• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.351-364
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• 2016

In recent decades, many researchers have tried to improve desalination performances of polyamide (PA) thin-film composite membranes (TFCs) by incorporating nanomaterials into a selective PA layer. This review focuses on PA-based nanocomposite membranes with high performances for energy-effective desalination in reverse osmosis. Carbon based nanomaterial (e.g., graphene oxide (GO), carbon nanotubes (CNT)) and/or other nanoparticles (e.g., zeolite, silica and etc.,) were applied to overcome the trade-off correlation between water permeability and salt rejection of current polymeric desalination membranes. Here, this brief review will discuss current studies of PA-based nanocomposite membranes with enhanced separation characteristics and provide the future research direction to achieve further improved desalination performances.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.423-435
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• 2018

There are presently two general ways of accounting for hazardous metal creep in structural fire analyses: either we incorporate creep strains implicitly in hardening model ('implicit-creep' plasticity) or we account for creep explicitly ('explicit-creep' plasticity). The first approach is simpler and usually used for fast engineering applications, e.g., following proposals of EN 1993-1-2. Prioritizing this approach without consideration of its limitations, however, may lead to significant error. So far the possible levels of such error have been demonstrated by few researchers for individual structural elements (i.e., beams and columns). This paper, however, presents analyses also for selected beam-girder assemblies. Special numerical models are developed correspondingly and they are validated and verified. Their important novelty is that they do not only account for creep in individual members but also for creep in between-member connections. The paper finally shows that outside the declared applicability limits of the implicit-creep plasticity models, the failure times predicted by the applied alternative explicit-creep models can be as much as 40% shorter. Within the limits, however, the discrepancies might be negligible for majority of cases with the exception of about 20% discrepancies found in one analysed example.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.308-314
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• 2021

Chemical durability issue in polymer electrolyte membranes has been a challenge for the commercialization of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this study, we proposed a manufacturing method of Nafion composite membrane containing a stable polyimide antioxidant to improve the chemical durability of the membrane. The thermal casting of the Nafion solution with poly (amic acid) induced polyimide reaction. We evaluated proton conductivity, oxidative stability with ex-situ Fenton's test, and fluoride ion emission to analyze the effect of polyimide antioxidants. We confirmed that incorporating the polyimide antioxidant improves the chemical durability of the Nafion membrane while maintaining inherent proton conductivity.

• Journal of Advanced Engineering and Technology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.245-251
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• 2018

Terahertz waves (T-ray) was extensively studied for the NDE (nondestructive evaluation) of characterization of trailing edges for a use of turbines composed with composite materials. The used NDE system were consisted of both CW(Continuous wave) and TDS (Time domain spectroscopy). The FRP composites were utilized for two kinds of both trailing edges of wind energy (non-conducting polymeric composites) and carbon fiber composites with conducting properties. The signals of T-ray in the TDS (Time domain spectroscopy) mode resembles almost that of ultrasound waves; however, a terahertz pulse could not penetrate a material with conductivity unlike ultrasound. Also, a method was suggested to obtain the "n" in the materials, which is called the refractive index (n). The data of refractive index (n) could be solved for the trailing edges. The trailing edges were scanned for characterization and inspection. C-scan and B-scan images were obtained and best optimal NDE techniques were suggested for complicated geometry samples by terahertz radiation. Especially, it is found that the defect image of T-ray corresponded with defect locations for the trailing edges of wind mill.

• Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry
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• v.67
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• pp.156-163
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• 2018

High-performance mixed-matrix membranes that comprise both zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) and graphene oxide (GO) were synthesized with a solution casting technique to realize excellent $CO_2/CH_4$ separation. The incorporation of ZIF-8 nanocrystals alone in ODPA-TMPDA polyimide can be used to significantly enhance $CO_2$ permeability compared with that of pure ODPA-TMPDA. Meanwhile, the addition of a GO nanostack alone in ODPA-TMPDA contributes to improved $CO_2/CH_4$ selectivity. Hence, a composite membrane that contains both fillers displays significant enhancements in $CO_2$ permeability (up to 60%) and $CO_2/CH_4$ selectivity (up to 28%) compared with those of pure polymeric membrane. Furthermore, in contrast to the ZIF-8 mixed-matrix membrane, which showed decreased mechanical stability, it was found that the incorporation of GO could improve the mechanical strength of mixed-matrix membranes. Overall, the synergistic effects of the use of both fillers together are successfully demonstrated in this paper. Such significant improvements in the mixed-matrix membrane's $CO_2/CH_4$ separation performance and mechanical strength suggest a feasible and effective approach for potential biogas upgrading and natural gas purification.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.139-145
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• 2022

