• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.527-534
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• 2015

This study offers a novel method for improving the physical contact between the anode and fuel in a direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC): a direct generation of carbon in a porous Ni anode through the thermal decomposition of gaseous hydrocarbons. Three kinds of alkane hydrocarbons with different carbon numbers (CH4, C2H6, and C3H8) are tested. From electron microscope observations of the carbon particles generated from each hydrocarbon, we confirm that more carbon spheres (CS), carbon nanotubes (CNT), and carbon nanofibers (CNF) were identified with increasing carbon number. Raman scattering results revealed that the carbon samples became less crystalline and more flexible with increasing carbon number. DCFC performance was measured at $700^{\circ}C$ with the anode fueled by the same mass of each carbon sample. One-dimensional carbon fuels of CNT and CNF more actively produced and had power densities 148 and 210 times higher than that of the CS, respectively. This difference is partly attributed to the findings that the less-crystalline CNT and CNF have much lower charge transfer resistances than the CS.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.539-544
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• 2020

A three-dimensional (3D) porous polyaniline (PANI) film was fabricated by a combined photo-and soft-lithography technique based on a large-area nanopillar array, followed by a controlled chemical dilute polymerization. The as-obtained 3D PANI film consisted of hierarchically interconnected PANI nanofibers, resulting in a 3D hierarchical nanoweb film with a large surface and open porous structure. Using electrochemical measurements, the resulting 3D PANI film was demonstrated as a flexible pH sensor electrode, exhibiting a high sensitivity of 60.3 mV/pH, which is close to the ideal Nernstian behavior. In addition, the 3D PANI electrode showed a fast response time of 10 s, good repeatability, and good selectivity. When the 3D PANI electrode was measured under a mechanically bent state, the electrode exhibited a high sensitivity of 60.4 mV/pH, demonstrating flexible pH sensor performance.

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

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.323-328
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• 2015

Poly(${\varepsilon}$-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers and PCL/silica membranes were synthesized by sol-gel derived electrospinning and casting, respectively. Smooth PCL nanofibers were obtained from the precursor containing N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF). PCL/silica membranes were prepared by varying the tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) contents from 0 to 40 vol% to investigate the effect of silica addition on mechanical properties and cytotoxicity of the membranes. Although the strength of the membranes decreased from 12 to 8 MPa with increasing the silica content, the strength remained almost constant 7 weeks after dipping in phosphate buffered saline solution (PBS). The strength reduction was attributed to the presence of a patterned surface pores and micro-pores present in the walls between pores. The crystal structure of the membranes was orthorhombic and the crystallite size decreased from 57 to 18 nm with increasing the silica content. From the agar overlay test, the PCL/silica membranes exhibited neither deformation and discoloration nor lysis of L-929 fibroblast cells.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.250-257
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• 2016

Octahedral $Co_3O_4$/carbon nanofiber (CNF) composites are fabricated using electrospinning and hydrothermal methods. Their morphological characteristics, chemical bonding states, and electrochemical properties are used to demonstrate the improved photovoltaic properties of the samples. Octahedral $Co_3O_4$ grown on CNFs is based on metallic Co nanoparticles acting as seeds in the CNFs, which seeds are directly related to the high performance of DSSCs. The octahedral $Co_3O_4$/CNFs composites exhibit high photocurrent density ($12.73mA/m^2$), superb fill factor (62.1 %), and excellent power conversion efficiency (5.61 %) compared to those characteristics of commercial $Co_3O_4$, conventional CNFs, and metallic Co-seed/CNFs. These results can be described as stemmnig from the synergistic effect of the porous and graphitized matrix formed by catalytic graphitization using the metal cobalt catalyst on CNFs, which leads to an increase in the catalytic activity for the reduction of triiodide ions. Therefore, octahedral $Co_3O_4$/CNFs composites can be used as a counter electrode for Pt-free dye-sensitized solar cells.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.393-399
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• 2016

Flower-like nickel oxide (NiO) catalysts were coated on NiCrAl alloy foam using a hydrothermal method. The structural, morphological, and chemical bonding properties of the NiO catalysts coated on the NiCrAl alloy foam were investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. To obtain flower-like morphology of NiO catalysts on the NiCrAl alloy foam, we prepared three different levels of pH of the hydrothermal solution: pH-7.0, pH-10.0, and pH-11.5. The NiO morphology of the pH-7.0 and pH-10.0 samples exhibited a large size plate owing to the slow reaction of the hydroxide ($OH^-$) and nickel ions ($Ni^+$) in lower pH than pH-11.5. Flower-like NiO catalysts (${\sim}4.7{\mu}m-6.6{\mu}m$) were formed owing to the fast reaction of $OH^-$ and $Ni^{2+}$ by increased $OH^-$ concentration at high pH. Thus, the flower-like morphology of NiO catalysts on NiCrAl alloy foam depends strongly on the pH of the hydrothermal solution.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.274-281
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• 2009

Nylon 6 and nylon elastomer were prepared by anionic polymerization route. Nylon elastomers, composed of hard segment of polyamide(PA) and soft segment of polyether(PE), were synthesized by use of TDI terminated polyol with caprolactam. The morphology of the electrospun webs of nylon and nylon elastomers, observed by FE-SEM, showed that the porous electrospun web was composed of nanofibers, whose diameter were in the range of 100 to 180 nm. Their behavior of melting and crystallization and the chemical structure of nylon elastomers were investigated by DSC and ATR FT-IR. Result of tensile testing indicated that nylon has higher tensile strength and lower elongation than nylon elastomers. Atmospheric plasma(APP) with $O_2$ and $N_2$ as reactive gas modified the surface of electrospun nylon and electrospun nylon elastomers allowing them higher hydrophilicity, while APP with $CH_4$ as reactive gas modified the surface of polymers allowing higher hydrophobicity.