• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.106-112
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• 2021

Catalyst poisoning by ionomers in membrane electrode assemblies of alkaline membrane fuel cells has been reported recently. We tried to improve the membrane electrode assembly's performance by controlling the solvent's ratio during electrode manufacturing. 4 Different mixing ratios of N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and ethylene glycol (EG) gave four different cathode electrodes with platinum and Fuma-Tech ionomers. The electrode with higher EG improved polarization performance by about 36% compared to the NMP-based commercial ionomer. The dependence of the ionomer's dispersibility on the solvent seems responsible for the difference, which means that the non-uniform distribution of ionomers improves the performance of the electrode. High-frequency resistance, internal resistance corrected polarization curve, Tafel slope, mass activity, and impedance spectroscopy characterized the electrode. We can find that the existence of poor solvent improves cathode electrode performance. It seems to be the result of reduced poisoning of the catalyst according to the particle size distribution of the ionomer.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.131-136
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• 2008

Silica- or titania-filled poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)-based polymer electrolytes were prepared by phase inversion technique using N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and dimethyl acetamide as solvent and water as non-solvent. The polymer electrolytes were adopted to the lithium metal polymer battery using high-capacity cathode $Li[Ni_{0.15}Co_{0.10}Li_{0.20}Mn_{0.55}]O_2$ and lithium metal anode. After the repeated charge-discharge test for the cell, it was proved that the cell adopting the polymer electrolyte based on the phase-inversion membrane containing 40~50 wt% silica showed the highest discharge capacity (180 mAh/g) until 80th cycle and then abrupt capacity fade was just followed. The capacity fade might be due to the deposition of lithium dendrite on the polymer electrolyte, in which the capacity retention was no longer sustainable.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1999

Sulfonated polyetherimide having anionic charge and better hydrophilicity than polyetherimide was prepared by reacting polyetherimide with chlorosulfonic acid. To prepare casting solution, from which the membrane having good performance can produce. Polyvinylpyrrolidone as a pore forming agent and volatile weak solvent such as dichloromethane to foml the dense skin layer were added to the sulfonated polyetherimide / N -methyl-2-pyrrolidone solution. Membrane fabricated sulfonated PEl showed better fouling resistance to the protein than those fabricated PEL because of its hydrophilicity. Solute having negative charge was removed effectively with membrane fabricated from the sulfonated PEl because of its the same electron charge.

• Clean Technology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.237-247
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• 2017

In the dimethyl ether (DME) synthesis and separation process, over 8% by mole of $CO_2$ is fed to the DME synthesis reactor which lowers DME productivity. Therefore, this work focused on the removal of $CO_2$ using three kinds of processes with physical absorbents by comparing the utility consumption through computer simulation of each process. Among the processes selected for comparison are Rectisol$^{(R)}$ process using methanol, Purisol$^{(R)}$ process using n-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP), and SelexolTM process using dimethyl ethers of polyethylene glycol (DEPG) as a solvent. As a result of this study, it was concluded that Purisol$^{(R)}$ process consumes the least energy followed by SelexolTM process. Therefore, it is considered that Purisol$^{(R)}$ process is the most suitable method to absorb $CO_2$ contained in the feed of DME synthesis reactor.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.733-740
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• 2016

$Al_2O_3$ nanosol dispersed under ethanol or N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone(NMP) was studied and optimized with various dispersion factors and by utilizing the silane modification method. The two kinds of $Al_2O_3$ powders used were prepared by thermal decomposition method from aluminum ammonium sulfate$(AlNH_4(SO_4)_2)$ while controlling the calcination temperature. $Al_2O_3$ sol was prepared under ethanol solvent by using a batch-type bead mill. The dispersion properties of the $Al_2O_3$ sol have a close relationship to the dispersion factors such as the pH, the amount of acid additive(nitric acid, acetic acid), the milling time, and the size and combination of zirconia beads. Especially, $Al_2O_3$ sol added 4 wt% acetic acid was found to maintain the dispersion stability while its solid concentration increased to 15 wt%, this stability maintenance was the result of the electrostatic and steric repulsion of acetic acid molecules adsorbed on the surface of the $Al_2O_3$ particles. In order to observe the dispersion property of $Al_2O_3$ sol under NMP solvent, $Al_2O_3$ sol dispersed under ethanol solvent was modified and solvent-exchanged with N-Phenyl-(3-aminopropyl)trimethoxy silane(APTMS) through a binary solvent system. Characterization of the $Al_2O_3$ powder and the nanosol was observed by XRD, SEM, ICP, FT-IR, TGA, Particles size analysis, etc.

