• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.574-581
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• 2022

Nanofibers comprising reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and Mo₂C/Mo₂N nanoparticles (Mo₂C/Mo₂N rGO NFs) were prepared for a functional interlayer of Li-S batteries (LSBs). The well-dispersed Mo₂C and Mo₂N nanoparticles in the nanofiber structure served as active polar sites for efficient immobilization of dissolved lithium polysulfide. The rGO nanosheets in the structure also provide conductive channels for fast ion/electron transport during charging-discharging and ensured reuse of lithium polysulfide during redox reactions through a fast charge transfer process. As a result, the cell assembled with Mo₂C/Mo₂N rGO NFs-coated separator and pure sulfur electrode (70 wt% of sulfur content and 2.1 mg cm^-2 of sulfur loading) showed a stable discharge capacity of 476 mA h g^-1 after 400 charge-discharge cycles at 0.1 C. Furthermore, it exhibited a discharge capacity of 574 mA h g^-1 even at a high current density of 1.0 C. Therefore, we believe that the proposed unique nanostructure synthesis strategy could provide new insights into the development of sustainable and highly conductive polar materials as functional interlayers for high performance LSBs.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.2
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• pp.255-259
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• 2022

Solar membrane steam generation is a very promising technology that can harvest purified water from seawater or wastewater during the current danger of running out of pure water. However, solar Membrane steam generation had direct contact with water, making it difficult to increase the efficient amount of evaporation. Here, we propose solar membrane steam generator composed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and graphene oxide (GO) and improved evaporation through wettability control in part throughout the water-absorbing membrane. Wettability control has shown significant improvements in thermal localization and temperature rise in the area of heat exchange with sunlight. The evaporator has an evaporation rate of 1.54 kg m^-2 h^-1 under 1 sun irradiation. The results showed that Solar membrane steam evaporation can effectively harvest pure water through an increase in evaporation.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.158-167
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• 2023

The increasing concerns for environmental pollution and depletion of natural resources have prompted the development of environmentally sustainable technologies. Pervaporation has garnered attention in recent decades due to its low energy consumption, environmental impact, and performance efficiency. This method has been used to separate chemical species and dehydrate organic solvents, as the membranes can be fine-tuned to fulfill the desired selectivity. Several separation processes, such as reverse osmosis and distillation, are being utilized in both experimental settings and industrial applications. However, pervaporation has several advantages, such as low operating pressure and temperature and a higher rejection rate. Nonetheless, the current state of membrane technology alone can't suffice the demands of practical applications. Composite membranes, on the other hand, can leverage the benefits of both organic and inorganic materials. Many studies have effectively incorporated inorganic nanomaterials such as graphene oxide (GO) and MXene (MX) in polymeric membranes to tackle the current limitations. This review investigates the recent development of 2D composite membranes in pervaporation and evaluates performance enhancement.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.105-112
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• 2018

In this study, PTMSP-GO composite membranes were prepared by the addition of GO (graphene oxide) into PTMSP [poly (1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne)] having high gas permeability, to study of gaseous membrane using GO. Gas permeation properties for $N_2$, $CH_4$, $CO_2$ were investigated by increasing the amount of GO in the PTMSP. PTMSP-GO composite membranes had higher gas permeability in the order of $N_2$ < $CH_4$ < $CO_2$. The gas permeation tendency of $N_2$, $CH_4$, and $CO_2$ increased as the content of GO increased from 0 to 10 wt%, but the gas permeability decreased as increased from 10 to 30 wt%. In the range of low GO contents, the gas permeability decreased due to the decrease of diffusivity because GO acts as a barrier in the composite membrane, and the gas permeability increased due to the void at the interface above the content range. And $CO_2$ has an affinity with -COOH of GO, the selectivity ($CO_2/N_2$) and the selectivity ($CO_2/CH_4$) gradually increase with increasing GO content. And the selectivity($CO_2/N_2$) showed the highest selectivity at 10.6 for PTMSP-GO 10 wt% and the selectivity ($CO_2/CH_4$) showed the highest selectivity at 3.4 for PTMSP-GO 20 wt%. However, above a certain amount of GO, selectivity ($CO_2/N_2$) and selectivity ($CO_2/CH_4$) decreased because the coagulation phenomenon between GO was increased and the solubility effect of $CO_2$ decreased. The PTMSP-GO 20 wt% composite membrane exhibited enhanced gas permeation characteristics with increased $CO_2$ permeability and selectivity ($CO_2/CH_4$) over PTMSP membrane.

