• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2002

Disordered carbon and boron-substituted disordered carbons $C_{l-x}B_x(x=0.05,\;0.10,\;0.20)$ were synthesized by Pyrolysis of LPG(liquid Propane gas)and $BCl_3$. Their electrochemical properties as anode materials for Li-ion secondary batteries were then investigated. When PVDF is added to the sample in a weight ratio 5 : 95, the disordered carbon with x=0.00 had the first discharge capacity 374 mAh/g. Its cycling performance was relatively good from the second cycle and it had the discharge capacity 258 mAh/g at the 10th cycle. When PVDF is added to the sample in a weight ratio 5 : 95, the sample with x=0.05 among the samples $C_{l-x}B_x(x=0.05,\;0.10,\;0.20)$ exhibited the largest first discharge capacity 860 mAh/g and discharge capacity 181 mAh/g at the 10th cycle. All the samples had similar cycling performances from the second cycle. The sample $C_{0.90}B_{0.10}$ showed the best electrochemical properties as a anode materials fur Li-ion secondary battery from the view points of the first discharge capacity(853 mAh/g when $10w1.\%$ PVDF is used), cycling performance, discharge capacity(400mAh/g at the 10th cycle when $10wt.\%$ PVDF is used). All the samples showed generally larger charge and discharge capacities when $10wt.\%$ PVDF ratter than $5wt.\%$ PVDF is used. The plateau region in the range of voltage lower than 1.25V becomes larger probably since the structure becomes less disordered by the addition of boron. When boron is added, the charge and discharge capacities decreased suddenly at the second cycle. This may be become only a part of Li are reversibly deintercalated and intercalated and a part of Li which are strongly combined with B are not deintercalated. The increases in charge and discharge capacities are considered to be resulted from the increase in the potential of Li in the boron-added carbons, caused by the strengthening of the chemical bond between the intercalated Li and the boron-carbon host since the boron acts as electron acceptor.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.249-255
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• 2009

The performance of microbial fuel cell (MFC) can be affected by many factors including the rate of organic matter oxidation, the electron transfer to electrode by electrochemical bacteria, proton diffusion, the concentration of electron acceptor, the rate of electron acceptor reduction and internal resistance. the performance of MFC using oxygen as electron acceptor can be influenced by oxygen concentration as limit factors in cathode compartment. Many studies have been performed to enhance electricity production from MFC. The series or parallel stacked MFC connected several MFC units can use to increase voltages and currents produced from MFCs. In this study, a single MFC (S-MFC) and a stacked MFC (ST-MFC) using acetate as electron donor and oxygen as electron acceptor were used to investigate the influence of dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations in cathode compartment on MFC performance. The power density (W/$m^3$) of S-MFC was in order DO 5 > 3 > 7 > 9 mg/L, the maximum power density (W/$m^3$) of S-MFC was 42 W/$m^3$ at DO 5 mg/L. The power density (W/$m^3$) of ST-MFC was in order DO 5 > 7 > 9 > 3 mg/L and the maximum power density (W/$m^3$) of STMFC was 20 W/$m^3$ at DO 5 mg/L. These results suggest that the DO concentration of cathode chamber should be considered as important limit factor of MFC operation and design for stacked MFC as well as single MFC. The results of ST-MFC operation showed the voltage decrease of some MFC units by salt formation on the surface of anode, resulting in decrease total voltage of ST-MFC. Therefore, connecting MFC units in parallel might be more appropriate way than series connections to enhance power production of stacked MFC.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.83-89
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• 2020

