• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.52-58
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• 2013

In order to overcome the cost issue for commercialization of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), this research was conducted for replacing platinum cathode catalyst with non-precious metal catalyst. The non-precious metal catalyst (Co-PANI-C) was synthesized by the simple reduction method with polyaniline (PANI), carbon black, and cobalt precursor without any heat treatment. Characterization of new Co-PANI-C composite catalysts was done by the measurement of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) for structure analysis and performed by rotating disk electrode (RDE) and rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) for electrochemical analysis. As a result, Co-PANI-C catalyst showed 60 mV lower on-set potential for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) than Pt/C catalyst, but the overall reduction current of Co-PANI-C catalysts by ORR was still smaller than that of Pt/C. In addition, the ORR behavior of Co-PANI-C catalysts depending on the rotation speed of electrode and the stability of Co-PANI-C catalyst under potential cycling and the performance of fuel cell conditions are also discussed.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.90-97
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• 2009

Dispersion and self-sensing evaluation for single-carbon fiber reinforced in three different acid-treated CNT-epoxy nanocomposites were investigated by electro-micromechanical techniques and wettability tests. Self-sensing based on contact resistivity exhibited more noise for single carbon fiber/acid-treated CNT-epoxy composites than it did for untreated CNT. However, the apparent modulus was higher the acid treated case than the untreated case which is attributed to better stress transfer. The interfacial shear strength (IFSS) between carbon fibers and the CNT-epoxy was lower than that between carbon fiber and neat epoxy due to the increased viscosity associated with the addition of the CNT. The CNT-epoxy nanocomposite exhibited more hydrophobicity than did neat epoxy. Change in the thermodynamic work of adhesion was consistent with changes in the IFSS but disproportional to that of the apparent modulus. The optimum condition of acid treatment on the need can be obtained instead of the maximum condition.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.40-47
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• 2014

Feasibility of utilizing unburned carbon residue in coal ash as a potential precursor for the production of activated carbon was assessed to seek for solution to recycle unburned carbon residue. The unburned carbon concentrate generated from the 4 stages of cleaner flotation has a grade of 87% carbon. The crystalline impurities in the concentrate included quartz and mullite. Unburned carbon had a low specific surface area of $10m^2/g$, which might be related to a high degree of coalification of domestic anthracite coal. Carbon particles were mostly porous and have a turbostratic structure. When 1g of carbon was activated with 6g of KOH powder, the highest specific surface area value of $670m^2/g$ was achieved. Low wettability of unburned carbon particles, which was resulted from high temperature combustion in a boiler, might cause poor pore formation when they were activated by KOH solution. The activated carbon produced in this study developed micropores, with an equivalent quality of general-purpose activated carbon made from coal. Hence, it is concluded that chemically treated unburned carbon can be used for water purification or an alternative to carbon black as it is.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.677-684
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• 2012

Injection molding process is a popular polymer processing involving plasticizing and enforcing the material flow into the mold. A polymer material shrinks according to temperature variations during the shaping process, and subsequently molding shrinkage developed. Developed deflections or warpages after molding process in part are caused by residual stress relaxation contained in the part. Adding inorganic materials or fibers such as glass and carbon to control shrinkage and enhance warpage resistance are common. In this study, warpages according to part design have been investigated through experiment. Warpages for molding conditions and mold designs such as gate locations were measured. Warpages along flow direction and perpendicular to the flow direction were also measured. Warpages near gate and far from gate were compared. Glass fiber reinforced crystalline polymers, PP and PA66 have been used in this experiment. Glass fiber reinforced crystalline polymers showed large warpage compared with glass reinforced amorphous polymers. Warpages in crystalline polymers were less influenced by molding conditions compared with amorphous polymers, however warpages of crystalline polymers significantly depend on part design.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.783-788
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• 2012

Stern tube bearing is a shaft device playing important roles to reduce the friction of axial rotation and to support the weight of shaft. However, because there is no domestic producer of stern tube bering, imported stern tube bearings have many practical problems including prices, delivery and after services. This is why stern tube bearing should be localization. For the purpose of development of polyurethane resin for stern tube bearings, the effect of additives on the hardness, tensile strength and elongation of the polyurethane resin were systematically investigated. For the preliminary researches, depending on the type of curing agent, MOCA type and non-MOCA type polyurethanes were synthesized. Preliminary researches concluded that MOCA type polyurethane resin has more excellent mechanical properties than non-MPCA type for stern tube bearings that Tensile strength and Hardness of non-MOCA type investigated 23 D, 4.3 Mpa. Therefore, MOCA type polyurethane was adapted as base resin of this research. Silica, calcium carbonate and graphite were selected as additives for the enhancement of mechanical properties of polyurethane resin. Effect of the type and the dosage of these additives on the hardness, tensile strength, elongation of the polyurethane resin were experimentally examined. However, addition of calcium carbonate and graphite showed only minor effect on the hardness of the resin. Polyurethane resin with silica showed relatively excellent hardness, tensile strength and improved elongation.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.933-937
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• 2012

