• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.678-682
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• 2015

The electrical property of polymer matrix composites with added carbon powder is studied based on the temperature dependency of the conduction mechanism. The temperature coefficient of the resistance of the polymer matrix composites below the percolation threshold (x) changed from negative to positive at 0.20 < x < 0.21; this trend decreased with increasing of the percolation threshold. The temperature dependence of the electrical property(resistivity) of the polymer matrix composites below the percolation threshold can be explained by using a tunneling conduction model that incorporates the effect of the thermal expansion of the polymer matrix composites into the tunneling gap. The temperature coefficient of the resistance of the polymer matrix composites above the percolation threshold has a positive value; its absolute value increased with increasing volume fraction of carbon powder. By assuming that the electrical conduction through the percolating paths is a thermally activated process and by incorporating the effect of thermal expansion into the volume fraction of the carbon power, the temperature dependency of the resistivity above the percolation threshold can be well explained without violating the universal law of conductivity.

• Composites Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.29-39
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• 2015

Natural fibers reinforced polymer composites are being used in several low strength applications. More research is going on to improve their mechanical and interface properties for structural applications. However, these composites have serious issues regarding flammability, which are not being focused broadly. A limited amount of literature has been published on the flame retardant techniques and flammability factor of natural fibers based polymer matrix composites. Therefore, it is needed to address the flammability properties of natural fibers based polymer composites to expand their application area. This paper summarizes some of the recent literature published on the subject of flammability and flame retardant methods applied to natural fibers reinforced polymer matrix composites. Different factors affecting the flammability, flame retardant solutions, mechanisms and characterization techniques have been discussed in detail.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.44-52
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• 2002

Composite materials are created by combining two or more component to achieve desired properties which could not be obtained with the separate components. The use of reinforcing fillers, which can reduce material costs and improve certain properties, is increasing in thermoplastic polymer composites. Currently, various inorganic fillers such as talc, mica, clay, glass fiber and calcium carbonate are being incorporated into thermoplastic composites. Nevertheless, lignocellulose fibers have drawn attention due to their abundant availability, low cost and renewable nature. In recent, interest has grown in composites made from lignocellulose fiber in thermoplastic polymer matrices, particularly for low cost/high volume applications. In addition to high specific properties, lignocellulose fibers offer a number of benefits for lignocellulose fiber/thermoplastic polymer composites. These include low hardness, which minimize abrasion of the equipment during processing, relatively low density, biodegradability, and low cost on a unit-volume basis. In spite of the advantage mentioned above, the use of lignocellulose fibers in thermoplastic polymer composites has been plagued by difficulties in obtaining good dispersion and strong interfacial adhesion because lignocellulose fiber is hydrophilic and thermoplastic polymer is hydrophobic. The application of lignocellulose fibers as reinforcements in composite materials requires, just as for glass-fiber reinforced composites, a strong adhesion between the fiber and the matrix regardless of whether a traditional polymer matrix, a biodegradable polymer matrix or cement is used. Further this article gives a survey about physical and chemical treatment methods which improve the fiber matrix adhesion, their results and effects on the physical properties of composites. Coupling agents in lignocellulose fiber and polymer composites play a very important role in improving the compatibility and adhesion between polar lignocellulose fiber and non-polar polymeric matrices. In this article, we also review various kinds of coupling agent and interfacial mechanism or phenomena between lignocellulose fiber and thermoplastic polymer.

• Carbon letters
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.76-88
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• 2013

Carbon fibers (CFs) have high service temperature, strength, and stiffness, and low weight. They are widely used as reinforcing materials in advanced polymer composites. The role of the polymer matrix in the composites is to provide bulk to the composite laminate and transfer load between the fibers. The interface between the CF and the resin matrix plays a critical role in controlling the overall properties of the composites. This paper aims to review the synthesis, properties, and applications of polymer matrices, such as thermosetting and thermoplastic resins.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.459-468
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• 2000

To improve the mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites, laminated composites plates were fabricated using different matrix resins and glass or aramid fibers. The effect of matrix resin system were evaluated by tensile, flexural strength measurements. In the case of surface treated aramid fiber and unsaturated polyester resin composite, maximum flexural properties were observed in the composite prepared from the glass fiber treated with 0.5 wt% silane coupling agents. Vinylester resin composites show the highest tensile properties and isophthalic polyester composites have the highest flexural properties among the unsaturated polyester resin composites studied. The relationship between overlap laminated composites plates and mechanical properties of polymer composites is also investigated in order to improve mechanical properties of glass fiber and unsaturated polyester resin composites.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.80-86
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• 2010