• Composites Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.98-105
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• 2022

In this study, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/graphene oxide (GO)/iron oxide (Fe₃O₄) magnetic microgels were prepared using a microfluidic approach and the dye adsorption capacity of the microgels was confirmed. The adsorption capacity (q_e) of the gels was evaluated by varying the dye concentration, pH, and contact time with the microgels. The dyes used in this work were methylene blue (MB), crystal violet (CV), and malachite green (MG), and microgels showed the highest adsorption capacity (191.1 mg/g) in methylene blue. The microgels exhibited the highest adsorption capacity in the dye aqueous solution at pH 10 due to the presence of atomic nitrogen ions (N⁺) on the dye molecules. The adsorption isotherm studies revealed that the Langmuir isotherm is the best fit isotherm model for the dye adsorption on the microgels, indicative of monolayer adsorption. The kinetic analysis exhibited that the pseudo-second order model fits better than the pseudo-first order model, confirming that the adsorption process is chemisorption. In addition, the magnetic microgels showed good reusability and recovery efficiency. It was confirmed that the adsorption capacity of the gels maintains more than 70% of the initial capacity after 5 times of cycle experiments.

• Clean Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.258-268
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• 2016

In this work, carboxymethylcellulose-based composite superabsorbent hydrogels were prepared by electron beam radiation. The composition of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) varied from 4 wt%, 5 wt%, and 6 wt% to 7 wt% based on the amount of distilled water in the syntheses of hydrogels. Graphite oxide, reduced graphene oxide, activated carbon, and bentonite were used as additives for the synthesis of composite superabsorbent. The effect of CMC composition and the type of additives on the gel properties of the prepared hydrogels was investigated. In order to verify the functional groups in the prepared materials, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used. In addition, mechanical strength, gel fraction, swelling kinetics, and equilibrium swelling ratios were measured for the prepared hydrogels. Swelling experiments were carried out in distilled water, urea solution, and physiological saline water. Prepared hydrogels were reused for 5 times, and gel fraction and swelling ratio were measured at every 24 hours. Among the prepared hydrogels, $C_{5%}GO$ and $C_{5%}rGO$ exhibited excellent mechanical property and relatively high swelling ratios for urea solution and physiological saline water with promising applicability as slow-release fertilizers.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 2022

Due to the extensive use of concrete structures in various applications, the improvement of their strength and quality has become of great importance. A new way of achieving this purpose is to add different types of nanoparticles to concrete admixtures. In this work, a mathematical model has been employed to analyze the vibration of concrete beams reinforced by graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles. To verify the accuracy of the presented model, an experimental study has been conducted to compare the compressive strengths of these beams. Since GO nanoparticles are not readily dissolved in water, before producing the concrete samples, the GO nanoparticles are dispersed in the mixture by using a shaker, magnetic striker, ultrasonic devices, and finally, by means of a mechanical mixer. The sinusoidal shear deformation beam theory (SSDBT) is employed to model the concrete beams. The Mori-Tanaka model is used to determine the effective properties of the structure, including the agglomeration influences. The motion equations are calculated by applying the energy method and Hamilton's principle. The vibration frequencies of the concrete beam samples are obtained by an analytical method. Three samples containing 0.02% GO nanoparticles are made and their compressive strengths are measured and compared. There is a good agreement between our results and those of the mathematical model and other papers, with a maximum difference of 1.29% between them. The aim of this work is to investigate the effects of nanoparticle volume fraction and agglomeration and the influences of beam length and thickness on the vibration frequency of concrete structures. The results show that by adding the GO nanoparticles, the vibration frequency of the beams is increased.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.336-340
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• 2015

