• Carbon letters
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.194-206
• /
• 2011

Carbon nanomaterials in organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells have attracted a great deal of interest for the development of high-efficiency, flexible, and low-cost solar cells. Due to the complicated structure of OPV devices, the electrical properties and dispersion behavior of the carbon nanomaterials should be controlled carefully in order for them to be used as materials in OPV devices. In this paper, a fundamental theory of the electrical properties and dispersion behavior of carbon nanomaterials is reviewed. Based on this review, a state-of-the-art OPV device composed of carbon nanomaterials, along with issues related to such devices, are discussed.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.14 no.2 s.61
• /
• pp.123-126
• /
• 2007

In this work, the dispersion behavior of $Y_2O_3$ particles in binary aluminum (Al)-copper (Cu) cast alloy was investigated with respect to Cu contents of 20 (hypoeutertic), 33 (eutectic) and 40 (hypereutectic) wt.%. In cases of hypo and hypereutectic compositions, SEM images revealed that the primary Al and ${\theta}$ phases were grown up at the beginning, respectively, and thereafter the eutectic phase was solidified. In addition, it was found that some of $Y_2O_3$ particles can be dispersed into the primary Al phase, but none of them are is observed inside the primary 6 phase. This different dispersion behavior of $Y_2O_3$ particles is probably due to the difference in the val- ues of specific gravity between $Y_2O_3$ particles and primary phases. At eutectic composition, $Y_2O_3$ particles were well dispersed in the matrix since there is few primary phases acting as an impediment site for particle dispersion during solidification. Based on the experimental results, it is concluded that $Y_2O_3$ particles are mostly dispersed into the eutectic phase in binary Al-Cu alloy system.

• Advances in nano research
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.1-23
• /
• 2022

To date, nondestructive tests (NDT) applications and advances in detecting the dispersion and defections of the nano concrete (NC) materials fields are very limited. The current paper provides a review of the dispersion efficiency of nanomaterials in cement-based materials and how NDT can be efficiently used in detecting and visualizing the defections and dispersions of NC. The review identifies the characteristics of different types of nanoparticles used in NC. Nanomaterials influences on concrete characteristics and their dispersion degree are presented and discussed. The main aim of this article is to present and compare the common NDT that can be used for detecting and visualizing the defections and dispersions of different kinds of nanomaterials utilized in NC. The different microscopy and X-ray methods are explicitly reviewed and compared. Based on the collected data, it can be concluded that the fully detecting and visualizing of NC defections and dispersions have not been fully discovered and that needs further investigations. So, the distinction of this paper lies in defining NDT that can be employed for detecting and/or visualizing NC defections and dispersions.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.174-186
• /
• 2019

This paper reviews the development condition of nanomaterials used in concrete over years. The definitions of nanomaterial, nanotechnology, and nano-concrete are reviewed. The impacts of nanomaterials on cementitious material in the point of advantages and disadvantages are analyzed. Moreover, this paper analyzes and classifies the nanomaterials into the extra quality enhancement and modification to plain cementitious composite. Indeed, the outstanding properties of the embedded nanomaterials can be introduced to concrete such as the mechanical improvement, pore structure refinement, hydrate acceleration, and smartness modifying of self-cleaning, and/or self-sensing. Before the full potential of nanotechnology can be realized in concrete applications, various techniques have to be solved including proper dispersion, compatibility of the nanomaterials in cement, processing, manufacturing, safety, handling issues, scale-up, cost, the impact on the environment and human health.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.95-108
• /
• 2015

Nano-sized iron colloids are formed as acid mine drainage is exposed to surface environments and is introduced into surrounding water bodies. These iron nanomaterials invoke aesthetic contamination as well as adverse effects on aqueous ecosystems. In order to control them, the characteristics of their behaviour should be understood first, but the cumulative research outputs up to now are much less than the expected. Using zero-valent iron (ZVI) and magnetite, this study aims to investigate the behaviour of iron nanomaterials according to the change in the composition and pH of background electrolyte and the concentration of natural organic matter (NOM). The size and surface zeta potential of iron nanomaterials were measured using dynamic light scattering. Characteristic behaviour, such as aggregation and dispersion was compared each other based on the DLVO (Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey, and Overbeek) theory. Whereas iron nanomaterials showed a strong tendency of aggregation at the pH near point of zero charge (PZC) due to electrostatic attraction between particles, their dispersions became dominant at the pH which was higher or lower than PZC. In addition, the behaviour of iron nanomaterials was likely to be more significantly influenced by cations than anions in the electrolyte solutions. Particularly, it was observed that divalent cation influenced more effectively than monovalent cation in electrostatic attraction and repulsion between particles. It was also confirmed that the NOM enhanced the dispersion nanomaterials with increasing the negative charge of nanomaterials by coating on their surface. Under identical conditions, ZVI aggregated more easily than magnetite, and which would be attributed to the lower stability and larger reactivity of ZVI.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2006.10a
• /
• pp.280-280
• /
• 2006

