• 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.35 no.6
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• pp.565-573
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• 2011

The nanocomposites containing graphene oxide (GO) were prepared in order to improve the mechanical properties of poly(methyl methacrylate)/aluminum hydroxide (PMMA/AH) composites. GO was prepared from graphite by oxidation of Hummers method followed by exfoliation with thermal treatment. The surface of GO was modified by oxygen plasma in various exposure times from 0 to 70 min to improve interfacial compatibility. Compared with PMMA/AH composites, the nanocomposites containing GO modified with oxygen plasma for the exposure time up to 50 min showed significant increases in flexural strength, flexural modulus, Rockwell hardness, Barcol hardness, and Izod impact strength. The morphology of fracture surface showed an improved interfacial adhesion between PMMA/AH composites and GO, which was properly treated with oxygen plasma. The mechanical properties of nanocomposites were deteriorated by increasing the content of GO above 0.07 phr due to the nonuniform dispersion of GO.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.15-29
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• 2016

A low cost environmentally benign surface coating binder is highly desirable in the field of material science. In this report, castor oil based hyperbranched polyester/bitumen modified fly ash nanocomposites were fabricated to achieve the desired performance. The hyperbranched polyester resin was synthesized by a three-step one pot condensation reaction using monoglyceride of castor oil based carboxyl terminated pre-polymer and 2,2-bis (hydroxymethyl) propionic acid. Also, the bulk fly ash of paper industry waste was converted to hydrophilic nano fly ash by ultrasonication followed by transforming it to an organonano fly ash by the modification with bitumen. The synthesized polyester resin and its nanocomposites were characterized by different analytical and spectroscopic tools. The nanocomposite obtained in presence of 20 wt% styrene (with respect to polyester) was found to be more homogeneous and stable compared to nanocomposite without styrene. The performance in terms of tensile strength, impact resistance, scratch hardness, chemical resistance and thermal stability was found to be improved significantly after formation of nanocomposite compared to the pristine system after curing with bisphenol-A based epoxy and poly(amido amine). The overall results of transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analysis and performance showed good exfoliation of the nano fly ash in the polyester matrix. Thus the studied nanocomposites would open up a new avenue on development of low cost high performing surface coating materials.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.16.2-16.2
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• 2011

Graphene has attracted significant attention due to its unique characteristics and promising nanoelectronic device applications. For practical device applications, it is essential to synthesize high-quality and large-area graphene films. Graphene has been synthesized by eloborated mechanical exfoliation of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite, chemical reduction of exfoliated grahene oxide, thermal decomposition of silicon carbide, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on metal substrates such as Ni, Cu, Ru etc. The CVD has advantages over some of other methods in terms of mass production on large-areas substrates and it can be easily separated from the metal substrate and transferred to other desired substrates. Especially, plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) can be very efficient to synthesize high-quality graphene. Little information is available on the synthesis of graphene by PECVD even though PECVD has been demonstrated to be successful in synthesizing various carbon nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes and nanosheets. In this study, we synthesized graphene on $Ni/SiO_2/Si$ and Cu plate substrates with CH4 diluted in $Ar/H_2$ (10%) by using an inductively-coupled PECVD (ICPCVD). High-quality graphene was synthesized at as low as $700^{\circ}C$ with 600 W of plasma power while graphene layer was not formed without plasma. The growth rate of graphene was so fast that graphene films fully covered on substrate surface just for few seconds $CH_4$ gas supply. The transferred graphene films on glass substrates has a transmittance at 550 nm is higher 94%, indicating 1~3 monolayers of graphene were formed. FETs based on the grapheme films transferred to $Si/SiO_2$ substrates revealed a p-type. We will further discuss the synthesis of graphene and doped graphene by ICPVCD and their characteristics.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.297-301
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• 2007

In this work, polymer/(layered silicate) nanocomposites (PLSN) based on poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO), ethylene carbonate (EC) as a plasticizer, lithium salt ($LiClO_4$), and sodium montmorillonite ($Na^+-MMT$) or organic montmorillonite (organic MMT) clay were fabricated. And the effects of organic MMT on the polymer matrix were investigated as a function of ionic conductivity. For the application to electrolytes an Li batteries, polymer electrolytes containing the organic nanoclays were used in this work. As a result, the spacing between layers and hydrophobicity of the organic nanoclays were increased, affecting on the exfoliation behaviors of the MMT layers in clay/PEO nanocomposites. From ion-conductivity results, the organic-MMT showed higher values than those of $Na^+-MMT$, and the MMT-20A sample that was treated by methyl dihydrogenated tallow ammonium, showed the highest conductivity in this system.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.162-166
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• 2013

