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Powder Technology, Volume 234, January 2013, Pages 132-140.
B. Munkhbayar, Md. J. Nine, Jinseong Jeoun, Munkhjargal Bat-Erdene, Hanshik Chung, Hyomin Jeong.
Department of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Cheondaegukchi-Gil 38, Tongyeong, Gyeongnam 650-160, Republic of Korea.
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Department of Seafood Science and Technology, Gyeongsang National University, 445 Inpyeong Dong, Tongyeong, Gyeongnam 650-160, Republic of Korea.
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Department of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Marine Industry, Gyeongsang National University, Cheondaegukchi-Gil 38, Tongyeong, Gyeongnam 650-160, Republic of Korea.
Abstract
The current paper presents a new approach of attaining the optimum grinding condition of a planetary ball mill and simple method for purifying multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to investigate the dispersion characteristics of MWCNTs. This work was conducted under dry and wet grinding conditions at various rotation speeds (200 rpm–500 rpm), and the dispersion characteristics of MWCNTs in aqueous solutions with and without surfactant were studied. The results were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), particle-size analysis (PSA), UV-spectrophotometry and zeta potential (ζ) measurements. The purification results show that the structures of amorphous carbon and carbon particles of MWCNTs were completely eliminated and the tips of nanotubes opened. Moreover, both dry and wet grinding caused the lengths of the MWCNTs to be shortened with increasing rotation speed. The maximum absorbance of nanofluid was revealed to be 2.485 abs at wavelength of 253 nm for the best dispersion. The best dispersion characteristics were observed for wet grinding at a rotation speed of 500 rpm assisted by the ultrasonication dispersion of CNTs in aqueous solutions with surfactant.
Additional Information
The current paper presents a new approach of attaining the optimum grinding condition of a planetary ball mill and simple method for purifying multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to investigate the dispersion characteristics of MWCNTs. Although less attention has been paid to the systematic investigation of the parameters governing the dispersion behavior of MWCNTs, such as grinding speed as a function of time under both dry and wet conditions, purifying CNTs using surfactant and ultrasonication energy has not yet been incorporated into relevant studies. The purpose of our study was to compare the dry and wet types of grinding at rotation speeds of 200 rpm, 300 rpm, 400 rpm and 500 rpm assisted by the ultrasonication dispersion of MWCNTs in aqueous solutions with surfactant and without surfactant. As a result, the maximum absorbance of nanofluid was revealed to be 2.485 abs at wavelength of 253 nm for the best dispersion. The best dispersion characteristics were observed for wet grinding at a rotation speed of 500 rpm assisted by the ultrasonication dispersion of CNTs in aqueous solutions with surfactant.
About the Author: Mr. Munkhbayar Batmunkh (called as B. Munkhbayar) is currently joining as a Ph.D candidate at the School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, South Australia. The research title in his Ph.D course is projected as “Multi-scale modeling approach to the engineering of DSSC photo-electrodes”. Mr. B. Munkhbayar received his “Master of Engineering” degree from Thermal and Fluid Research Group at the Department of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Korea, in August, 2012. A thesis title of his Master study was “Effect of the Grinding Method on Dispersion and Thermal Characteristics of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes, and Its Application for the Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells”. In the past 2 years, he has published about 15 peer reviewed international journal papers having 10 first authored, 11 SCI and 4 SCIE. Due to these great achievements, he received many awards and prizes such as “Young Pioneer Researcher 2012, GNU”, “Second Phase Brain Korea 21 (BK21)” and “sciencedirect.com TOP 25 articles x 3 times”. Mr. B. Munkhbayar is obtained his B.Sc from Department of Chemical Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, The National University of Mongolia, Mongolia. His current research interest is synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials for electrochemical applications.