For the past few decades, as part of efforts to protect the environment where fossil fuels, which have been a key energy resource for mankind, are becoming increasingly depleted and pollution due to industrial development, ecofriendly secondary batteries, hydrogen generating energy devices, energy storage systems, and many other new energy technologies are being developed. Among them, the lithium-ion battery (LIB) is considered to be a next-generation energy device suitable for application as a large-capacity battery and capable of industrial application due to its high energy density and long lifespan. However, considering the growing battery market such as eco-friendly electric vehicles and drones, it is expected that a large amount of battery waste will spill out from some point due to the end of life. In order to prepare for this situation, development of a process for recovering lithium and various valuable metals from waste batteries is required, and at the same time, a plan to recycle them is socially required. In this study, we introduce a nanoscale pattern transfer printing (NTP) process of Li2CO3, a representative anode material for lithium ion batteries, one of the strategic materials for recycling waste batteries. First, Li2CO3 powder was formed by pressing in a vacuum, and a 3-inch sputter target for very pure Li2CO3 thin film deposition was successfully produced through high-temperature sintering. The target was mounted on a sputtering device, and a well-ordered Li2CO3 line pattern with a width of 250 nm was successfully obtained on the Si substrate using the NTP process. In addition, based on the nTP method, the periodic Li2CO3 line patterns were formed on the surfaces of metal, glass, flexible polymer substrates, and even curved goggles. These results are expected to be applied to the thin films of various functional materials used in battery devices in the future, and is also expected to be particularly helpful in improving the performance of lithium-ion battery devices on various substrates.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.627-631
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• 2012

Sodium borohydride, $NaBH_4$, shows a number of advantages as hydrogen source for portable proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The durability of Co-P-B/Cu catalyst for sodium borohydride hydrolysis reaction was studied. The effect of reaction temperature, $NaBH_4$ concentration, NaOH concentration and calcination temperature of catalyst on the durability of Co-P-B/Cu catalyst were measured. The gel formed during hydrolysis reaction affected the durability of catalyst (loss of catalyst). Formation of gel increased the loss of the catalyst. When $NaBH_4$ concentration was high and reaction temperature was higher than $60^{\circ}C$, loss of catalyst was low because gel was not formed. But under the temperature of $40^{\circ}C$, loss of catalyst increased due to gel formation When $NaBH_4$ concentration was 40 weight % and the reaction temperature was $40^{\circ}C$, the loss of catalyst increased as the NaOH concentration increased. As the calcination temperature of catalyst decreased, the loss of catalyst decreased and the activity of catalyst decreased. Calcination of the catalyst at high temperature enhanced the durability of catalyst but diminished the activity of catalyst.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.745-753
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• 2016

Micro methanol-steam reformer for fuel cell can effectively produce hydrogen as reforming response to steam takes place in low temperature (less than $250^{\circ}C$). This study conducted numerical research on this reformer. First, study set wall temperature of the reformer at 100, 140, 180 and $220^{\circ}C$ while methanol conversion efficiency was set in 0, 0.072, 3.83 and 46.51% respectively. Then, porosity of catalyst was set in 0.1, 0.35, 0.6 and 0.85 and although there was no significant difference in methanol conversion efficiency, values of pressure drop were 4645.97, 59.50, 5.12 and 0.45 kPa respectively. This study verified that methanol-steam reformer rarely responds under the temperature of $180^{\circ}C$ and porosity does not have much effect on methanol conversion efficiency if the fluid flowing through reformer lowers activation energy by sufficiently contacting reformer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.681-682
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• 2013

