• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.261-267
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• 2018

This paper discusses a study of cement mortar reinforced with Graphene Oxide (GO) flakes carried out at the University of Plymouth. Over 60 specimens were prepared and tested to obtain the tensile, compressive and flexural strengths of cement mortar with/without 0.5% GO flakes by weight of cement. The dispersion of the GO flakes and the effect of the use of polycarboxylate ether superplasticizer (0.2% by weight of cement) on the material strength are discussed. Images of the particle sizes of GO are presented from the transmission electron microscopy analysis. In addition, the images from the field emission scanning electron microscope analysis are also presented to show the difference of the microscopic structure of cement mortar with/without GO. The results of the strength tests are presented. It is shown that the inclusion of the GO flakes in general led to positive results, which suggest that GO improved the tensile, compressive and flexural strengths of cement mortar.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.94-99
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• 2022

Ternary phased graphene/silica/EVOH nanocomposite coating materials were prepared via sol-gel process and solution blending process. From both SEM observations and XRD analysis, the exfoliated structure and dispersion state of graphene nanosheets and silica particles in the nanocomposites as well as the intercalated and exfoliated structure of the prepared graphene oxide were confirmed. The incorporation of GrO and silica at appropriate content resulted in remarkable improvement in oxygen barrier property of the ternary phased nanocompoiste-coated BOPP films, compared with that of binary(silica/EVOH) phased nanocomposite coating films, however, at excess amount of GrO and silica, very slight variation was observed due to incomplete exfoliation, dispersion of graphene tactoids, and formation of micro cracks in the silica clusters. In addition, the transparency of nanocomposite-coated film was investigated by measuring the light transmittance as a function of GrO contents, suggesting the possibility for the application of food packaging films.

• Carbon letters
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• v.25
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• pp.1-13
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• 2018

Gold functionalized graphene oxide (GOAu) nanoparticles were reinforced in acrylonitrile-butadiene rubbers (NBR) via solution and melt mixing methods. The synthesized NBR-GOAu nanocomposites have shown significant improvements in their rate of curing, mechanical strength, thermal stability and electrical properties. The homogeneous dispersion of GOAu nanoparticles in NBR has been considered responsible for the enhanced thermal conductivity, thermal stability, and mechanical properties of NBR nanocomposites. In addition, the NBR-GOAu nanocomposites were able to show a decreasing trend in their dielectric constant (${\varepsilon}^{\prime}$) and electrical resistance on straining within a range of 10-70%. The decreasing trend in ${\varepsilon}^{\prime}$ is attributed to the decrease in electrode and interfacial polarization on straining the nanocomposites. The decreasing trend in electrical resistance in the nanocomposites is likely due to the attachment of Au nanoparticles to the surface of GO sheets which act as electrical interconnects. The Au nanoparticles have been proposed to function as ball rollers in-between GO nanosheets to improve their sliding on each other and to improve contacts with neighboring GO nanosheets, especially on straining the nanocomposites. The NBR-GOAu nanocomposites have exhibited piezoelectric gauge factor (${GF_{\varepsilon}}^{\prime}$) of ~0.5, and piezo-resistive gauge factor ($GF_R$) of ~0.9 which clearly indicated that GOAu reinforced NBR nanocomposites are potentially useful in fabrication of structural, high temperature responsive, and stretchable strain-sensitive sensors.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2017

In this study, the composite membranes prepared by sulfonated graphene oxide (sGO) and Nafion were developed as proton exchange membranes (PEMs) for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The sGO/Nafion composite membranes were prepared by mixing Nafion solution with the sGO dispersed in a binary solvent system to improve dispersity of sGO. The composite membranes were investigated in terms of ionic conductivity, ion exchange capacity (IEC), FT-IR, TGA and SEM, etc. As a result, the binary solvent system, i.e., ortho-dichlorobenzene (ODB) and N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), were used to obtain high dispersion of sGO particles in Nafion solution, and the ionic conductivity of the sGO/Nafion composite membrane showed $0.06Scm^{-1}$ similar to other research results at lower water uptake, 11 wt%.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.631-640
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• 2023

