• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.774-780
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• 1998

For the stabilization of the spinel structured $LiMn_2O_4$, a fraction of manganese was substituted with various metals such as Mg, Fe, V, W, Cr, Mo with Mn that had a similar ionic radii ($LiM_xMn_{2-x}O_4(0.05{\leq}x{\leq}0.02)$). The $LiM_xMn_{2-x}O_4$ showed a substantial improvement as lower capacity loss than that of the spinel structured $LiMn_2O_4$ when it was used as a cathode material. And with the partial substitution, the chemical diffusion coefficient for $LiMg_{0.05}Mn_{1.9}O_4$ and $LiCr_{0.1}Mn_{1.9}O_4$ was increased by and order of magnitude compared to that of the $LiMn_2O_4$ with spinel structure. The results showed that significant improvement can be made on the electrochemical characteristics as the structure of the $LiMn_2O_4$ electrode material was stabilized by the partial substitution.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.28-36
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• 2021

It is known that buried rebars inside concrete structures are protected from corrosion due to passive layer. It is very important to delay the timing of corrosion or evaluate a detection of corrosion initiation for the purpose of cost-beneficiary service life of a structure. In this study, corrosion monitoring was performed on concrete specimens considering 3 levels of cover depth(60 mm, 45 mm, and 30 mm), W/C(water to cement) ratio(40.0%, 50.0%, and 60.0%) and chloride concentration(0.0%, 3.5%, and 7.0%). OCP(Open Circuit Potential) was measured using agar-based socket type sensors. The OCP measurement showed the consistent behavior where the potential was reduced in wet conditions and it was partially recovered in dry conditions. In the case of 30 mm of cover depth for most W/C ratio cases, the lowest OCP value was measured and rapid OCP recovery was evaluated in increasing cover depth from 30 mm to 45 mm, since cover depth was an effective protection against chloride ion ingress. As the chloride concentration increased, the effect on the cover depth tended to be more dominant than the that of W/C ratio. After additional monitoring and physical evaluation of chloride concentration after specimen dismantling, the proposed system can be improved with increasing reliability of the corrosion monitoring.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.512-518
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• 2019

To develop a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with lower Pt loading and higher performance in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), it is an important research issue to understand interfacial structure of Pt/C catalyst and ionomer and design the catalyst layer structure. In this study, we prepared short-side-chain Nafion-based ionomer dispersion using propylene glycol (PG) as a solvent instead of water which is commonly used as a solvent for commercially available ionomers. Cathode catalyst layers with different ionomer content from 20 to 35 wt% were prepared using the ionomer dispersion for the fabrication of four different MEAs, and their fuel cell performance was evaluated. As the ionomer content increased to 35 wt%, the performance of the prepared MEAs increased proportionally, unlike the commercially available water-based ionomer, which exhibited an optimum at about 25 wt%. Small size micelles and slow evaporation of PG in the ionomer dispersion were effective in proton transfer by inducing the formation of a uniformly structured catalyst layer, but the low oxygen permeability problem of the PG-based ionomer film should be resolved to improve the MEA performance.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2019

As the application area of lithium secondary batteries becomes wider, performance characterization becomes difficult as well as diverse. To address this issue, battery manufacturers have to evaluate many batteries for a longer period, recruit many researchers and continuously introduce expensive equipment. Simulation techniques based on battery modeling are being introduced to solve such difficulties. Various lithium secondary battery modeling techniques have been reported so far and optimal techniques have been selected and utilized according to their purpose. In this review, the electrochemical modeling based on the Newman model is described in detail. Particularly, we will explain the physical meaning of each equation included in the model; the Butler-Volmer equation, which represents the rate of electrode reaction, the material and charge balance equations for each phase (solid and liquid), and the energy balance. Moreover, simple modeling processes and results based on COMSOL Multiphysics 5.3a will be provided and discussed.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.492-498
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• 2021

This feasibility study evaluated an optically transparent planar antenna using liquid salt-water as the conducting material. The most significant reason behind using liquid salt-water for transparent antenna applications is its excellent average optical transparency (OTav) (> 95% at a salinity of 40 ppt) compared to other typical solid transparent thin-film electrodes, such as indium tin oxide (ITO:> 73%) or multi-layer films (MLF: > 78%). Each conductive arm of the proposed dipole is constructed from a salt-water layer held between two clear planar acrylic layers (��r = 2.61, tan�� = 0.01, OTav > 90%) (acrylic/salt-water/acrylic; ASA) due to surface tension. To examine the electrical and optical properties of the ASA structure, the surface tension was measured to determine the thickness of the salt-water layer that finalized its sheet resistance and OTav. The average gain and efficiency of the antenna were 1.72 dBi and 74%, respectively, in the operating UHF (Ultra high frequency) band (470-771 MHz). Therefore, the proposed antenna can be a good candidate for applications as a transparent planar antenna using salt-water.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.100-105
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• 2021