Na-bentonite (local clay mineral) and Na-montmorillonite were treated with quaternary alkylammonium cations. The effect of the molecular structure and functional groups of the surfactants on the organoclays was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). For the preparation of nanocomposites, organoclays were melt-blended with polypropylene in a twin screw extruder and $Surlyn^{(R)$. ionomer was used as a reactive compatibilizer. The clay dispersions in the composites were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). XRD spectra showed no peak at low angle indicated that the silicate clay layer has a nearly exfoliated dispersion in the polymer matrix. Thermal and mechanical properties of nanocomposites were higher than those of PP.

• Applied Microscopy
• /
• v.45 no.4
• /
• pp.203-207
• /
• 2015

Sample preparation is very important for crystal structure analysis of novel nanostructured materials in electron microscopy. Generally, a grid dispersion method has been used as transmission electron microscope (TEM) sampling method of nano-powder samples. However, it is difficult to obtain the cross-sectional information for the tabular-structured materials. In order to solve this problem, we have attempted a new sample preparation method using focused ion beam. Base on this approach, it was possible to successfully obtain the electron diffraction patterns and high-resolution TEM images of the cross-section of tabular structure. Finally, we were able to obtain three-dimensional crystallographic information of novel zeolite nano-crystal of the tabular morphology by applying the new sample preparation technique.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
• /
• 2017.11a
• /
• pp.149-150
• /
• 2017

It is known that physical and chemical changes of cement hydrates cause problems in the volume stability of concrete. In order to overcome these problems, there is a growing interest in research on mixing technology of cement-based materials and nanomaterials. Among the nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are attracting attention due to their excellent mechanical properties. The CNTs are made of cylindrically shaped graphene sheets. According to the number of sheets, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are classified. Although the SWCNT has superior mechanical properties, the research using MWCNT is vigorous due to the difficulty of marketability and manufacturing, but the research using SWCNT is insufficient. In this study, we investigate the effect of SWCNT on the formation of hydrate of cement paste by observing the microstructure of broken cement paste after measuring the flexural strength of cement paste with SWCNT dispersion.

• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.271-276
• /
• 2005

Polypropylene (PP)/montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposites were prepared by melt mixing methods. MMT modified by dimethyl hydrogenated tallow 2-ethylhexyl ammonium (Cloisite 15A) was used. Polyolefine oligomer with telechelic OH groups was used as a compatibilizer. The degree of dispersion of MMT in the nanocomposites was measured by X-ray diffractometer and transmission electron microscope (TEM) images. MMT was well exfoliated when the contents of compatibilizer was 25 phr. The thermal stability that observed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) increased with the contents of MMT increased up to 5 phr. The complex viscosities and storage moduli of PP nanocomposites enhanced as the contents of compatibilizer decreased and those of MMT increased.

• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.253-259
• /
• 2010

We are consistently being exposed to nanomaterials in direct and/or indirect route as they are used in almost all the sectors in our life. Nations across the worlds are now trying to put global regulation policy on nanomaterials. Sometimes, they are reported to be more toxic than the corresponding ion and micromaterials. Therefore, safety research of nanoparticles has huge implications on a national economics. In this study, we evaluated and analyzed the research trend of ecotoxicity of nanoparticles in soil environment. Test species include terrestrial plants, earthworms, and soil nematode. Soil enzyme activities were also discussed. We found that the results of nanotoxicity studies were affected by many factors such as physicochemical properties, size, dispersion method and test medium of nanoparticle, which should be considered when conducting toxicity researches. In particular, more researches on the effect of physicochemical properties and fate of nanoparticles on toxicity effect should be conducted consistently.