Three different types of polycarbonate (PC)/graphene oxide (GO) composites using diphenyl carbonate as a monomer were fabricated by melt polymerization. Those were the PC/GO composite (PC/GO) using a twin extruder, in-situ PC/GO composite (PC/GO-cat.) using a catalyst, and in-situ PC/GO composite (PC/GO-COCl) using a GO-COCl treated by -COCl, Chemical structures of the composites were confirmed by C-H and C=O stretching peak at $3000cm^{-1}$ and $1750cm^{-1}$, respectively. The slope for the storage (G') versus loss (G") modulus plot decreased with an increase in the heterogeneous property of polymer melts. So we can check the GO dispersion of the PC/GO composites using by the slop for G'-G" plot. According to the G'- G" slopes for three different types of PC/GO composites, GO was well dispersed within PC matrix in case of PC/GO and PC/GO-cat.. It was also confirmed by atomic force microscope (AFM) photos. One of the reasons for the poor GO dispersion of PC/GO-COCl is branching and crosslinking processes occurred during polymerization, which was further confirmed by a plot for the complex modulus versus phase difference.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.16-34
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• 2021

Water supplies are decreasing in comparison to increasing clean water demands. Using nanofiltration is one of the most effective and economical methods to meet the need for clean water. Common methods for desalination are reverse osmosis and nanofiltration. However, pristine membranes lack the essential features which are, stability, economic efficiency, antibacterial and antifouling performances. To enhance the properties of the pristine membranes, graphene oxide (GO) is a promising and widely researched material for thin film composites (TFC) membrane due to their characteristics that help improve the hydrophilicity and anti-fouling properties. Modification of the membrane can be done on different layers. The thin film composite membranes are composed of three different layers, the top filtering active thin polyamide (PA) layer, supporting porous layer, and supporting fabric. Forward osmosis (FO) process is yet another energy efficient desalination process, but its efficiency is affected due to biofouling. Incorporation of GO enhance antibacterial properties leading to reduction of biofilm formation on the membrane surface. Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is an excellent process to generate clean energy from sea water and the biofouling of membrane is reduced by introduction of GO into the active layer of the TFC membrane. Different modifications on the membranes are being researched, each modification with its own advantages and disadvantages. In this review, modifications of nanofiltration membranes and their composites, characterization, and performances are discussed.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 2019

To investigate surface properties and interception performances of the new modified PVDF membrane coated with Graphene Oxide (GO) and nano-$TiO_2$ (for short the modified membrane) via the interface polymerization method combined with the pumping suction filtration way, filtration experiments of the modified membrane on Humic Acid (HA) were conducted. Results showed that the contact angle (characterizing the hydrophilicity) of the modified membrane decreased from $80.6{\pm}1.8^{\circ}$ to $38.6{\pm}1.2^{\circ}$. The F element of PVDF membrane surface decreased from 60.91% to 17.79% after covered with GO and $TiO_2$. O/C element mass ratio has a fivefold increase, the percentage of O element on the modified membrane surface increased from 3.83 wt% to 20.87%. The modified membrane surface was packed with hydrophilic polar groups (like -COOH, -OH, C-O, C=O, N-H) and a functional hydrophilic GO-polyamide-$TiO_2$ composite configuration. This configuration provided a rigid network structure for the firm attachment of GO and $TiO_2$ on the surface of the membrane and for a higher flux as well. The total flux attenuation rate of the modified membrane decreased to 35.6% while 51.2% for the original one. The irreversible attenuation rate has dropped 71%. The static interception amount of HA on the modified membrane was $158.6mg/m^2$, a half of that of the original one ($295.0mg/m^2$). The flux recovery rate was increased by 50%. The interception rate of the modified membrane on HA increased by 12% approximately and its filtration cycle was 2-3 times of that of the original membrane.