• Composites Research
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.303-309
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• 2017

Organo-montmorillonite (OMMT) has attracted much attention for fiber-reinforced polymer composites as a filler material due to high aspect ratio and low charge density. The present study focused on the fabrication of nanocomposites using Vinyl ester and Jute fabric as matrix and reinforcement respectively. The OMMT was uniformly dispersed in vinyl ester resin at 1, 2 and 3 wt%, loading through high speed mechanical stirrer at room temperature and further nanocomposites were manufactured through vacuum assisted resin infusion (VARI) technique. Effects of OMMT on the mechanical properties of vinyl ester/Jute composites were carefully investigated through tensile, bending and Izod impact tests, which revealed significant improvement in mechanical properties. The morphology of the nanocomposites after tensile test was investigated by SEM which affirmed that OMMT filled nanocomposites has improved interactions with the host matrix than the pure composites. Based on the nature and flame retardancy mechanism, the OMMT slightly improved the flammability property which was clearly explained by horizontal burning test.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 2024

The addition of oxygen scavengers to food products helps to reduce oxygen exposure, thereby mitigating deterioration, including changes in taste, odor, and color, as well as inhibiting microbial growth. Despite the advantages of the existing non-metallic oxygen removal materials in terms of safety for the human body and suitability for use in microwave ovens, their utilization has been limited due to their slow reaction initiation speed. Therefore, in the current study, sodium metabisulfite was impregnated into various porous media, including halloysite nanoclay, activated carbon, montmorillonite, and silica gel. The oxygen scavenger, produced by impregnating silica gel with sodium metabisulfite, demonstrated a 425% improvement in the initial oxygen removal rate compared to pure sodium metabisulfite. Additionally, sachets containing an oxygen-removing composition with an enhanced oxygen removal rate effectively decreased the oxygen concentration to less than 0.5% on the third day of storage in apple packaging, without elevating carbon dioxide levels. Moreover, it proved effective in preventing the browning of the apple surface. Therefore, the SM/SG oxygen-removal composition can be effectively applied to active food packaging by controlling the oxygen concentration within the packaging.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.110-122
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• 2012

This study investigated the effects of layered clay on the thermal curing behavior and tensile properties of resole phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin/clay/cellulose nanocomposites. The thermal curing behavior of the nanocomposite was characterized using conventional differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and temperature modulated (TMDSC). The addition of clay was found to accelerate resin curing, as measured by peak temperature ($T_p$) and heat of reaction (${\Delta}H$) of the nanocomposite’ curing reaction increasing clay addition decreased $T_p$ with a minimum at 3~5% clay. However, the reversing heat flow and heat capacity showed that the clay addition up to 3% delayed the vitrification process of the resole PF resin in the nanocomposite, indicating an inhibition effect of the clay on curing in the later stages of the reaction. Three different methods were employed to determineactivation energies for the curing reaction of the nanocomposite. Both the Ozawa and Kissinger methods showed the lowest activation energy (E) at 3% clay content. Using the isoconversional method, the activation energy ($E_{\alpha}$) as a function of the degree of conversion was measured and showed that as the degree of cure increased, the $E_{\alpha}$ showed a gradual decrease, and gave the lowest value at 3% nanoclay. The addition of clay improved the tensile strengths of the nanocomposites, although a slight decrease in the elongation at break was observed as the clay content increased. These results demonstrated that the addition of clay to resole PF resins accelerate the curing behavior of the nanocomposites with an optimum level of 3% clay based on the balance between the cure kinetics and tensile properties.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.691-698
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• 2001

Nanocomposites based on epoxy acid nanoclay were prepared employing organically modified mica type silicate (OMTS), diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) type epoxy. curing agent (dicyandiamide; DICY), and catalyst (benzyl dimethyl amine; BDMA). Both melt mixing and solution mixing were und for the sample preparation and structural developments with curing reaction were analyzed using X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Because of the different curing rate between extra-gallery and intra-gallery reactions of epoxy mixtures, only intercalated structure was observed for the sample prepared by melt mixing while fully exfoliated structure was observed for the sample prepared by solution mixing. Mechanical properties of exfoliated epoxy nanocomposite were investigated using a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA). The dynamic storage modulus of the nanocomposite in both glass and rubbery plateau regions were increased with increasing OMTS contents, but glass transition temperatures ($T_g$) remained unchanged. Thermal properties of epoxy nanocomposite were investigated using thermogravimetric (TGA) and limit oxygen index (LOI) methods. Thermal decomposition onset points and LOI values were increased with increasing OMTS contents due to barrier effects of OMTS sheets.

