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy and their surface area were measured using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET). The crystallinities and chemical compositions of the samples were examined using X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrochemical properties on the methanol electro-oxidation were characterized using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Pt electrocatalysts embedded on porous CNFs containing 0.5 wt% SAN polymer exhibited the improved methanol oxidation and electrocatalytic stability compared to Pt/conventional CNFs and commercial Pt/C(40 wt% Pt on Vulcan carbon, E-TEK).

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.47-52
• /
• 2012

Porous carbon nanofibers were prepared as a gas sensor electrode to study the $CO_2$ sensing property based on effects of porosity and introduced amine functional groups. Electrospun fibers were obtained by using electrospinning method with polyacrylonitrile precursor and they were treated by the thermal treatment and chemical activation. Amine functional groups were introduced by the liquid state treatment using diethylenetriamine. The specific surface area increased up to $2000m^2/g$ by the chemical activation. The Introduced amine functional group was identified using FT-IR spectroscopy. $CO_2$ gas sensing property was improved as four folds via introduced amine functional groups on the activated carbon nanofiber. In conclusion, the gas sensing property was improved based on the developed porosity by the chemical activation and the chemical attraction of $CO_2$ gas by introduced functional groups.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2006.10a
• /
• pp.195-195
• /
• 2006

A superior electrophilic substitution reaction medium that is non-toxic, relatively less corrosive, and non-volatile electrophilic substitution reaction to afford high molecular weight linear and hyperbranched polyetherketones (PEK' s) was developed. The system has very strong driving force to give extra ordinary high molecular weight linear and hyperbranched PEK' s. The reaction medium was further extended to prepare various types of copolymers and covalently grafted polymers onto carbon nanotube (CNT) or carbon nanofiber (CNF). By using characteristic hydrophilic nature of the reaction medium, hyperbranched PEK' s could be synthesized from commercially available $A_3\;+\;B_2$ monomers without network formation via selective solubility of the monomers.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
• /
• v.43 no.1
• /
• pp.36-40
• /
• 2010

The SiO vapor that was generated from a mixture of Si and $SiO_2$ was reacted at $1350^{\circ}C$ for 2 h under vacuum with carbon nanofibers to produce SiC nanofibers having an average diameter of 100~200 nm. In order to understand the gas corrosion behavior, SiC nanofibers were exposed to air up to $1000^{\circ}C$. SiC oxidized to amorphous $SiO_2$, but its oxidation resistance was inferior unlike bulk SiC, because of high surface area of nanofibers. When SiC nanofibers were exposed to Ar-1% $SO_2$ atmosphere, SiC oxidized to amorphous $SiO_2$, without forming $SiS_2$, owing to the thermodynamic stability of $SiO_2$.

• Carbon letters
• /
• v.23
• /
• pp.17-21
• /
• 2017

Polyurethane (PU) nanofibers containing graphene oxide (GO) and Ag doped functionalized reduced graphene oxide (Ag-RGO) were successfully prepared via the electrospinning technique. The uniform distribution of GO sheets along with Ag nanoparticle in the nanofibers was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and the elemental mapping technique. X-ray diffraction and thermal gravimetric analysis verified the presence of GO and Ag in the bicomposite nanofibrous mats. Antibacterial tests against Escherichia coli demonstrated that the addition of GO and Ag-RGO to the PU nanofiber greatly enhanced bactericidal efficiency. Overall, these features of the synthesized nanofibers make them a promising candidate material in the biomedical field for applications such as tissue engineering, wound healing, and drug delivery systems.