• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.18-18
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• 2003

Natural clays are composed of oxide layers whose thickness is about 1nm and cations existing between the layers. A number of these layers makes primary particles with a height of about 8∼10nm and these primary particles make aggregates with a size of about 0.1∼10$\mu\textrm{m}$. When layered silicate was made to be organophilic, by exchanging the interlayer cations with organic cationic molecules, the matrix polymer can penetrate between the layers to give a nanocomposite, where 1nm-scal clay layers exist separately in a continuous polymer matrix. These nanostructured hybrid organic-inorganic composites have attracted the great interest of researchers over the last 10 years. They exhibit improved performance properties compared with conventional composites, because their unique phase morphology by layer intercalation or exfoliation maximizes interfacial contact between the organic and inorganic phases and enhances interfacial properties. Since the advent of nylon-6/montmorillonite nanocomposite developed by Toyota Motor Co., the studies on layered silicate-polymer nanocomposites have been successfully extended to other polymer systems. They greatly improved the thermal, mechanical, barrier, and even the flame-retardant properties of the polymers.

• 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.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.135-139
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• 2006

To evaluate the dental restorative application of polymer composites filled with hydroxyapatite (HAP) which is an inorganic component of human bone material, dental properties of the polymer composites were investigated. A visible light system was utilized to activate the acrylate resin matrix of the composites. Maximum loading percentage of HAP in composite was 65 wt% and the depth of cure was 6.0 mm which can be applicable for dental restoration. With increasing the HAP content, degree of conversion of polymer composites was slightly decreased, however, polymerization shrinkage value was not varied. Diametral tensile strength value was enhanced with an increase of HAP content, however, there was no strict trend between flexural strength and HAP concentration. Anyhow, polymer composites prepared herein have superior mechanical properties sufficient specifications applicable to dental materials.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.40 no.9
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• pp.837-841
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• 2003

Duplex microstructure of zirconia and alumina has been achieved via an organic-inorganic solution technique. Zirconium 2,4-pentanedionate, aluminum nitrate and polyethylene glycol were dissolved in ethyl alcohol without any precipitation. The organicinorganic precursor gels were turned to porous powders having volume expansion through explosive, exothermic reaction during drying process. The volume expansion was caused by abrupt decomposition of the organic groups in the gels during the vigorous exothermic reaction. The volume expanded, porous powders were crystallized and densified at 1500$^{\circ}C$ for 1 h. At the optimum amount of the PEG polymer, the metal cations were well dispersed in the solution and a homogeneous polymeric network was formed. The polymer content also affected on the specific surface area of the synthesized powder and the grain size of the sintered composite.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.30-37
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• 2020

Polymer/inorganic composites were used as a protective layer of lihitum metal electrode for effective suppression of lithium dendrite. PVDF-HFP was used as an polymer material and TiO₂ nanoparticle was used as an inorganic material. PVDF-HFP is a highly flexible polymer that acts as a matrix of inorganic materials while TiO₂ nanoparticle improves the mechanical strength and ion conductivity of the protective layer. The as-synthesized protective hybrid membrane exhibited good dispersion of TiO₂ in the PVDF-HFP matrix by SEM, AFM and XRD analyses. Furthermore, the electrochemical analysis showed that the polymer-inorganic composite retained high coulombic efficiency of 80% and low overpotential, less than 20 mV until the 100^th cycles due to the improved mechanical properties and ion conductivity in comparison to the control sample (untreated and PVDF-HFP polymers/Cu).

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.350-354
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• 2009

In this work, polymer - inorganic composites have prepared using polymer such as polyethylene glycol (PEG)/poly (methyl methacrylate, PMMA) and inorganic nanofillers materials such as TiO2 nanotubes (TiNTs)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The extensive structural, morphological and ionic properties revealed that the high surface area and tubular feature of nanofillers improved the interaction and cross-linking to polymer matrix which is significantly enhanced the ionic conductivity and electrical properties of composite electrolytes. Comparably high conversion efficiency ~4.5% has been observed by using the newly prepared PEG-TiNTs composite solid electrolyte as compared with PMMA-CNTs electrolyte based DSSCs (~3%). The detailed comparative properties would be discussed in term of their structural, morphology, ionic and photovoltaic properties.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.142-148
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• 2019

In this study, the effects of filler particle size and shape on the physical properties of silicone rubber composites were investigated using inorganic fillers (Minusil 5, Celite 219, and Nyad 400) except silica, which was already present as a reinforcing filler of silicone rubber. Fillers with small particle sizes are known to facilitate the formation of the bound rubber by increasing the contact area with the polymer. However, in this experiment, the bound rubber content of Celite 219-added silicone composite was higher than that of Minusil 5-added silicone composite. This was attributed to the porous structure of Celite 219, which led to an increase in the internal surface area of the filler. When the inorganic fillers were added, both thermal decomposition temperature and thermal stability were improved. The bound rubber formed between the silicone rubber and inorganic filler affected the degree of crosslinking of the silicone composite. It is well-known that as the size of the reinforcing filler decreases, the reinforcing effect increases. However, in this experiment, the hardness of the composite material filled with Celite 219 was the highest compared to the other three composites. Furthermore, the highest value of 2.19 MPa was observed for 100% modulus, and the fracture elongation was the lowest at 469%. This was a result of excellent interaction between Celite 219 filler and silicone rubber.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.87-93
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• 2010

The fire resistive materials are used to resist from fire accidents in the building. In this study silicone rubber/inorganic flame retardant composites were prepared by mechanical stirring method, using aluminium trihydroxide(ATH, $Al(OH)_3$) and magnesium dihydroxide(MDH, $Mg(OH)_2$) as synergistic fire-resistant additives. The thermal properties of the fire resistant composites were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis(TGA). In addition, rheological properties were observed by rheometer and fire-resistant properties were tested by gas torch. Through this study, we realized that the silicone rubber containing ATH, MDH increased the performance of fire-resistance.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.203-214
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• 2022

Thermoelectric (TE) heating and cooling devices, which are able to directly convert thermal energy into electrical energy and vice versa, are effective and have exhibited a potential for energy harvesting. With the increasing consumer demands for various wearable electronics, organic-based TE composite materials offer a promise for the TE devices applications. Conductive polymers are widely used as flexible TE materials replacing inorganic materials due to their flexibility, low thermal conductivity, mechanical flexibility, ease of processing, and low cost. In this review, we briefly introduce the latest research trends in the flexible TE technology and provide a comprehensive summary of specific conductive polymer-based TE material fabrication technologies. We also summarize the manufacture for high-efficiency TE composites through the complexation of a conductive polymer matrix/inorganic TE filler. We believe that this review will inspire further research to improve the TE performance of conductive polymers.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.292-295
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• 2004

Recently, polymer-clay hybrid materials have received considerable attention from both a fundamental research and application point of view. This organ-inorganic hybrid, which contains a nanoscale dispersion of the layered silicates, is a material with greatly improved thermal and mechanical characteristics. Two classes of nanocomposites were synthesized using an unsaturated polyester resin as the matrix and sodium montmorillonite as well as an organically modified montmorillonite as the reinforcing agents. X -ray diffraction pattern of the composites showed that the interlayer spacing of the modified montmorillonite were exfoliated in polymer matrix. The mechanical properties also supported these findings, since in general, tensile strength, modulus with modified montmorillonite were higher than the corresponding properties of the composites with unmodified montmorillonite. Adding organically modified clay improved the tensile strength of unsaturated polyester by $22\%$ and the tensile modulus of unsaturated polyester was also improved by $34\%$.