This study selected Eco-AZ91 MgH₂, which shows high enthalpy as a material for this purpose, as the basic material, and analyzed the change in characteristics by synthesizing TiNi as a catalyst to control the thermodynamic behavior of MgH₂. In addition, the catalyst dispersion technology using graphene oxide (GO) was studied to improve the high-temperature aggregation phenomenon of Ni catalyst and to secure a source technology that can properly disperse the catalyst. XRD, SEM, and BET analysis were conducted to analyze the metallurgical properties of the material, and TGA and DSC analysis were conducted to analyze the dehydrogenation temperature and calorific value, and the correlation between MgH₂, TiNi catalyst, and GO reforming catalyst was analyzed. As a result, the MgH₂-5 wt% TiNi at GO composite could lower the dehydrogenation temperature to 478-492 K due to the reduction of the catalyst aggregation phenomenon and the increase in the reaction specific surface area, and an experimental result for the catalyst dispersion technology by GO could be ensured.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.238-245
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• 2012

Graphene oxide was synthesized from natural graphite, and its surface was modified using diisocyanatodicyclohexylmethane( $H_{12}MDI$). Isocyanate-graphene sheet(i-RGO) was obtained by reduction of surface modified GO. To select nanofiller having good dispersion with polyurethane, GO, i-RGO, natural graphite and thermal reduced graphite were analyzed, and then i-RGO was selected as a suitable nanofiller. PU/i-RGO nanocomposite was synthesized with various i-RGO contents to estimate effect of reinforcement on nanocomposite. Thermal stability, hardness, contact angle were increased with i-RGO contents due to i-RGO characteristic and crosslink bridge effect. But, tensile strength and elongation were decreased at i-RGO contents more than the 4 wt%. This phenomenon was interpreted by the excess formation of crosslink bridge.

• Carbon letters
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.89-93
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• 2013

Size-sorted graphene nanoplatelets are highly desired for fundamental research and technological applications of graphene. Here we show a facile approach for fabricating size-sorted graphene oxide (GO) nanoplatelets by a simple centrifugal method using different dispersion solvents. We found that the small-sized GO nanoplatelets were more effectively separated when dispersed in water or dimethylformamide (DMF) than in an alkali aqueous solution. After several iterations of the centrifugation, the sizes of GO in the supernatant solution were mostly several micrometers. We found that the GO area was not strongly correlated with the C-O content of the GO dispersed in water. However, the size-sorted GO nanoplatelets in DMF showed different C-O content, since DMF can reduce GO nanoplatelets during exfoliation and centrifugation processes.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.251-261
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• 2012

The nanocomposites containing graphene oxide flakes were prepared in order to improve the mechanical properties of artificial marbles based on poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA) matrix. Graphene oxide flakes were prepared from graphite by oxidation with Hummers method followed by exfoliation with thermal treatment. Surface of graphene oxide flakes were modified with oxyfluorination in various oxygene:fluorine compositions to improve the interfacial compatibility. The nanocomposites containing graphenes modified with oxyfluorination in the oxygen content of 50% and higher showed the significant increase in flexural strength, flexural modulus, Rockwell hardness, Barcol hardness, and Izod impact strength. The morphology of fractured surface showed the improved interfacial adhesion between PMMA matrix and the graphenes which were properly treated with oxyfluorination. The mechanical properties of nanocomposite were deteriorated by increasing the content of graphene above 0.07 phr due to the nonuniform dispersion of graphenes.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.533-540
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• 2018

Graphene has been reported to be an excellent lubricant additive that reduces friction and wear when coated on the surface of various materials or when dispersed in lubricants as an atomic thin material with the low surface energy. In this study, alkyl functionalized graphene oxide (FGO) nanosheets for oil-based lubricant additives were prepared by using three types of alkyl chloride chemicals (butyl chloride, octyl chloride, and tetradecyl chloride). The chemical and structural properties of the synthesized FGOs were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The synthesized FGOs were dispersed at 0.02 wt% in PAO-0W40 oil and its tribological characteristics were investigated using a high frequency friction/wear tester. The friction coefficient and the wear track width of poly alpha olefin (PAO) oil added with FGO-14 were tested by a ball-on-disk method, and the measured results were reduced by ~5.88 and ~3.8%, respectively compared with those of the conventional PAO oil. Thus, it was found that the wear resistance of PAO oil was improved. In this study, we demonstrated the successful functionalization of GO as well as the improvement of dispersion stability and tribological characteristics of FGOs based on various alkyl chain lengths.

• 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.