Development in advanced separation processes leads to the significant advancement in polymeric membrane preparation methodology. Therefore, present research investigated the preparation and characterization of cellulose acetate membrane by phase inversion separation method to determine optimized operating parameters. Prepared CA membrane's performance was been analyzed in terms of % rejection and flux. Investigation was conducted to study effect of different parameters such as polymer concentration, evaporation rate, thickness of film, coagulation bath properties, temperature of polymer solution and of the coagulation bath etc. CA membrane was fabricated by taking polymer concentration 10wt% and 11wt% with zero second evaporation time and varying film thickness over non-woven polyester fabric. Effect of coagulation bath temperature (CBT) and casting solution temperature were also been studied. The experimental results from SEM showed that the surface morphology had been changed with polymer r concentration, coagulation bath and casting solution temperature, etc. Lower polymer concentration leads to lower precipitation time giving porous membrane. The prepared membrane was tested for advanced waste water treatment of relevant effluent stream in pilot plant to study flux and rejection behavior of the membrane.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.395-403
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• 2023

The main objective of this article is to investigate the response of different fiber metal laminates subjected to low velocity impact experimentally and numerically via finite element method (FEM). Hence, two different fiber metal laminate (FML) samples (GLARE/CARALL) are made of 7075-T6 aluminum sheets and polymeric composites reinforced by E-glass/carbon fibers. In order to study the responses to the low velocity impacts, samples are tested by drop weight machine. The projectiles are released from 1- and 1.5-meters height were the speed reaches to 4.42 and5.42 meter per second and the impact energies are measured as 6.7 and 10 Joules. In addition to experimental study, finite element simulation is done and results are compared. Finally, a detailed study on the maximum deflection, delamination and damages in laminates and geometry's effect of projectiles on the laminate response is done. Results show that maximum deflection caused by spherical projectile for GLARE samples is more apparent in comparison with the CARALL samples. Moreover, the maximum deflection of GLARE samples subjected to spherical projectile with 6.7 Joules impact energy, 127% increases in comparison with the CARALL samples in spite of different total thickness.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.541-555
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• 2023

The extensive use of polymeric matrix composites in the athletic sector may be attributed to its high strength-to-weight ratio, production economy, and a longer lifespan than conventional materials. This study explored the impact of carbon nanotubes on the properties of different composite field sports equipment components. The test specimens were fabricated using the compression molding technique. The insertion of carbon nanotubes increases mechanical properties related to the process parameters to account for an improvement in the stick sections' overall performance. The dynamic response of functionally graded reinforced nanocomposite wire structure is examined in this paper on the bases of high-order hyperbolic beam theory lined to the size-dependent nonclassical nonlocal theory under the external mechanical load due to the physical activities. Finally, the impact of different parameters on the stability of nanocomposite structures is discussed in detail.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.475-487
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• 2024

The usage of fiber-reinforced polymer materials increases in the construction sector due to their advantages in terms of high mechanical strength, lightness, corrosion resistance, low density and high strength/density ratio, low maintenance and painting needs, and high workability. In this study, it is aimed to improve mechanical properties of GFRP box profiles, produced by pultrusion method, by filling the polymer concrete into them. Within the scope of study, hybrid use of polymer concrete produced with GFRP box profiles was investigated. Hybrid pressure and bending specimens were produced by filling polymer concrete (polyester resin manufactured with natural sand and stone chips) into GFRP box profiles having different cross-sections and dimensions. Behavior of the produced hybrid members was investigated under bending and compression tests. Hollow GFRP_xx profiles, polymer-filled hybrid members, and nominative polymeric concrete specimens were tested as well. The behavior of the specimens under pressure and bending tests, and their load bearing capacities, deformations and changes in toughness were observed. According to the test results; It was deduced that hybrid design has many advantages over its component materials as well as superior physical and mechanical properties.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.39-46
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• 2020

Composite electrodes for rechargeable batteries generally consist of active material, electric conductor, and polymeric binder. And their composition and distribution within the composite electrode determine the electrochemical activity in the electrochemical systems. However, it is not easy to quantify the physical properties of composite electrodes themselves using conventional experimental analysis tools. So, 3D structural modeling and simulation can be an efficient design tool by looking into the contact areas between particles and electric conductivity within the composite electrode. In this study, while maintaining the composition (LiCoO₂ : Super P Li^® : Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVdF) = 93 : 3 : 4 by wt%) and loading level (13 mg cm^-2) of the composite electrode, the effects of LiCoO₂ size (10 ㎛ and 20 ㎛) and electrode density (2.8 g cm^-3, 3.0 g cm^-3, 3.2 g cm^-3, 3.5 g cm^-3, 4.0 g cm^-3) on the physical properties are investigated using a GeoDict software. With this tool, the composite electrode can be efficiently designed to optimize the contact area and electric conductivity.