In the present study, we evaluate the sensitivity and optimal stripping voltammetry (SV) conditions of copper (Cu), which is one of the main trace heavy metals inducing the environmental contamination, using carbon nanotube (CNT) electrode. In addition, the reaction mechanism of stripping reaction of Cu is investigated. The electrochemical analyses such as squarewave stripping voltammetry (SWSV) and linear scan voltammetry (LSV) are used for the evaluations. As a result of that, the best SWSV conditions like squarewave amplitude of 15 mV, frequency of 60 Hz, deposition potential of -1.0V vs. Ag/AgCl and deposition time of 200s are determined with the measured Cu sensitivity of $1.824{\mu}A/{\mu}M$. As a driving force affecting the stripping reaction of Cu, surface reaction is more dominant one than diffusion. These results are compared with other reference results and it is confirmed that our suggested CNT electrode gives rise to better Cu sensitivity result than other references.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.47-55
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• 2020

Highly loaded LiCoO₂ positive electrodes are prepared to construct high-energy density lithium-ion batteries, their electrochemical performances are evaluated. For the standard electrode, a loading of about 2.2 mAh/㎠ is used, and for a high-loading electrode, an electrode is manufactured with a loading level of about 4.4 mAh/㎠. The content of carbon black as electronic conducting additive, and the porosity of the electrode are configured differently to compare the effects of electron conduction and ionic conduction in the highly loaded LiCoO₂ electrode. It is expected that the electrochemical performance is improved as the amount of the carbon black increases, but the specific capacity of the LiCoO₂ electrode containing 7.5 weight% carbon black is rather reduced. When the conductive material is excessively provided, an increase of electrode thickness by the low content of the LiCoO₂ active material in the same loading level of the electrode is predicted as a cause of polarization growth. When the electrode porosity increases, the path of ionic transport can be extended, but the electron conduction within the electrode is disadvantageous because the contact between the active material and the carbon black particles decreases. As the electrode porosity is lowered through the sufficient calendaring of the electrode, the electrochemical performance is improved because of the better contact between particles in the electrode and the reduced electrode thickness. In the electrode design for the high-loading, it is very important to construct the path of electron conduction as well as the ion transfer and to reduce the electrode thickness.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2018

Nd:YAG laser was used to carbonize polyimide films to produce carbon films. This is a simple manufacturing process to fabricate low cost sensors. By applying this method, we studied characteristics of flexible and low-cost piezoresistive. Previously, many studies focused on carbonization of polyimide using $CO_2$ laser with wavelength of $10.6{\mu}m$. In this paper, carbonization (carbonization process) was performed on polyimide films using an Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of $1.064{\mu}m$. In order to increase the resolution, we optimized the laser conditions of the power density ($W/cm^2$) and the beam scan rate. In previous studies using $CO_2$ laser, the minimum line width was $140{\sim}220{\mu}m$ but in this study, carbon line width was reduced to $35{\sim}40{\mu}m$. The initial sheet resistance of the carbon sensor was $100{\sim}300{\Omega}/{\square}$. The resistance decreased by 30% under stretched with a curvature radius of 21 R. The calculated gauge factor was 56.6. This work offers a simple, highly flexible, and low-cost process to fabricate piezoresistive sensors.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1199-1205
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• 2017

Global energy consumption is rapidly increasing yearly due to drastic industrial advances, requiring the development of new energy storage devices. For this reason, supercapacitors with fast charge-discharge, long life cycle and high power density is getting attention, and have been considered as one of the potential energy storage systems. In this research, we developed a supercapacitor that consists of amorphous manganese oxide($MnO_2$) electrodes deposited onto carbon cloth substrates using the hydrothermal method. The Fe-doped amorphous $MnO_2$ samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDX), as well as scanning electron microscopy(SEM). The electrochemical analysis of the prepared samples were performed using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements in 1M $Na_2SO_4$ electrolyte. The test results demonstrate that the supercapacitor based on the Fe-doped amorphous $MnO_2$ electrodes has a specific capacitance as high as 163F/g at 1A/g current density, and good cycling stability of 87.34% capacitance retention up to 1000 cycles.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.157-162
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• 2014

In this research, we investigate electrical performance and electrochemical properties of carbon supported Pt (Pt/C) that is synthesized by polyol method. With the Polyol_Pt/C that is adopted for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) as cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), their catalytic activity and ORR performance and electrical performance are estimated and compared with commercial Pt/C(Johnson Mattey) catalyst. Their electrochemically active surface (EAS) area are measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV), respectively. On the other hand, regarding ORR activity and electrical performance of the catalysts, (i) linear sweeping voltammetry by rotating disk electrode and (ii) PEMFC single cell tests are used. The CV measurement demonstrate EAS of Polyol_Pt/C is compared with commercial JM_Pt/C. In case of Polyol_Pt/C, its half-wave potential, kinetic current density are excellent. Based on data obtained by half-cell test, when PEMFC single cell tests are carried out, current density measured at 0.6V and maximum power density of the PEMFC single cell employing Polyol_Pt/C are better than those employing commercial Pt/C. Conclusively, Polyol_Pt/C synthesized by modified polyol process shows better ORR catalytic activity and PEMFC performance than other catalysts.