• 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.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.247-255
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• 2014

$La_{0.8}Sr_{0.2}CuO_3$ powder with the perovskite structure was prepared as electrode catalyst using citrate method. Porous electrode was made with as-prepared catalyst, carbon as supporter and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as hydrophobic binder. As results of potentiostatic electrolysis with potential of -1.5~-2.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl in 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 M KOH at 5 and $10^{\circ}C$ on the porous electrode, liquid products were methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol and 1, 2-butanol regardless reaction temperature, while gas products were methane, ethane and ethylene at $5^{\circ}C$, and methane, ethane and propane at $10^{\circ}C$ respectively. Optimal potentials for $CO_2$ reduction in the view of over all faradic efficiency were high values (-2.0 and -2.2 V) for gas products whereas low potential (-1.5 V) for liquid products regardless of concentration and temperature.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.254-261
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• 2014

The transformer is a static electrical device that transfers energy by inductive coupling. Then, heat is occurred at coils, inner transformer was filled with insulating oils for cooling and insulation. Although mineral oil as insulating oil has been widely used, it does not meet health and current environmental laws because it is not biodegradable. Therefore, in this study, the diglycerol ester was synthesized with diglycerol and fatty acids (oleic acid and caprylic acid) over various catalysts for insulating oil having biodegradability, high flash points and low pour points. The sulfated zirconia ($SO_4{^{2-}}/ZrO_2$) catalyst prepared at different calcination temperature shows the highest conversion of fatty acids at $600^{\circ}C$ due to crystallinity and high density of acid sites per surface area. When the molar ratio of oleic acid and caprylic acid is 1:3, the diglycerol ester shows superior insulation properties that are the flash point of $306^{\circ}C$ and pour point of $-50^{\circ}C$. The insulation properties of synthesized diglycerol ester shows the pour point of $-50^{\circ}C$ and the flash point of over $300^{\circ}C$. Therefore, diglycerol ester is superior to the vegetable oils in insulation properties.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.118-123
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• 2006

Degradation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) that is facilitated by on/off cycles is one of the most important issues for commercialization of fuel cell vehicles. When a PEMFC stack is shut down, residual hydrogen and induce high voltage equivalent to open circuit voltage to the cathode side that might cause sintering of Pt catalyst and facilitate formation of hydrogen peroxide at the anode side that might decompose $Nafionc\'{A}$ membrane. In this study, degradation of PEMFC exposed to repetitive on/off cycles was investigated by measuring i-V characteristics, ac impedance, cyclic voltammograms, gas leak, cross-sectional SEM images, and TEM images. To prevent degradation of PEMFC caused by the residual gases, hydrogen was removed from anode gas channel by gas-purging and by using a dummy resistance, that were found to be a very effective method.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.456-462
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• 2023

An electrically conductive and transparent electrode was created by applying a dispersion of pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and silver nanowires to a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film using a bar coating method. The SWCNTs were added to increase the electrical conductivity and transmittance of the silver nanowires while also preventing the haze from increasing due to the stacking of multiple layers containing SWCNTs and silver nanowires on the PET substrate. The silver nanowires in the electrode were also found to be stable against oxidation. The transparent electrode displayed excellent electrical and optical properties, with a sheet resistance of 47 Ω/□, transmittance of 96.72%, and haze of 1.93%. Additionally, the sheet resistance of the electrode remained stable over time, with a change of only 6.4% after a constant temperature and humidity test, making it suitable for long-term use. A hybrid transparent electrode that is economically feasible and environmentally sustainable has been developed through the utilization of pristine SWCNT and silver nanowire.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.294-299
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• 2011

In this study, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were synthesized on a Fe/$Al_2O_3$/Si layer by thermal chemical vapor deposition. Metallic SWCNTs were selectively removed by microwave irradiation. Electrical and structural characterizations of the SWCNTs clearly revealed that the metallic SWCNTs were almost removed by microwave irradiation for 120 sec. The remained semiconducting SWCNTs with a high crystalline structure were obtained over 95%. This method would provide useful information for applications to SWCNTs-based field effect transistors and multifaceted nanoelectronics.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.259-269
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• 2002

