• Composites Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.21-26
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• 2005

Nondestructive damage sensing and load transfer mechanisms of carbon nanotube (CNT) and nanofiber (CNF)/epoxy composites have been investigated by using electro-micromechanical technique. The electrospun PVDF nanofibers were also prepared as a piezoelectric sensor. The electro-micromechanical techniques were applied to evaluate sensing response of carbon nanocomposites by measuring electrical resistance under an uniform cyclic loading. Composites with higher volume content of CNT showed significantly higher tensile properties than neat and low volume$\%$ CNT composites. CNT composites showed humidity sensing within limited temperature range. CNT composites with smaller aspect ratio showed higher apparent modulus due to high volume content in case of shorter aspect ratio. Thermal treated electrospun PVDF nanofiber showed higher mechanical properties than the untreated case due to crystallinity increase, whereas load sensing decreased in heat treated case. Electrospun PVDF nanofiber web also showed sensing effect on humidity and temperature as well as stress transferring. Nanocomposites and electrospun PVDF nanofiber web can be applicable for sensing application.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.39 no.11
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• pp.885-890
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• 2015

Nanomaterials possess unique mechanical, physical, and chemical properties. They are small, and have an ultrahigh surface area, making them suitable for air filter applications. Electrospinning has been recognized as an efficient technique for fabricating polymer nanofibers. In order to determine the optimum manufacturing conditions, the effects of several electrospinning process parameters on the diameter, orientation, and distribution of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber are analyzed. To improve interlaminar fracture toughness and suppress delamination in the form of laminated non-woven fibers by using a heat roller, the performances of filter efficiency and pressure drop achieved with PAN nanofiber air filter are evaluated experimentally.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.250-257
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• 2016

Octahedral $Co_3O_4$/carbon nanofiber (CNF) composites are fabricated using electrospinning and hydrothermal methods. Their morphological characteristics, chemical bonding states, and electrochemical properties are used to demonstrate the improved photovoltaic properties of the samples. Octahedral $Co_3O_4$ grown on CNFs is based on metallic Co nanoparticles acting as seeds in the CNFs, which seeds are directly related to the high performance of DSSCs. The octahedral $Co_3O_4$/CNFs composites exhibit high photocurrent density ($12.73mA/m^2$), superb fill factor (62.1 %), and excellent power conversion efficiency (5.61 %) compared to those characteristics of commercial $Co_3O_4$, conventional CNFs, and metallic Co-seed/CNFs. These results can be described as stemmnig from the synergistic effect of the porous and graphitized matrix formed by catalytic graphitization using the metal cobalt catalyst on CNFs, which leads to an increase in the catalytic activity for the reduction of triiodide ions. Therefore, octahedral $Co_3O_4$/CNFs composites can be used as a counter electrode for Pt-free dye-sensitized solar cells.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.87-95
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• 2011

Enzymatic catalysis has been pursued extensively in a wide range of important chemical processes for their unparalleled selectivity and mild reaction conditions. However, enzymes are usually costly and easy to inactivate in their free forms. Immobilization is the key to optimizing the in-service performance of an enzyme in industrial processes, particularly in the field of non-aqueous phase catalysis. Since the immobilization process for enzymes will inevitably result in some loss of activity, improving the activity retention of the immobilized enzyme is critical. To some extent, the performance of an immobilized enzyme is mainly governed by the supports used for immobilization, thus it is important to fully understand the properties of supporting materials and immobilization processes. In recent years, there has been growing concern in using polymeric materials as supports for their good mechanical and easily adjustable properties. Furthermore, a great many work has been done in order to improve the activity retention and stabilities of immobilized enzymes. Some introduce a spacer arm onto the support surface to improve the enzyme mobility. The support surface is also modified towards biocompatibility to reduce non-biospecific interactions between the enzyme and support. Besides, natural materials can be used directly as supporting materials owning to their inert and biocompatible properties. This review is focused on recent advances in using polymeric materials as hosts for lipase immobilization by two different methods, surface attachment and encapsulation. Polymeric materials of different forms, such as particles, membranes and nanofibers, are discussed in detail. The prospective applications of immobilized enzymes, especially the enzyme-immobilized membrane bioreactors (EMBR) are also discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.212-220
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• 2003

