• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.423-437
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• 2015

Polyvinylidene fluoride/fullerene nanoparticle (PVDF/$C_{60}$) composite microfiltration (MF) membranes were fabricated by a non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) using N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) as solvent and deionized water (DI) as coagulation solution. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was added to the casting solution to form membrane pores. $C_{60}$ was added in increments of 0.2% from 0.0% to 1.0% to produce six different membrane types: one pristine PVDF membrane type with no $C_{60}$ added as control, and five composite membrane types with varying $C_{60}$ concentrations of 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0%, respectively. The mechanical strength, morphology, pore size and distribution, hydrophilicity, surface property, permeation performance, and fouling resistance of the six membranes types were characterized using respective analytical methods. The results indicate that membranes containing $C_{60}$ have higher surface porosity and pore density than the pristine membrane. The presence of numerous pores on the membrane caused weaker mechanical strength, but the water flux of the composite membranes increased in spite of their smaller size. Initial flux and surface roughness reached the maximum point among the composite membranes when the $C_{60}$ concentration was 0.6 wt.%.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2017

The friction pendulum system(FPS) is a kind of seismic isolation devices for isolating structures from an earthquake. To analyze the effect of friction materials used in the friction pendulum system, fragility analysis of LNG tank with seismic isolation system was conducted. In this study, titanium dioxide($TiO_2$) nanoparticles were incorporated into polyvinylidene fluoride(PVDF) matrix to produce friction materials attached to the FPS. The base moment of the concrete outer tank and the acceleration of the structure were evaluated from different mixing ratios of constituents for the friction materials. The seismic fragility curves were developed based on two types of limit state. It is confirmed that evaluation of combined fragility curves with several limit states can be applied to select the optimum friction material satisfying the required performance of the FPS for various infrastructure.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.49-54
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• 2017

We develop a ceramic composite separator prepared by coating $ZrO_2$ nanoparticles with a poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) copolymer on a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) mechanical support prepared by electrospinning technique to improve thermal properties. The gurley number of the ceramic composite separator shows much lower value than that of a PE separator even though it possesses the polymeric coating layer with ceramic nanoparticles. In addition, the proposed sample shows higher electrolyte uptake than PE separator, leading to enhancing the ionic conductivity of the proposed sample and, by extension, the rate discharge properties of lithium ion batteries. Thermal stability of the ceramic composite separator is dramatically improved without any degradation in electrochemical performance compared to the performance of conventional PE separators.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.143-149
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• 2022

Membrane distillation (MD) has emerged as a sustainable desalination technology to solve the water and energy problems faced by the modern society. In particular, the surface wetting properties of the membrane have been recognized as a key parameter to determine the performance of the MD system. In this study, a novel surface modification technique was developed to induce a Janus-type hydrophilic/hydrophobic layer on the membrane surface. The hydrophilic layer was created on a porous PVDF membrane by vapor phase polymerization of the pyrrole monomer, forming a thin coating of polypyrrole on the membrane walls. A rigid polymeric coating layer was created without compromising the membrane porosity. The hydrophilic coating was then followed by the in-situ growth of siloxane nanoparticles, where the condensation of organosilane provided quick loading of hydrophobic layers on the membrane surface. The composite layers of dual coatings allowed systematic control of the surface wettability of porous membranes. By the virtue of the photothermal property of the hydrophilic polypyrrole layer, the desalination performance of the coated membrane was tested in a solar MD system. The wetting properties of the dual-layer were further evaluated in a direct-contact MD module, exploring the potential of the Janus membrane structure for effective and low-energy desalination.