Graphene-coated polymer particles have attracted research interests due to their emerging applications derived from their controlled structure and morphology. To control the properties of graphene oxide (GO)-polystyrene (PS) composite particles, the adsorption time and instantaneous adsorption conditions were investigated by varying their mixing method. Polystyrene particles prepared by emulsion polymerization were modified to have positive surface charge by adsorption of polyethylene imine (PEI) on the surface of PS particles. GO prepared by the chemical exfoliation method had negative surface charge from the oxygenated groups. The adsorption of the negatively charged GOs onto the positively charged PS particles was successfully completed, and it was found that a longer adsorption time and a greater difference in the instantaneous relative concentration led PS-GO particles to have more homogeneously coated surfaces without aggregation.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.382-387
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• 2013

Biodegradable polyurethane (PU)/clay nanocomposite films were prepared via extrusion compounding process followed by casting film process. Organically modified montmorillonite (denoted as C30B) with a large amount of hydroxyl groups on its surface was used for the formation of strong bonding with PU resin. From both XRD analysis and TEM observations, the intercalated and exfoliated structure, and dispersion state of silicate platelets in the compounded nanocomposite films were confirmed. In addition, the rheological and tensile properties, optical transparency, oxygen permeability of the prepared nanocomposites were investigated as a function of added nanoclay content, and moreover based on these results, the corelation between the morphology and the resulting properties of the nanocomposites could be presented. The inclusion of nanoclays at appropriate content resulted in remarkable improvement in the nanocomposite performance including tensile modulus, elongation, transparency, and oxygen barrier property, however at excess amount of nanoclays, reduction or very slight increase was observed due to poor dispersion. The biodegradability of the prepared nanocomposite film was evaluated by examining the deterioration in the barrier and tensile properties during degradation period under compost.

• Clean Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.102-108
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• 2009

In this study, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) was modified by reactive extrusion with a functional monomer GMA(glycidyl methacrylate), MMT(montmorillonite), and initiator to enhance the melt strength. Each modified PLA was prepared with different amounts of GMA and MMT and was characterized by measuring thennal- and melt-viscoelastic properties. The degree of dispersion of MMT was measured by X-ray diffraction(XRD) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM). The glass transition temperature($T_g$) of modified PLA-GMA-MMT nanocomposite decreased with increasing GMA content, but was a little affected by the amount of MMT. Surface analysis showed that the nanocomposite became more intercalated than exfoliated as the amount of MMT increases. The complex viscosity and storage modulus of the nano-composite were greatly increased by addition of MMT.

• Carbon letters
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• v.27
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• pp.81-89
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• 2018

The present study aimed to prepare a novel efficient flame retardant additive for polypropylene. The new flame retardant was prepared by chemical grafting of melamine to graphene oxide with the aid of thionyl chloride. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis proved that melamine had been successfully grafted to the graphene oxide. The modified graphene oxide was incorporated into polypropylene via solution mixing followed by anti-solvent precipitatio. Homogeneous distribution as well as exfoliation of the nanoplatelets in the polymer matrix was observed using transmission electron microscopy. Thermogravimetric analysis showed a significant improvement in the thermo-oxidative stability of the polymer after incorporating 2 wt% of the modified graphene oxide. The modified graphene oxide also enhanced the limiting oxygen index of the polymer. However, the amount of improvement was not enough for the polymer to be ranked as a self-extinguishing material. Cone calorimetry showed that incorporating 2 wt% of the modified graphene oxide lowered total heat release and the average production rate of carbon monoxide during burning of the polymer by as much as 40 and 35%, respectively. Hence, it was concluded that the new flame retardant can retard burning of the polymer efficiently and profoundly reduce suffocation risk of exposure to burning polymer byproducts.

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.19-42
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• 2018

In this study, we surveyed weathering progressing aspect by major elements variation and rock hardness by using XRF analysis, schmidt hammer, and thin section analysis. This observation suggested that the weathering process is likely to develop differently according to microstructural characteristics. R-value on the inside wall are lower than those on the outside. Also, the shadier the environment was, the closer it was to inshore areas, the R-value appeared to be lower. The movement of the elements such as Ca, Na and K shows that feldspar is hydrolyzed and can form salt crystallization like a gypsum or halite when they combine with the elements such as S or Cl. It proved a high CaO, $Na_2O$ and $K_2O$ content on flaking inside wall and rock meal. The exfoliation was mainly observed along the shady backwall and ceiling of tafoni. This helped in predicting the growth of tafoni as well as the direction of its progress.