전기는 우리 주변의 에너지 형태 중에서 가장 편리하고 광범위하게 사용되고 있다. 이러한 전기는 전자제품, 전기자동차, 에너지 저장 플랜트 등 매우 많은 분야에서 저장되고 사용되고 있다. 특히 에너지 저장 용량의 확대는 휴대폰, 노트북 PC 등 휴대용 IT 기기의 성장에 결정적인 역할을 하였다. 가볍고 작으면서도 고용량의 전기 에너지 저장 장치가 없었다면, 통신이나 인터넷 그리고 오락 등 다양한 기능을 작은 휴대용 기기에 구현할 수 없었을 것이다. 그러나 시간이 흐를수록 기기의 요구 성능이 높아지고 소비자의 니즈가 더욱더 다양해지고 고도화될수록 단일 부품으로 가장 큰 부피를 차지하는 에너지 저장 장치의 용량과 디자인은 점점 중요해지고 있다. 이러한 에너지 저장 장치에서 가장 친숙한 형태는 2차 전지 계열이다. 납 축전지를 비롯하여, 니켈수소, 니켈카드뮴, electrochemical capacitor와 Li ion 계열 등이 대표적이다. 특히 Li ion 배터리는 모바일, 자동차 및 에너지 저장 그리드 등과 같은 다양한 분야에 가장 많이 적용되고있다. Li ion 배터리에 대하여 현재의 핵심적인 연구분야는 전극 재료(cathode, anode)와 electrolyte에 대한 것이다. Anode 전극 재료 중에서 가장 많이 사용되는 재료는 카본을 기반으로 하는 재료로 안정성에 대한 장점이 있지만 에너지 밀도가 낮다는 단점이 있다. 에너지 저장 용량 증가에 대한 필요성이 증가하기 때문에 현재 많이 사용되고 있는 에너지 밀도가 낮은 카본 재료를 대체하기 위해서 이론 용량이 높다고 알려진 실리콘과 같은 메탈이나 주석 산화물과 같은 천이 금속 산화물에 대하여 많은 연구가 진행되고 있다. 특히 현재까지 알려진 많은 재료 중에서 가장 큰 capacity (~4,000 mAh/g)를 가지고 있다고 알려진 실리콘이 카본의 대체 재료로 많은 연구가 진행되고 있다. 그러나, Li 과 반응을 하며 약 300~400%에 달하는 부피팽창이 발생하고, 이러한 부피 팽창 때문에 충 방전이 진행됨에 따라 current collector로부터 박리되는 현상을 보여 빠른 용량 감소를 보여주고 있다. 본 연구에서는 adhesion layer를 current collector와 실리콘 전극 재료 사이에 삽입하여 충 방전 시 부피팽창에 의한 미세구조의 변화와 electrochemical 특성에 대한 영향을 알아보았다. 실험에 사용한 anode 전극은 상용 Cu foil current collector에 RF/DC magnetron 스퍼터링을 통해 다양한 종류(Ti, Ta 등)의 adhesion layer과 200 nm 두께의 Si 박막을 증착하였다. 또한 Bio-logic Potentiostat/ Galvanostat VMP3 와 WanAtech automatic battery cycler 장비를 사용하여 0.2 C-rate로 half-cell 타입의 코인 셀로 조립한 전극에 대한 충 방전 실험을 진행하였다. Adhesion layer의 사용으로 인해 실리콘 박막과 Cu current collector 사이의 박리 현상을 줄여줄 수 있었고, 충 방전 시 Cu 원자의 실리콘 박막으로의 확산을 통한 brittle한 Cu-Si alloy 형성을 막아 줄 수 있어 큰 특성 향상을 확인할 수 있었다. 또한, 리튬과 실리콘의 반응을 통한 형태와 미세구조 변화를 SEM, TEM 등의 다양한 장비를 사용하여 확인하였고, 이를 통해 adhesion layer의 사용이 전극의 특성향상에 큰 영향을 끼쳤다는 것을 확인할 수 있었다.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.171-177
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• 2011

