Papers by Author: Yang Soo Kim

Abstract: Hollow polystyrene nanocapsules with sizes of ~100 nm have been prepared via a miniemulsion polymerization process by applying the encapsulation of a nonsolvent (i.e., isooctane). Divinylbenzene has been added to styrene as a cross-linking comonomer in order to improve a structural stability of the hollow polymer capsules. Morphology variation of nanocapsules with concentrations of divinylbenzene and also isooctane has been studied using transmission electron microscopy analysis. Kinetic study on the miniemulsion polymerization of styrene in the presence of divinylbenzene and isooctane has been carried out using fractional conversion data determined by the gravimetric analysis.

Abstract: Adsorbing and salvaging extremely small quantities of lithium ion, high-performance ion-exchange type lithium ion adsorbent was prepared through the ion-sieve formation method. The method uses acid treatment after the synthesis of spinel-structured nano-Li_1.33Mn_1.67O₄ precursor through the tartaric acid gel process. It has good selectivity and high efficiency in adsorbing lithium ion in seawater. The generated adsorbent showed a 28.2 mg/g lithium uptake from artificial seawater. This adsorbent further showed a difference reproducibility that was lower than 10% when subjected to five cycles of adsorption and desorption experiments.