• Carbon letters
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.171-182
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• 2015

Mesophase pitch is an important starting material for making a wide spectrum of industrial and advanced carbon products. It is produced by pyrolysis of petroleum residues. In this work, mesophase formation behavior in petroleum residues was studied to prepare environmentally-benign mesophase pitches, and the composition of petroleum residues and its influence on the mesophase formation was investigated. Two petroleum residues, i.e., clarified oil s (CLO-1, CLO-2) obtained from fluid catalytic cracking units of different Indian petroleum refineries, were taken as feed stocks. A third petroleum residue, aromatic extract (AE), was produced by extraction of one of the CLO-1 by using N-methyl pyrrolidone solvent. These petroleum residues were thermally treated at 380℃ to examine their mesophase formation behavior. Mesophase pitches produced as a result of thermal treatment were characterized physico-chemically, as well as by instrumental techniques such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetry/derivative thermogravimetry. Thermal treatment of these petroleum residues led to formation of a liquid-crystalline phase (mesophase). The mesophase formation behavior in the petroleum residues was analyzed by optical microscopy. Mesophase pitch prepared from CLO-2 exhibited the highest mesophase content (53 vol%) as compared to other mesophase pitches prepared from CLO-1 and AE.

• Electrical & Electronic Materials
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 1997

The electrical and electromagnetic shielding properties have been investigated in polyaniline free standing films with different degrees of elongation cast from N-methyl 2-pyrrolidone(NMP) solution and camphorsulfonic acid(HCSA) doped polyaniline film. The degree of crystallinity of the crosslinked films increased with increasing the draw ratio. For the case of the oriented films doped with hydrochloric acid, we have the values of conductivities up to 173 S/cm. It is considered that the physical micro-crystalline crosslinking domains act as nucleation sites for the increase of relative crystallinity during stretching. We have obtained the value of conductivity 210 S/cm in the HCSA doped polyaniline film cast from the solvent of m-cresol, which is higher than that of the crosslinking oriented films. The electromagnetic shielding efficiency of HCSA doped polyaniline film obtained 37-41 dB in the frequency range of 10MHz-1GHlz, which is higher than that of the crosslinking oriented films. The higher value of electromagnetic shielding efficiency of HCSA doped polyaniline film suggests strong possibility of electromagnetic shielding material.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.81-90
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• 2024

In the oil and gas industry, composite materials should exhibit high flexibility and strength for offshore structures. Therefore, weak points in the composites should be improved, such as brittleness, moisture penetration, and diffusion of detrimental ions into nanometric pores. This study aimed to increase the strength, flexibility, and plugging of nanopores using single-layer graphene oxide (SGO) nanosheets. Therefore, SGO is added to unsaturated polyester resin at concentrations of 0.015 and 0.15 % with Normal Methyl Pyrrolidone (NMP) as a solvent for the formation of Nanographene Oxide Reinforced Polymer (NGORP). The mechanical properties of the prepared samples were tested using tensile testing (ASTM-D 638). It has been shown that incorporating SGO, approximately 0.015%, into the base resin resulted in enhanced properties such as rupture resistance forces increased by 745.61 N, applied stress tolerances increased by 4.1 MPa, longitude increased to 1.58 mm, elongation increased by about 2.38%, and rupture energy increased by about 204.51 J. Despite the decrease in tensile force strength properties in the manufactured nanocomposite with 0.15% SGO, it has exclusive flexibility properties such as a high required energy level for rupture of 5,576 times and a formability of 40% more than the base sample. It would be best to use NGORP manufactured from 0.015% nanosheets with exclusive properties rather than base samples for constructing parts and equipment, such as rebars, composite sheets, and transmission pipes, on offshore platforms.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.367-371
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• 2012

Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) contain valuable metals such as Cu, Ni, Au, Ag, and Pd. For an effective recycling of WPCBs, it is essential to recover the valuable metals. In recent years, recycling processes have come to be necessary for separating noble metals from WPCBs due to an increasing amount of electronic device wastes. However, it is well known that glass reinforced epoxy resins in the WPCBs are difficult materials to separate into elemental components, namely metals, glass fibers and epoxy resins in the chemical recycling process. $K_3PO_4$ as a catalyst in dimethylformamide (DMF) and N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) was used to depolymerize epoxy resins for recovering metallic and non-metallic components from WPCBs. Reactions of WPCBs were carried out at temperatures $160{\sim}200^{\circ}C$ for 2~12 h. The recycled glass fiber from WPCBs was analyzed by thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and evaluated the degree of solubility of the epoxy resin for separation efficiencies of the WPCBs.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.282-293
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• 2008

Partially sulfonated poly(aryl ether sulfone) membranes were prepared from the sulfonated sulfone monomer, which was synthesized by a nucleophilic substitution, non-sulfonated monomers and potassium carbonate by a direct polymerization method and a subsequent solution casting technique with mixed solvents of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and dimethylacetamide (DMAc). To investigate the effect of mixed solvent, the volume ratios of NMP and DMAc were varied in the range of $0{\sim}100%$ and the degrees of sulfonation of the copolymers were fixed as 50%. The surface properties of the resulting membranes were examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM), and a comparative study of the morphology changes and the physicochemical properties such as proton conductivity and methanol permeability was achieved. It was found that proton conductivities depend on the volume ratio of NMP-DMAc mixed solvents, and the proton conductivity determined at the condition of $25^{\circ}C$ and 100% relative humidity was $1.38{\times}10^{-1}\;S/cm$ for the membrane prepared in the 50:50 v/v-% of NMP : DMAc mixed solvent.