Whisker-type magnesium hydroxide sulfate hydrate (5Mg(OH)2·MgSO4·3H2O, abbreviated 513 MHSH), is used in filler and flame-retardant composites based on its hydrate phase and its ability to undergo endothermic dehydration in fire conditions, respectively. In general, the length of whiskers is determined according to various synthetic conditions in a hydrothermal reaction with high temperature (~180oC). In this work, high-quality 513 MHSH whiskers are synthesized by controlling the concentration of the raw material in ambient conditions without high pressure. Particularly, the concentration of the starting material is closely related to the length, width, and purity of MHSH. In addition, a ceramic-coating system is adopted to enhance the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the MHSH whiskers. The physical properties of the silica-coated MHSH are characterized by an abrasion test, thermogravimetric analysis, and transmission electron microscopy.

To develop Taraxacum platycarpum extract (TP)-loaded particles for tablet dosage form, various TP-loaded particles composed of TP, dextrin, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), silicon dioxide, ethanol, and water are prepared using a spray-drying method and fluid-bed-drying method. Their physical properties are evaluated using angle of repose, Hausner ratio, Carr’s index, hardness, disintegrant time, and scanning electron microscopy. Optimal TP-loaded particles improve flowability and compressibility. Furthermore, 2% silicon dioxide gives increased flowability and compressibility. The formula of TP-loaded fluid-bed-drying particles at a TP/MCC/silicon-dioxide amount of 5/5/0.2 improves the angle of repose, Hausner ratio, Carr’s index, hardness, and disintegrant time as compared with the TP-loaded spray-drying particles. The TP-loaded fluid-bed-drying particles considerably improve flowability and compressibility (35.10° vs. 40.3°, 0.97 vs. 1.17, and 18.97% vs. 28.97% for the angle of repose, Hausner ratio, and Carr’s index, respectively), hardness (11.34 vs. 4.7 KP), and disintegrant time (7.4 vs. 10.4 min) as compared with the TP-loaded spray-drying particles. Thus, the results suggest that these fluid-bed-drying particles with MCC and silicon dioxide can be used as powerful particles to improve the flowability and compressibility of the TP.

The aluminum (Al)/copper oxide (CuO) complex is known as the most promising material for thermite reactions, releasing a high heat and pressure through ignition or thermal heating. To improve the reaction rate and wettability for handling safety, nanosized primary particles are applied on Al/CuO composite for energetic materials in explosives or propellants. Herein, graphene oxide (GO) is adopted for the Al/CuO composites as the functional supporting materials, preventing a phase-separation between solvent and composites, leading to a significantly enhanced reactivity. The characterizations of Al/CuO decorated on GO(Al/CuO/GO) are performed through scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy mapping analysis. Moreover, the functional bridging between Al/CuO and GO is suggested by identifying the chemical bonding with GO in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. The reactivity of Al/CuO/GO composites is evaluated by comparing the maximum pressure and rate of the pressure increase of Al/CuO and Al/CuO/GO. The composites with a specific concentration of GO (10 wt%) demonstrate a well-dispersed mixture in hexane solution without phase separation.

In this study, lanthanum oxide (La2O3) dispersed molybdenum (Mo–La2O3) alloys are fabricated using lanthanum nitrate solution and nanosized Mo particles produced by hydrogen reduction of molybdenum oxide. The effect of La2O3 dispersion in a Mo matrix on the fracture toughness at room temperature is demonstrated through the formation behavior of La2O3 from the precursor and three-point bending test using a single-edge notched bend specimen. The relative density of the Mo–0.3La2O3 specimen sintered by pressureless sintering is approximately 99%, and La2O3 with a size of hundreds of nanometers is uniformly distributed in the Mo matrix. It is also confirmed that the fracture toughness is 19.46 MPa·m1/2, an improvement of approximately 40% over the fracture toughness of 13.50 MPa·m1/2 on a pure-Mo specimen without La2O3, and this difference in the fracture toughness occurs because of the changes in fracture mode of the Mo matrix caused by the dispersion of La2O3.

We fabricated glucose oxidase (GOx)-modified biosensor for detection of glucose by physical immobilization of GOx after electrochemical polymerization of the conductive mixture monomers of the 3-thiophenecarboxylic acid (TCA) and thiophene (Th) onto ITO electrode in this study. We confirmed the successfully fabrication of GOx-modified biosensor via FT-IR spectroscopy, SEM, contact angle, and cyclic voltammetry. The fabricated biosensor has the detection limit of 0.1 μM, the linearity of 0.001-27 mM, and sensitivity of 38.75 mAM-1cm-2, respectively. The fabricated biosensor exhibits high interference effects to dopamine, ascorbic acid, and L-cysteine, respectively. From these results, the fabricated GOx-modified biosensor with long linearity and high sensitivity could be used as glucose sensor in human blood sample.

