• Carbon letters
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.230-235
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• 2012

In this study, reduced graphene oxide/polyimide (r-GO/PI) composite films, which showed significant enhancement in their electrical conductivity, were successfully fabricated. GO was prepared from graphite using a modified Hummers method. The GO was used as a nanofiller material for the preparation of r-GO/PI composites by in-situ polymerization. An addition of 20 wt% of GO led to a significant decrease in the volume resistivity of composite films by less than nine orders of magnitude compared to that of pure PI films due to the electrical percolation networks of reduced GO created during imidization within the films. A tensile test indicated that the Young's modulus of the r-GO/PI composite film containing 20 wt% GO increased drastically from 2.3 GPa to 4.4 GPa, which was an improvement of approximately 84% compared to that of pure PI film. In addition, the corresponding tensile strength was found to have decreased only by 12%, from 113 MPa to 99 MPa.

• Carbon letters
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.117-120
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• 2013

In this study, an electro-catalyst of Pt nanoparticles supported by polypyrrole-functionalized graphene (Pt/PPy-reduced graphene oxide [RGO]) is reported. The Pt nanoparticles are deposited on the PPy-RGO composite by chemical reduction of H2PtCl6 using NaBH4. The presence of graphene (RGO) caused higher activity. This might have been due to increased electro-chemically accessible surface areas, increased electronic conductivity, and easier charge-transfer at polymer-electrolyte interfaces, allowing higher dispersion and utilization of the deposited Pt nano-particles. Microstructure, morphology and crystallinity of the synthesized materials were investigated using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed successful deposition of Pt nano-particles, with crystallite size of about 2.7 nm, on the PPy-RGO support film. Catalytic activity for methanol electro-oxidation in fuel cells was investigated using cyclic voltammetry. The fundamental electrochemical test results indicated that the electro-catalytic activity, for methanol oxidation, of the Pt/PPy-RGO combination was much better than for commercial catalyst.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.449-452
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• 2012

A polyaniline-gold composite was prepared via the polymerization of aniline hydrochloride with or without water-soluble graphite oxide using auric acid as an oxidant. The reaction products were characterized using Xray photoelectron spectroscopy. The thermal stability and embedded crystallinity of the composites were also investigated using thermogravimetric and X-ray diffraction analyses. The electrical properties of the composites were examined using cyclic voltammetric measurements at room temperature and temperature-dependent DC conductivity within 300-500 K. Compared to pure graphene oxide and polyaniline-gold composite, the polyaniline-gold-graphene composite exhibited higher crystallinity and thermal stability, and higher current density response under equivalent conditions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.263-273
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• 2023

This paper investigates dynamic characteristics of a graphene nanoplatelets reinforced composite (GNPRC) sandwich doubly curved shell based on the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and Hamilton's principle. The sandwich doubly curved shell is fabricated from a core made of honeycomb materials sandwiched by composite GNPs reinforced face-sheets. Effective materials properties of composite face-sheets are assumed to vary based on Halpin-Tsai micromechanical models and rule of mixture. Furthermore, the material properties of honeycomb core are estimated using Gibson's formula. The fundamental frequencies of the shell are computed with changes of main geometrical and material properties such as amount and distribution type of graphene nanoplatelets, side length ratio, thickness to length ratio of and side length ratio of honeycomb. The Navier's technique is presented to obtain responses. Accuracy and trueness of the present model and analytical solution is confirmed through comparison of the results with available results in literature. It is concluded that an increase in thickness to length ratio yields a softer core with lower natural frequencies. Furthermore, increase in height to length ratio leads to significant decrease in natural frequencies.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.592-598
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• 2013

Graphene oxide powders prepared by two different drying processes, freeze drying and spray drying, were studied to compare the effect of the drying method on the physical properties of graphene oxide powder. The graphene oxide dispersion was prepared from graphite by chemical delamination with the aid of sulfuric acid and permanganic acid, and the dispersion was further washed and re-dispersed in a mixed solvent of water and isopropyl alcohol. A freeze drying method can feasibly minimize damage to the sample, but it requires a long process time. In contrast, spray drying is able to remove a solvent in a relatively short time, though this process requires exposure to a high temperature for a rapid evaporation of the solvent. The powders prepared by freeze drying and spray drying were characterized and compared by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and by an elemental analysis. The graphene oxide powders showed similar chemical compositions; however, the morphologies of the powders differed in that the graphene oxide prepared by spray drying had a winkled morphology and a higher apparent density compared to the powder prepared by freeze drying. The graphene oxide powders were reduced at $900^{\circ}C$ in an atmosphere of $N_2$. The effect of the drying process on the properties of the reduced graphene oxide was examined by SEM, TEM and Raman spectroscopy.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.507-512
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• 2013