PVA/GLA/$Al_2O_3{\cdot}3SiO_2$ composite membranes were prepared through the reaction polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with glutaraldehyde (GLA) as a cross-linking agent and subsequently adding aluminum silicate ($Al_2O_3{\cdot}3SiO_2$) as an inorganic material. The water uptake decreased as the GDL contents increased due to cross-linking process of PVA with GDL, and the ion conductivity increased as the $Al_2O_3{\cdot}3SiO_2$ contents increased in PVA/GLA/$Al_2O_3{\cdot}3SiO_2$ composite membranes. The cross-linking structure of the polymers was confirmed using IR and the tendency of water uptake. The thermal analysis of the copolymers was carried out by TGA. TGA results showed that PVA/GLA composite membrane were more heat-resistant than PVA due to the cross-linking of PVA, and the heat stability of the composite membranes improved much more as the concentration of $Al_2O_3{\cdot}3SiO_2$ increased. Membranes prepared in this study seem to be have thermal stability and increase a tendency of the cation conductivity up to $60^{\circ}C$, but to be exhibit lower performance tendency at over $90^{\circ}C$. Therefore, it is necessary to do more aggressive effort to explore the possibility of application as an ion-conductive composite electrolyte.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.121-127
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• 2010

In present work, sulfonated poly(arylene biphenyklsulfone ether) copolymers containing hydroquinone moiety were successfully synthesized using 4,4'-bis[(4-chlorophenyl)sulfonyl]-1,1'-biphenyl(BCPSBP), hydroquinone sulfonic acid potassium salt(sHQ), 4,4'-sulfonyldiphenol and evaluated their characteristics. Three kinds of polymer electrolyte membranes, PBPSEH-HQ00, PBPSEH-HQ10 and PBPSEH-HQ30 were prepared by using mole fraction of sulfonated hydroquinone(sHQ). The structure of the fabricated polymers was analyzed using NMR, IR and GPC. The Mw(weight-average molecular weights) of the polymers were in the range of 62,000-213,000 g $mol^{-1}$, and the molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) varied from 1.66-4.04. The thermal analysis of the copolymers was carried out by TGA and DSC. The temperature of Td5% and Td10% was decreased with the mole fraction of sHQ but Tg was increased with the mole fraction. The water uptake, IEC and ion conductivity were increased with increasing the ionic cluster of the polymers. The proton conductivity equal to 9.4 mS $cm^{-1}$ was measured for the PBPSEH-HQ30 membrane at $90^{\circ}C$ and 100% relative humidity. From the observed results it is clear that the prepared hydrocarbon membrane can be considered as suitable polymer electrolyte membrane for the application of PEMFC.

• Clean Technology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.320-326
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• 2013

Nano-sized PtRu-Ni/VC and PtRu-Sn/VC electrocatalysts were synthesized by a one-step radiation-induced reduction (RIR) (30 kGy) process using distilled water as the solvent and Vulcan XC-72 as the supporting material. The obtained electrocatalysts were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscope energy dispersive spectroscopic (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The catalytic efficiency of electrocatalysts was examined for oxygen reduction, MeOH oxidation and CO stripping decreased in the following order, Hydrogen stripping : PtRu-Sn/VC > PtRu-Ni/VC > PtRu/VC$^{(R)}$ (E-TEK). MeOH oxidation : PtRu-Sn/VC > PtRu-Ni/VC > PtRu/ VC$^{(R)}$ (E-TEK). Unit cell performance : PtRu-Sn/VC > PtRu-Ni/VC > PtRu/VC$^{(R)}$ (E-TEK) catalysts.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.173-179
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• 2016

This is a numerical study on the curved channel type of hydrogen reformer using the commercial code of fluid dynamics. We numerically compared the numerical model in a previous study model and the modelling of a tube type curved channel. In the result of numerical analysis on 4 types of curved channel reformers, the methanol conversion efficiency of type 1~4 were 45.0%, 45.3%, 45.6%, 45.6% respectively, and there was hardly any difference by ${\pm}0.6%$. In light of flow characteristics, the rectangle type tube and the type 2 with $45^{\circ}$ turn showed most uniform flow characteristics and concentration distribution of methanol, and the circular type tube and the type 3 with $90^{\circ}$ turn had most un-uniform flow characteristics and concentration distribution of methanol. We concluded that the design for curved channel reformer has to have rectangle type tube with curve of almost $45^{\circ}$ as in the type of curved pipe with $45^{\circ}$ turn.