For electrodes in electrochemical double-layer capacitors, carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were prepared by thermal treatment of precursor polymer nanofibers, fabricated by electrospinning. Poly(acrylonitrile-co-vinylimidazole) (PAV) was employed as a precursor polymer of carbon nanofibers due to the effective cyclization of PAV polymer chains during thermal treatment compared to a typical precursor, polyacrylonitrile (PAN). PAV solutions with different comonomer compositions were prepared and electrospun to produce precursor nanofibers. Surface images obtained from scanning electron microscopy showed that their nanofibrous structure was well preserved after carbonization. It was also confirmed that electrospun PAV nanofibers were successfully converted to carbon nanofibers after the carbonization step by Raman spectroscopy. Carbon nanofiber electrodes derived from PAV showed higher specific capacitances and energy/power densities than those from PAN, which was tested by coin-type cells. It was also shown that PAV with an acrylonitrile/vinylimidazole composition of 83:17 is most promising for the carbon nanofiber precursor exhibiting a specific capacitance of 114 F/g. Their energy and power density are 70.1 Wh/kg at 1 A/g and 9.5 W/kg at 6 A/g, respectively. In addition, pouch cells were assembled to load the higher amount of electrode materials in the cells, and a box-like cyclic voltammetry was obtained with high capacitances.

Low cost and scalable manufacturing of highly doped cellulose for enhanced multifunctional applications is still an issue. In this work, eco-friendly nanocomposites were fabricated by incorporating regenerated cellulose (RC) of 10, 30, and 50 wt% into an exfoliated graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), resulting in the intercalation of GnPs. The thermal and electrical properties of hybrid nanocomposites were investigated. The structural property was conducted through scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction analyses. Strong frequency-dependent dielectric response was found due to the change of the permittivity and the loss tangent of nanocomposites by different content of RC, which is associated with the polarizations behavior. Non-elastic relaxation at the GNPs–RC chains interfacial areas in an alternating field was identified as the main cause of polarization losses among others. Detailed ferroelectric measurements provided the evidence of the ideal resistive behavior of the nanocomposites, which are confirmed by the resistivity measurements along the out-of-plane direction of the nanocomposite sheets.

Fabrication of soft magnetic composite powders for the Fe2O3-Ca system by mechanical alloying(MA) has been investigated at room temperature. It is found that soft magnetic composite powders in which CaO is dispersed in α-Fe matrix are obtained by MA of Fe2O3 with Ca for 5 hours. Changes in magnetization and coercivity also reflect the details of the solidstate reduction process of hematite by pure metal of Ca during MA. The saturation magnetization of MA powders increases with increasing MA time and reaches a maximum value of 65 emu/g after 7 hours of MA. The average grain size of α-Fe in MA powders, estimated by diffraction line-width, gradually decreases with increasing MA time and reaches 52 nm after 5 hours of MA. It can also be seen that the coercivity of the 5-hour MA sample is fairly high at 190 Oe, suggesting that the grain refinement of already-produced α-Fe tends to clearly occur during MA.

Rare earth magnets are the strongest type of permanent magnets and are integral to the high tech industry, particularly in clean energies, such as electric vehicle motors and wind turbine generators. However, the cost of rare earth materials and the imbalance in supply and demand still remain big problems to solve for permanent magnet related industries. Thus, a magnet with abundant elements and moderate magnetic performance is required to replace rare-earth magnets. Recently, a”-Fe16N2 has attracted considerable attention as a promising candidate for next-generation non-rare-earth permanent magnets due to its gigantic magnetization (3.23 T). Also, metastable a”-Fe16N2 exhibits high tetragonality (c/a = 1.1) by interstitial introduction of N atoms, leading to a high magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant (K1 = 1.0MJ/m3). In addition, Fe has a large amount of reserves on the Earth compared to other magnetic materials, leading to low cost of raw materials and manufacturing for industrial production. In this paper, we review the synthetic methods of metastable a”-Fe16N2 with film, powder and bulk form and discuss the approaches to enhance magnetocrystalline anisotropy of a”-Fe16N2. Future research prospects are also offered with patent trends observed thus far.

다공성 분리막은 입자성 물질을 제거하는데 산업적으로 다양하게 응용되고 있다. 기존 다공성 분리막 제작 방법 과 다르게, 용액퍼짐 상분리법은 매우 간단하게 기공을 형성할 수 있다. 먼저 지지층으로 메쉬 위에 물을 적신 후, 물과 혼합 되지 않은 용매에 폴리설폰 용액을 흘려준다. 이때 물과 혼합되지 않은 용매는 쉽게 기화되어 폴리설폰은 얇은 막으로 만들어지게 된다. 기공을 형성하기 위해 폴리설폰 용액에 물과 혼합할 수 있는 물질을 넣게 되면, 넣어주는 농도 비율에 따라 기공크기를 조절할 수 있게 된다. 막의 두께는 쉽게 용액의 농도로 조절이 된다. 다공성 분리막은 메쉬의 형성을 그대로 유지하고 있어 3차원 구조체를 형성하는데 매우 유용하다. 본 연구에서 제시된 용액 퍼짐 상분리법은 매우 낮은 생산단가와 쉬운 공정조절에 의해 기존 분리막에 비해 높은 가격경쟁력을 가질 수 있는 특징을 보이고 있다.