A graphene/waterborne polyurethane (WPU) nano composite was prepared by in-situ polymerization of PU and graphene having isocyanate (iGO) group in order to improve physicochemical/electrical characteristics. The properties of the graphene/WPU nanocomposite can effectively be enhanced as compared pristine WPU; up to 57% of tensile strength and $10^2$ fold of electrical conductivity with introduction of 2 wt% graphene. In addition, mechanical/electrical properties of the graphene/WPU nanocompsite were higher than those of graphene/WPU composite prepared by a simple physical blend method. It might attribute to homogeneous dispersion of iGO in the WPU matrix via covalent bonds and hydrogen bonds between WPU and iGO from the results of morphological analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.110-115
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• 2019

Graphene oxide has been gathering interests as a way to exfoliate graphene. Since the oxidation group of graphene oxide can hydrogen bond with various functional groups, tremendous efforts have been actively conducted to apply various applications. However, graphene oxide alone cannot substantially possess the mechanical properties required for the practical application. Therefore, in this study, polydopamine, which is a bio-mimetic mussel protein-inspired material, was combined with graphene oxide to form a large-area composite membrane at the liquid-gas interface. In addition, the morphology of the polydopamine-graphene oxide composite thin film was also controlled to obtain a composite membrane having a nano-wrinkle structure. It can be expected to be used in the next generation seawater desalination membranes or carbon composites because it can form mechanically superior and sophisticated nanostructures.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.104-110
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• 2010

The characteristics of all polymer composites containing carbon materials are determined by four factors: component properties, composition, structure and interfacial interactions. The most important filler characteristics are particle size, size distribution, specific surface area and particle shape. As a consequence, in this paper we discuss the aspects of the mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of composites with different fillers of carbon black, carbon nanotube (CNT), graphene and graphite and focus on the relationship between factors and properties, as mentioned above. Accordingly, we fabricate rubber composites that contain various carbon materials in carbon black-based and silica based-SBR matrixes with dual phase fillers and use scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, a rhometer, an Instron tensile machine, and a thermal conductivity analyzer to evaluate composites' mechanical, fatigue, thermal, and electronic properties. In mechanical properties, hardness and 300%-modulus of graphene-composite are sharply increased in all cases due to the larger specific surface. Also, it has been found that the thermal conductivity of the CNT-composite is higher than that of any of the other composites and that the composite with graphene has the best electrical properties.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.1973-1978
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• 2014

Here, we present a facile method to synthesize Pt nanoparticles (NPs) and graphene composite materials (Pt/G) via vacuum filtration. Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates were used to separate Pt/G composite and liquid phase. This method can be used to easily tune the mass ratio of Pt NPs and graphene. Pt NPs, graphene, and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as building blocks were characterized by a variety of techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. We compared the electrocatalytic activities of Pt/G with Pt NP and CNT films (Pt/CNT) by cyclic voltammetry (CV), CO oxidation, and methanol oxidation. Pt/G was much more stable than pure Pt films. Also, Pt/G had better electrochemical activity, CO tolerance and methanol oxidation than Pt/CNT loaded with the same amount of Pt NPs due to the better dispersion of Pt NPs on graphene flakes without aggregation. We further synthesized Au@Pt disk/G and Pt nanorods/G to determine if our synthetic method can be applied to other NP shapes such as nanodisks and nanorods, for further electrocatalysis studies.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.484-490
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• 2014

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was fabricated using gelatin as a reductant, and it could be stably dispersed in gelatin solution without aggregation. A series of RGO/gelatin composite films with various RGO contents were prepared by a solution-casting method. The structure and thermal properties of the RGO/gelatin composite films were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The addition of RGO enhances the degree of crosslinking of gelatin films and decreases the swelling ability of the gelatin films in water, indicating that RGO/gelatin composite films have a better wet stability than gelatin films. The glass transition temperature ($T_g$) of gelatin films is also increased with the incorporation of RGO. The presence of RGO slightly increases the degradation temperature of gelatin films due to the very low content of RGO in the composite films. Since gelatin is a natural and nontoxic biomacromolecule, the RGO/gelatin composite films are expected to have potential applications in the biomedical field.