• 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.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.18-24
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• 2013

This work attempted to fabricate organic/inorganic nanocomposite by combining organic cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs), isolated by 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxy radical (TEMPO)-mediated oxidation of native cellulose with inorganic nanoclay. The morphology and dimension of CNFs, and tensile properties and thermal stability of CNF/clay nanocomposites were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM), tensile test, and thermogravimetry (TG), respectively. TEM observation showed that CNFs were fibrillated structure with a diameter of about $4.86{\pm}1.341nm$. Tensile strength and modulus of the hybrid nanocomposite decreased as the clay content of the nanocomposite increased, indicating a poor dispersion of CNFs or inefficient stress transfer between the CNFs and clay. The elongation at break increased at 1% clay level and then continuously decreased as the clay content increased, suggesting increased brittleness. Analysis of TG and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) curves of the nanocomposites identified two thermal degradation peak temperatures ($T_{p1}$ and $T_{p2}$), which suggested thermal decomposition of the nanocomposites to be a two steps-process. We think that $T_{p1}$ values from $219.6^{\circ}C$ to $235^{\circ}C$ resulted from the sodium carboxylate groups in the CNFs, and that $T_{p2}$ values from $267^{\circ}C$ to $273.5^{\circ}C$ were mainly responsible for the thermal decomposition of crystalline cellulose in the nanocomposite. An increase in the clay level of the CNF/clay nanocomposite predominately affected $T_{p2}$ values, which continuously increased as the clay content increased. These results indicate that the addition of clay improved thermal stability of the CNF/clay nanocomposite but at the expense of nanocomposite's tensile properties.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.366-372
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• 2013

Flexible polyurethane/clay porous nanocomposite foams were synthesized using natural and organically modified montmorillonite clays such as bentonite, closite 10A and closite 30B. The content of nanoclays was varied from 1 to 5 wt% of polyol. Dispersion of clay in Polyurethane(PU) matrix was investigated by X-ray diffraction(Cu-$K{\alpha}$ rays of wavelength $1.54{\AA}$) using an X-ray diffractometer. Also, we determined that the thermal resistance of PU foam increased with added clay, compared to that of pure PU foam. The cell size and the fraction of open cells of the precursor foam were controlled by the addition of clay to the polyurethane foam. Modified clays were found to be more efficient cell openers than the unmodified clay. In addition, the tensile strength and elongation of the polyurethane/clay porous nanocomposites were examined. Increasing clay content increased the mechanical properties of the composites, such as tensile strength, and elongation at break. However, increasing the content over 5 wt% deteriorated the properties of the composites. We found that the nanofillers(bentonite, closite 10A and closite 30B) improved the thermal stability of the nanocomposite foam. The nanocomposite foam containing 3 wt% of closite 30B exhibited the best tensile strength and thermal stability.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.124-129
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• 2011

Wood plastic composites (WPCs) are attracting a lot of interest recently. In this study, wood flour/polyethylene (PE) composites panels comprised of a coupling agent and nanoclay were prepared by melt-blending followed by compression molding. Five maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (MAPE) coupling agents were tested, and the best choice and its optimum content were determined. The mechanical properties of the WPCs were measured by UTM, and the thermal properties were measured by TGA, DMA, DSC, and TMA. Adding just a small amount (1 phr) of organoclay made the tensile and flexural strength and the crystallinity of the WPC somewhat increase and the storage modulus and dimensional stability of the WPC largely increase. SEM images showed that the coupling agent drastically improved wood flour/PE interfacial bonding. Selecting the best coupling agent optimized content and adding a small amount of organoclay resulted in a high performance wood flour/PE composite.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.204-210
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• 2013

Effects of additives (lubricant and antioxidant) and melt-blending condition (temperature, time and rotor speed) on the mechanical properties of polypropylene-based wood polymer composites (WPCs) were investigated. WPCs were prepared by melt-blending followed by compression molding. To understand melt-blending procedure, torque change of the WPC melt-blend was monitored. Maleic anhydride modified PP and nanoclay were used as a compatibilizer and a reinforcing filler, respectively. UTM and izod impact tester were used to measure the mechanical properties of the WPCs and a color-difference meter was used to measure the discoloration of the WPCs according to melt-blending condition. The mechanical properties showed that the optimized melt-blending condition was $170^{\circ}C$, 15 min, and 60 rpm. The mechanical properties of the WPCs decreased with increasing lubricant and antioxidant content. The two step method, adding wood flour later separately during melt-blending, was more effective than the typical one step method for improving the mechanical properties of the WPCs.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.143-150
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• 2014

Recently, supercritical fluid process has been widely used in material synthesis and processing due to their remarkable properties such as high diffusivity, low viscosity, and low surface tension. Supercritical carbon dioxide is the most attractive solvent owing to their characteristics including non-toxic, non-flammable, chemically inert, and also it has moderate critical temperature and critical pressure. In addition, supercritical carbon dioxide would dissolve many small organic molecules and most polymers. In this study, we have prepared the poly (ethylene oxide)/clay nanocomposites using supercritical fluid as a carbon dioxide. Commercialized Cloisites-15A and Cloisites-30B used in this study, which are modified with quaternary ammonium salts. The nanocomposites of polymer/clay were characterized by XRD, TGA and DSC. Poly (ethylene oxide)/clay nanocomposites by supercritical fluid show higher thermal stability than nanocomposites prepared by melt process. In addition, supercritical fluid process would be increased dispersibility of the nanoclay in the matrix.