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) exhibit excellent mechanical, electrical, and magnetic properties as well as nanometer scale diameter and high aspect ratio, which make them an ideal reinforcing agent for high strength polymer composites. The functionalized CNTs are believed to be very promising in the fields such as preparation of functional and composite materials. CNT-Polymer composites are expected to have good processability characteristics of the polymer and excellent functional properties of the CNTs. However, since CNTs usually form stabilized bundles due to Van der Waals interactions, are extremely difficult to disperse and align in a polymer matrix. The biggest issues in the preparation of CNT-reinforced composites reside in efficient dispersion of CNTs into a polymer matrix, and the alignment and control of the CNTs in the matrix. There are several methods for the dispersion of nanotubes in the polymer matrix such as solution mixing, bulk mixing, melt mixing, in-situ polymerization and chemical functionalization of the carbon nanotubes, etc. These methods and preparation of high performance CNT-polymer composites are described in this review.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.647-652
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• 1997

Repair and rehabilitation of existing structures is becoming a major part of construction, both in the industrially developed and developing countries. Advanced high strength composites are being utilized more and more for these applications because they are much stronger than steel, non-corrosive, and light. The light weight reduces the construction cost and time sustantially. The fibers are normally made of aramid, carbon, or glass and the binders are typically epoxies or esters. One major disadvantage of these composites is the vulnerability to fire. In most instance, the temperature cannot exceed $300^{\cire}C$. Since carbon and glass can substain high temperatures, an inorganic polymer is being evaluated for use as a matrix. The matrix can sustain more than $1000^{\cire}C$. The results reported in this paper deal with the mechanical properties of carbon composites made with the inorganic polymer and the behavior strengthened reinforced concrete beams. The results indicate that the new matrix can be successfully utilized for a number of applications.

• Carbon letters
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.57-69
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• 2011

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have high Young's modulus, low density, and excellent electrical and thermal properties, which make them ideal fillers for polymer composites. Homogeneous dispersion of CNTs in a polymer matrix plays a crucial role in the preparation of polymer composites based on interfacial interactions between CNTs and the polymer matrix. The addition of a small amount of CNTs strongly improves the electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties of the composites. This paper aims to review the processing technology and improvement of properties of CNT-reinforced polymer composites.

• Carbon letters
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• v.1 no.3_4
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• pp.158-164
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• 2001

It is well known that the fabrication process of carbon/carbon composites is very complex. Above all, the carbonization process have major effect on the morphology development of carbon matrix. Carbon/carbon composites of 4-directional fiber preform were fabricated using the coal tar based pitch as a matrix precursor in this study. According to carbonization pressure of 1 bar, 100 bar, 600 bar, and 900 bar, morphological changes of cokes and matrix of composites were discussed. As the carbonization pressure increased to 600 bar, the flow pattern morphology of bulk mesophse was well developed. On the contrary, mosaic pattern morphology was found in case of 900 bar of carbonization pressure. It is confirmed that the carbonization pressure have profound effect on the degree of graphitization and crystal size of carbon matrix. Even in the highly densified carbon/carbon composites, large voids were still found in the matrix pocket region.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.525-539
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• 2010

Polymer matrix composites are widely used in many engineering applications as they can be customized to meet a desired performance while not only maintaining low cost but also reducing weight. Polymers can experience viscoelastic-viscoplastic response when subjected to external loadings. Various reinforcements and fillers are added to polymers which bring out more complexity in analyzing the timedependent response. This study formulates an integrated micromechanical model and finite element (FE) analysis for predicting effective viscoelastic-viscoplastic response of polymer based hybrid composites. The studied hybrid system consists of unidirectional short-fiber reinforcements and a matrix system which is composed of solid spherical particle fillers dispersed in a homogeneous polymer constituent. The goal is to predict effective performance of hybrid systems having different compositions and properties of the fiber, particle, and matrix constituents. A combined Schapery's viscoelastic integral model and Valanis's endochronic viscoplastic model is used for the polymer constituent. The particle and fiber constituents are assumed linear elastic. A previously developed micromechanical model of particle reinforced composite is first used to obtain effective mechanical properties of the matrix systems. The effective properties of the matrix are then integrated to a unit-cell model of short-fiber reinforced composites, which is generated using the FE. The effective properties of the matrix are implemented using a user material subroutine in the FE framework. Limited experimental data and analytical solutions available in the literatures are used for comparisons.