A battery based on the lithium/elemental sulfur redox couple has the advantage of high theoretical specific capacity of 1,675 mAh/g-sulfur. However, Li/S battery has bad cyclic durability at room temperature due to sulfur active material loss resulting from lithium polysulfide dissolution. To improve the cycle life of Li/S battery, PEGDME (Poly(ethylene glycol) dimethyl ether) 500 containing 1M LiTFSI salt which has high viscosity was used as electrolyte to retard the polysulfide dissolution and nano-sized $Mg_{0.6}Ni_{0.4}O$ was added to sulfur cathode as additive to adsorb soluble polysulfide within sulfur cathode. From experimental results, the improvement of the capacity and cycle life of Li/S battery was observed( maximum discharge capacity : 1,185 mAh/g-sulfur, C50/C1 = 85 % ). Through the charge-discharge test, we knew that PEGDME 500 played a role of preventing incomplete charge-discharge $behavior^{1,2)$. And then, in sulfur dissolution analysis and rate capability test, we first confirmed that nano-sized $Mg_{0.6}Ni_{0.4}O$ had polysulfide adsorbing effect and catalytic effect of promoting the Li/S redox reaction. In addition, from BET surface area analysis, we also verified that it played the part of increasing the porosity of sulfur cathode.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.405-409
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• 2010

New sol-gel precursors having the ability to protect iron against corrosion were synthesized and used to prepare organic-inorganic hybrid coatings based on epoxy. Bisphenol A epoxy was modified with 3-isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane to improve the compatibility, and water and HCl were used as catalysts for sol-gel process. Various coating formulations were prepared depending on the type of sol-gel precursors and the amount of each ingredient, and cast on iron substrates by dip-coating and thermally cured. Corrosion protection properties of coated iron were studied by a salt spray test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy under 0.1 M NaCl electrolyte. Hybrid coatings containing anticorrosive functional group exhibited excellent corrosion protection on iron, compared to that of typical hybrid coatings. From electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, the hybrid coatings containing anticorrosive functional group could maintaine the initial impedance after 500 h, while the impedance of hybrid coatings without them started to decrease after 24 h.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.142-149
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• 2013

Carbon materials are mainly used as catalyst supports for polymer exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Catalyst supports are required specific characteristics of the carbon materials, such as large surface area and high electrical conductivity. Attempted were to improve electrical conductivity and to maintain high surface area of carbon materials using a microwave treatment. Microwave treatment, as a relatively new technique, takes short reaction time and reduce the consumption of the gases used for carbon treatment compared to a traditional heat treatment. Hybrid carbon (ACF/Graphene) as catalyst supports by microwave-irradiation method for PEMFC increase the cell performance because of increased electrical conductivity resulting in triple-phase contact and reduced the interfacial resistance. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) were employed to analyze carbon materials. The performance of microwave-treated carbon materials was evaluated by measuring current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and electrode impedance.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.23-27
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• 2003

In this study investigations have been carried out for the evaluation of small DMFCS under passive operation conditions for use in portable powers. Under passive conditions, a maximum performance was obtained at a methanol concentration of 4 M and at a catalyst loading of $8mg/cm^2$ on both electrodes. By optimizing various parameters, we could achieve the highest performance of $55mW/cm^2$ at 1 attn and at R.T.A monopolar stack consisting of 6 unit cells with active area of $4.5cm^2/cell$ was prepared and it showed a uniform voltage distribution all over the cells and it had a power output of 1 watt and a power density of $37mW/cm^2$ A monopolar stack which consisted of 16 cells and produced a 2.4W power was also fabricated and was tested for operation of a miniature car.