• Composites Research
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.192-198
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• 2021

Due to enormous market growing of electric vehicles without combustion engine, reducing unwanted BSR (buzz, squeak, and rattle) noise is highly demanded for vehicle quality and performance. Particularly, innerbelt weatherstrips which not only block wind noise, rain, and dust from outside, but also reduce noise and vibration of door glass and vehicle are required to exhibit high damping properties for improved BSR performance of the vehicle. Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), which can be recycled and have lighter weight than thermoset elastomers, are receiving much attention for weatherstrip material, but TPEs exhibit low material damping and compression set causing frictional noise and vibration between the door glass and the weatherstrip. In this study, high damping EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene monomer)/PP (polypropylene) thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPV) were investigated by varying EPDM/PP ratio and ENB (ethylidene norbornene) fraction in EPDM. Viscoelastic properties of TPV materials were characterized by assuming that the material damping is directly related to the viscoelasticity. The optimum material damping factor (tanδ peak 0.611) was achieved with low PP ratio (14 wt%) and high ENB fraction (8.9 wt%), which was increased by 140% compared to the reference (tanδ 0.254). The improved damping is believed due to high fraction of flexible EPDM chains and higher interfacial slippage area of EPDM particles generated by increasing ENB fraction in EPDM. The stick-slip test was conducted to characterize frictional noise and vibration of the TPV weatherstrip. With improved TPV material damping, the acceleration peak of frictional vibration decreased by about 57.9%. This finding can not only improve BSR performance of electric vehicles by designing material damping of weatherstrips but also contribute to various structural applications such as urban air mobility or aircrafts, which require lightweight and high damping properties.

• Composites Research
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.323-330
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• 2017

In this study, multiscale analysis in which the information obtained from molecular dynamics simulation is applied to the continuum mechanics level is conducted to investigate the effects of clustering of silicon carbide nanoparticles reinforced into polypropylene matrix on mechanical behavior of nanocomposites. The elastic behavior of polymer nanocomposites is observed for various states of nanoparticulate agglomeration according to the model reflecting the degradation of interphase properties. In addition, factors which mainly affect the mechanical behavior of the nanocomposites are identified, and new index 'clustering density' is defined. The correlation between the clustering density and the elastic modulus of nanocomposites is understood. As the clustering density increases, the interfacial effect decreased and finally the improvement of mechanical properties is suppressed. By considering the random distribution of the nanoparticles, the range of elastic modulus of nanocomposites for same value of clustering density can be investigated. The correlation can be expressed in the form of exponential function, and the mechanical behavior of the polymer nanocomposites can be effectively predicted by using the nanoparticulate clustering density.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.173-181
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• 1996

Common volatile organic compounds(VOCs) such as toluene and methanol were removed successfully from N$_{2}$ using a novel silicone-coated hollow fiber membrane module. This novel membrane is a thin film composite(TFC) and was highly efficient in removing VOCs selectively from a N$_{2}$ stream. This membrane had some innate advantages over other silicone-based membrane in that the selective barrier was ultrathin(~1 $\mu$m) and the porosity of the polypropylene substrate was high which leads to a low permeation resistance. The substram was very strongly bonded to the coating layer by plasma polymerization and can withstand a very high pressure. A small hollow fiber module having a length of 25cm and 50 fibers could remove 96~99% of toluene as well as methanol vapors when the feed flow rate was up to 60cc/min. The percent removal of VOCs were even higher when the feed inlet concentration was higher. This process is especially suitable for treating streams having a low flow rate and high VOCs concentration. The permeances of VOCs through this membrane was in the range of $4~30 \times 10^{-9}gmol/sec \cdot cm^{2}\cdot cmHg$ for both toluene and methanol, and nitrogen permeance was between $3~9 \times 10^{-10}gmol/sec \cdot cm^{2} \cdot cmHg$. High separation factor between 10~55 for toluene/N$_{2}$ and 15~125 for methanol/N$_{2}$ were obtained depending on the feed flow rate ranges and feed VOCs concentration levels.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2018

In this study, pro-oxidant($d2w^{(R)}$) and rPP/ZnO nanocomposite flexible films for food packaging were prepared, and their mechanical and antimicrobial properties were investigated. As a result, the carbonyl index and hydroxyl index increased with exposured time to heat and UV rays. Surface analysis showed that the addition of zinc oxide improved the dispersibility and compatibility of the polymer, so that the surface of the composite film was smooth and the zinc oxide particles were smaller than the compared film. And it kept the physical properties by heat and UV ray blocking effect, and it worked to reduce decomposition. In the antimicrobial activity test, the microbial reduction rate was 3 logs or more at the use concentration of zinc oxide. The tensile strength was increased and the elongation was decreased. Oxidative degradability of multi-layered film in UV exposured for 72 hours, the molecular weight of the film decreased by 75.6%, 1,294 g/mol Mn and 5,920 g/mol Mw. In the safety analysis of food packaging materials, we obtained that are in standard of polypropylene, a food contact material of domestic law.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.36-45
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• 2015

In this study, various sizes of waste ground rubber tire (WGRT) were devulcanized by a single screw extruder equipped with a sonicator in front of the die, and waste PP and devulcanized waste ground rubber tire (DWGRT) composites were prepared by an intermeshing co-rotating twin screw extruder. The crosslink density and percent devulcanization of WGRT and DWGRT for 40, 80 and 140 meshes were calculated. The mechanical properties of the composites were compared with each other. The effect of SEBS-g-MA as a compatibilizer was investigated on mechanical properties of both waste PP/WGRT and waste PP/DWGRT composites. The crosslink density was decreased with decreasing the WGRT size. On the other hand, the percent devulcanization was increased by adding the smaller size of WGRT. Also, tensile strength, impact strength and elongation at break of the composite with DWGRT were higher than those with WGRT. Especially, mechanical properties of the composites were significantly increased by adding the smaller size of WGRT and DWGRT. Addition of SEBS-g-MA into both waste PP/(D)WGRT composites exhibited better impact strength and elongation at break than the composites themselves.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.229-234
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• 2012

This paper studied the effects of the content and the orientation of the disk shape fillers on the modulus of PP composites. The experimental results were compared with the theoretical calculations which included the three dimensional ellipsoids and analyzed by two aspect ratios, ${\rho}_{\alpha}=a_1/a_3$and ${\rho}_{\beta}=a_1/a_2$proposed by Lee and his researchers. Mica and talc were used as disk shape fillers in the composites. The shapes of mica and talc were observed by SEM and aspect ratios were statistically calculated. For the case of mica, the average aspect ratios were ${\rho}_{\alpha}=13.5$ and ${\rho}_{\beta}=1.8$, and for the case of talc, they were ${\rho}_{\alpha}=3.8$ and ${\rho}_{\beta}=1.4$. Also, the effects of two aspect ratios and the content of filler on the mechanical properties were studied: For 30 wt% of mica, $E_{11}$ increased up to about 2.7 times, and for the other case of talc, $E_{11}$ increased up to about 2.3 times, respectively.