Recently, all-solid-state batteries have attracted much attention to improve safety of rechargeable lithium batteries, but the solid-state batteries of conductive ceramics or solid polymer electrolytes show poor electrochemical properties because of several problems such as high interfacial resistance and undesired reactions. To solve the problems of the reported all-solid-state batteries, a hybrid solid electrolyte is suggested, in this study, NASICON-type nanoparticle Li_1.5Al_0.5Ti_1.5P₃O₁₂ (LATP) conductive ceramic, PVdF-HFP, and a carbonate-based liquid electrolyte were composited to prepare a quasi-solid electrolyte. The hybrid solid electrolyte has a high voltage stability of 5.6 V and shows an suppress effect of lithium dendrite growth in the stripping-plating test. The LiNi_0.83Co_0.11Mn_0.06O₂ (NCM811)-based battery with the hybrid solid electrolyte exhibits a high discharge capacity of 241.5 mAh/g at a high charge-cut-off voltage of 4.8V and stable electrochemical reaction. The NCM811-based battery also shows 139.4 mAh/g discharge capacity without short circuit or explosion at 90℃. Therefore, the LATP-based hybrid solid electrolyte can be an effective solution to improve the safety and electrochemical properties of rechargeable lithium batteries.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.574-581
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• 2022

Nanofibers comprising reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and Mo₂C/Mo₂N nanoparticles (Mo₂C/Mo₂N rGO NFs) were prepared for a functional interlayer of Li-S batteries (LSBs). The well-dispersed Mo₂C and Mo₂N nanoparticles in the nanofiber structure served as active polar sites for efficient immobilization of dissolved lithium polysulfide. The rGO nanosheets in the structure also provide conductive channels for fast ion/electron transport during charging-discharging and ensured reuse of lithium polysulfide during redox reactions through a fast charge transfer process. As a result, the cell assembled with Mo₂C/Mo₂N rGO NFs-coated separator and pure sulfur electrode (70 wt% of sulfur content and 2.1 mg cm^-2 of sulfur loading) showed a stable discharge capacity of 476 mA h g^-1 after 400 charge-discharge cycles at 0.1 C. Furthermore, it exhibited a discharge capacity of 574 mA h g^-1 even at a high current density of 1.0 C. Therefore, we believe that the proposed unique nanostructure synthesis strategy could provide new insights into the development of sustainable and highly conductive polar materials as functional interlayers for high performance LSBs.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2022

Lithium metal is the most promising anode for next-generation lithium-ion batteries due to its lowest reduction potential (-3.04 V vs. SHE) and high specific capacity (3860 mAh/g). However, the dendritic formation under high charging current density remains one of main technical barriers to be used for commercial rechargeable batteries. To address these issues, tremendous research to suppress lithium dendrite formation have been conducted through new electrolyte formulation, robust protection layer, shape-controlled lithium metal, separator modification, etc. However, Li/Li symmetric cell test is always a starting or essential step to demonstrate better lithium dendrite formation behavior with lower overpotential and longer cycle life without careful analysis. Thus, this review summarizes overpotential behaviors of Li/Li symmetric cells along with theoretical explanations like initial peaking or later arcing. Also, we categorize various overpotential data depending on research approaches and discuss them based on peaking and arcing behaviors. Thus, this review will be very helpful for researchers in lithium metal to analyze their overpotential behaviors.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.321-328
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• 2024

The performance of carbon fluoride-based lithium primary batteries (Li/CF_X) is limited due to poor rate capability resulting from the low conductivity of carbon fluoride, which is used as the active material. Therefore, in this study, we applied a carbon coating using pyrolysis fuel oil on carbon fluoride to overcome this limitation and considered its electrochemical performance. An amorphous carbon layer was formed on the surface of the carbon fluoride through carbon coating, and the surface physicochemical properties of the carbon fluoride were meticulously considered based on the heat treatment temperature. The advanced research chemical 1000 heat treated at 450 ℃ (ARC@C450) sample, which was commercial carbon fluoride heat-treated at 450 ℃, showed the largest increase in the concentration of sp² carbon bonds (62%) and the highest formation of semi-ionic C-F bonds. Also, the primary battery using the ARC@C450 sample as a cathode active material exhibited stable discharge capability at the highest rate of 5 C (392 mAh/g), and the R_ct value was reduced by 53% compared to the untreated sample. Therefore, we proposed pyrolysis fuel oil-based carbon coating as a method to overcome the low conductivity of carbon fluoride, and the carbon-coated carbon fluoride showed excellent rate performance, suggesting its potential application in high-power primary batteries.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.25-38
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• 2020

Photoelectrochemical water splitting has been considered as the most promising technology for generating hydrogen energy. Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) compounds have currently attracted tremendous attention due to their outstanding ability towards the catalytic water-splitting hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we report the synthesis method of various transition metal dichalcogenide including MoS₂, MoSe₂, WS₂, and WSe₂ nanosheets as excellent catalysts for solar-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen evolution. Photocathodes were fabricated by growing the nanosheets directly onto Si nanowire (NW) arrays, with a thickness of 20 nm. The metal ion layers were formed by soaking the metal chloride ethanol solution and subsequent sulfurization or selenization produced the transition metal chalcogenide. They all exhibit excellent PEC performance in 0.5 M H₂SO₄; the photocurrent reaches to 20 mA cm^-2 (at 0 V vs. RHE) and the onset potential is 0.2 V under AM1.5 condition. The quantum efficiency of hydrogen generation is avg. 90%. The stability of MoS₂ and MoSe₂ is 90% for 3h, which is higher than that (80%) of WS₂ and WSe₂. Detailed structure analysis using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for before/after HER reveals that the Si-WS₂ and Si-WSe₂ experience more oxidation of Si NWs than Si-MoS₂ and Si-MoSe₂. This can be explained by the less protection of Si NW surface by their flake shape morphology. The high catalytic activity of TMDs should be the main cause of this enhanced PEC performance, promising efficient water-splitting Si-based PEC cells.