Inorganic-organic composites find extensive application in various fields, including electronic devices and light-emitting diodes. Notably, encapsulation technologies are employed to shield electronic devices (such as printed circuit boards and batteries) from stress and moisture exposure while maintaining electrical insulation. Polymer composites can be used as encapsulation materials because of their controllable mechanical and electrical properties. In this study, we propose a polymer composite that provides good electrical insulation and enhanced mechanical properties. This is achieved by using aluminum borate nanowhiskers (ABOw), which are fabricated using a facile synthesis method. The ABOw fillers are created via a hydrothermal method using aluminum chloride and boric acid. We confirm that the synthesis occurs in various morphologies based on the molar ratio. Specifically, nanowhiskers are synthesized at a molar ratio of 1:3 and used as fillers in the composite. The fabricated ABOw/epoxy composites exhibit a 48.5% enhancement in mechanical properties, similar to those of pure epoxy, while maintaining good electrical insulation.

Immobilization of radioactive borate waste containing a high boron concentration using cement waste form has been challenged because the soluble borate phase such as boric acid reacts with calcium compounds, hindering the hydration reaction in cement waste form. Metakaolin-based geopolymer waste form which has a pure aluminosilicate system without calcium can be a promising alternative for the cement; however, secondary B-O-Si networks are formed by a reaction between borate and silicate, resulting in poor mechanical characteristics such as low compressive strength and final setting retardation. Thus, it is important to optimize the Si/Al molar ratio and curing temperature which are critical parameters of geopolymer waste form to increase borate waste loading and enhance the durability of geopolymer. Here, metakaolin-based geopolymer waste form to immobilize simulant radioactive borate waste was fabricated by varying the Si/Al molar ratio and curing temperature. The 7 days-compressive strength results reveals that the Si/Al molar ratio of 1.4 and curing at 60°C is advantageous to achieving high waste loading (30wt%). In addition, geopolymer waste forms with the highest borate waste loading exceeded the 3.445 MPa after the waste form acceptance criteria such as thermal cycling, gamma irradiation, and water immersion tests. The leachability index of boron was 7.56 and the controlling leaching mechanism was diffusion. The thermal cycling and gamma irradiation did not significantly change the geopolymer structure. The physically incorporated borate waste was leached out from geopolymer waste form during leaching and water immersion tests. Considering these results, metakaolin-based geopolymer waste form with a low Si/Al ratio is a promising candidate for borate waste immobilization, which has been difficult using cement.

The electrochemical reaction between lead borate glass frit doped with Sn metal filler and Ni-Cr wire of a J-type resistor during a term of Joule heating is investigated. The fusing behavior in which the Ni-Cr wire is melted is not observed for the control group but measured for the Sn-doped specimen under 30 V and 500 mA. The Sn-doped lead borate glass frit shows a fusing property compared with other metal-doped specimens. Meanwhile, the redox reaction significantly contributes to the fusing behavior due to the release of free electrons of the metal toward the glass. The electrons derived from the glass, which used Joule heat to reach the melting point of Ni-Cr wire, increase with increasing corrosion rate at interface of metal/ glass. Finally, the confidence interval is 95 ± 1.959 %, and the adjusted regression coefficient, R in the optimal linear graph, is 0.93, reflecting 93% of the data and providing great potential for fusible resistor applications.

북부 아르헨티나 후후이주 동부에 위치하는 살리나스그란데스 붕산염(borate) 광상은 플라야 주변부에 배태되는 플라야(playa)형 증발광상이다. 이 광상에서 산출되는 붕산염광물은 주로 울렉사이트(ulexite, NaCaB5O9·H2O)로 붕소의 주공급원은 주변 화산암일 것으로 추정된다. 아르헨티나 후후이주 동부는 아건조 기후의 알티플라노-푸나 고평원에 위치한다. 중생대 및 신생대 화산암체는 붕소의 주요 공급원으로 생각되며, 플라야는 이들 붕소가 침전되는 주요분지 역할을 하여 이 지역은 붕소의 이동과 침전을 위한 좋은 지형적 지구조적 조건을 보인다. 따라서 향후 이 지역의 붕산염 광체에 대한 지속적인 탐사가 필요 할 것으로 생각된다.

[ BaO·Nd2O3·5TiO2 ] (BNT) ceramics modified with a borate glass containing Ba, Nd and Ti as glass constituents were investigated with regard to their sintering behavior and microwave dielectric properties. An addition of iso-component glass significantly improved the sinterabilty of the BNT ceramics and lowered the sintering temperature. A maximum density of 5.29 g/cm3 and an x-y shrinkage of 17% were obtained for BNT ceramics containing 10wt.% of the glass sintered at 1100˚C. The dielectric composition without the glass additive was only slightly densified at 1100˚C. The resulting sample exhibited two crystalline phases, BaNd2Ti5O14 and Ba2Ti9O20, regardless of sintering temperature and glass content. When >10wt.% glass was added, exaggerated grain growth with a less uniform microstructure was found, resulting in the subsequent reduction of the fired density and the dielectric properties. BNT ceramics containing 10wt.% of the isocomponent glass sintered at 1100˚C for 4 h showed promising dielectric properties of k = 71.3 and Q = 1,330.

본 연구에서는 붕소함유 인공염수(간수)를 수산화칼슘으로 포화시켜 calcium borate를 합성하는 반응에서, 첨가하는 황산이 미치 는 영향을 알아보았다. 다양한 조건(반응온도, 반응시간, 가열반응 후 방랭온도)에서 calcium borate 합성을 시도하였고, 각 조건에서 황산 첨 가유무에 따른 calcium borate의 회수율과 순도 변화를 알아보았다. XRD 분석을 통해 황산의 첨가유무에 상관없이 calcium borate(Ca2B2O5·H2O)가 생성되었음을 확인하였고, 황산을 첨가하면 부산물로 황산칼슘(CaSO4·0.5H2O)이 생성되었다. 황산을 첨가하지 않았 을 때, 실험한 모든 반응온도와 반응시간 조건에서 calcium borate의 회수율과 순도가 황산을 첨가했을 때보다 더 높았다. 황산을 첨가하면 수산화칼슘의 용해도는 높아지지만, 부산물로 생성되는 황산칼슘이 calcium borate의 생성을 방해하여 그 회수율과 순도가 낮아진다고 판단 된다. 본 연구에서는 붕소함유(500 mg-B/L) 인공염수(간수)에 황산을 첨가하지 않고 수산화칼슘으로 포화시켜서 80-105 ℃에서 10분 이내로 가열하여 calcium borate를 합성하였고, 그 회수율과 순도는 각각 최대 80 %, 96 %로 매우 높았다.