Electrical properties of carbon filler/PVdF [poly(vinylidene fluoride)] composite were investigated as a funtion of carbon filler/PVdF ratio in the range of 0.2${\sim}$0.5. Three kinds of comercialzied conductive carbon blacks such as Hiblack 41Y, KE300J, and KE600J, and carbon nanofibers prepared by the catalytic chemical vapor deposition of $C_2H_4$ over Ni-Cu catalysts were used as the carbon fillers. The electrical conductivity of carbon filler/PVdF composites were in the range of 0.65 to 13.5 S/cm depending the fillers' electrical conductivity ranging from 5.6 to 23.1 S/cm. Among the carbon fillers used, the KE600J carbon black showed the highest conductivity both in the composite and filler itself because of its high degree of graphitization due to the high-temperature thermal treatment and its high surface area due to the activation treatment.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.429-434
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• 2009

In this study, electro spinning conditions for PMMA were studied. Namely, the ratio of DMF and THF and its maximum concentration were examined. Conductivity of the polymer solution containing silver nanoparticles and its effect on fiber diameter were also studied. As the results, the maximum concentration for the electro spinning of PMMA was found at 18 wt%, and the ratio of DMF/THF was 7:3. The diameter of nanofibers obtained was 100-400 nm when the PMMA solution containing 1000 ppm silver was electrospun. It was found, from TEM results, that silver nanoparticles were distributed on the edge of fibers and the resulting nanofiber mats showed a good antibacterial activity.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.358-366
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• 2015

Flat membrane with $0.4{\mu}m$ pore size was prepared with PVdF (polyvinylidene fluoride) nanofiber, which has the advantages such as excellent strength, chemical resistance, nontoxic, non-combustibility. After that, spiral wound module was manufactured with it including a woven paper. Effect of pH was studied by comparing permeate fluxes and rejection rates of the spiral wound module using simulation solution including kaolin and humic acid. The recovery rate and filtration resistance were calculated after water back-washing at the end of filtration experiment. In addition, after the water filtrated by the spiral wound module was passed through a column filled with GAC (granular activated carbon), adsorption effect of GAC was investigated by measuring the turbidity and $UV_{254}$ absorbance.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.204-210
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• 2013

Recently, many applications with grapheneoxide (GO) have been reported. But GO membrane for water treatment has not been developed. In this study we prepared polyvinylidene difluoride (PVdF) nanofiber/GO hybrid membrane (FG) for the microfiltration application. The PVdF substrate membrane was prepared by using the electrospinning method with a solution of PVdF in N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and acetone. GO sheets used in this study were prepared by modified Hummer's method. The PVdF/GO hybrid membrane was finally prepared by spraying the GO solution dispersed in ethanol on the PVdF nanofiber. The successfully prepared FG was thoroughly examined by SEM, Raman, contact angle, porometer and UTM, and water-flux was measured with designed cell (Dead-End Cell). From the contact angle results, it was found that the surface of FG membrane was reformed by hydrophilic property and the water permeability was increased about 2.5 times than that of the nascent PVdF membrane, indicating the possible alternative of the commercial MF membrane.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.416-422
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• 2013

In order to incorporate silver ions into the alginate, silver-alginate was prepared with aqueous solutions of silver nitrate. In the study, the silver-alginate was prepared by blending with poly vinylpyrrolidone solutions and the electrospinning was performed by using this blend solution. Antibacterial properties of silver-alginate/PVP solutions were estimated for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus by the colony counting test. Electrospinning conditions of silver-alginate/PVP solution were the tip-to-collector distance of 22 cm, the flow rate of the solution at 0.01 mL/min, and the voltage at 26 kV. The form and size of silver-alginate/PVP nanofibers were estimated by SEM and Image J. The average diameter of the electrospun SA5P15 fibers was 124 nm and showed a narrow diameter distribution. The reduction of bacteria for SA5P15 exhibited 99.9% after 24 h.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.223-228
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• 2016

In this work, we prepared porous WO3 nanofibers (NFs) functionalized by bio-inspired catalytic $Cr_2O_3$ and $Co_3O_4$ nanoparticles as highly sensitive and selective $H_2S$ gas sensing layers. Highly porous 3-dimensional (3D) NFs networks decorated by well-dispersed catalyst NPs exhibited superior $H_2S$ gas response ($R_{air}/R_{gas}$ = 46 at 5 ppm) in high humidity environment (95 %RH). In particular, the sensors showed outstanding $H_2S$ selectivity against other interfering analytes (such as acetone, toluene, CO, $H_2$, ethanol). Exhaled breath sensors using $Cr_2O_3$ and $Co_3O_4$ catalysts-loaded $WO_3$ NFs are highly promising for the accurate detection of halitosis.