• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.9
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• pp.499-504
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• 2015

The composite anodes of expanded graphite (EG) and multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) for microbial fuel cells were fabricated by using coal tar pitch (CTP) binder containing nickel (Ni), and the effect of the anodes with the binders on the performance of the MFCs were examined in a batch reactor. During the start-up of the MFCs, quick increase in voltage was observed after a short lag phase time, indicating that the CTP binder is biocompatible. The biomass attatched on the anode surface was more at higher Ni content in the binder, as well as at smaller amount of CTP binder for the fabrication of the anode. The internal resistance of the MFC was smaller for the anode with more biomass. Based on the results, the ideal combination of CTP and Ni for the CTP binder for anode was 2 g and 0.2 g, respectively. The maximum power density was $731.8mW/m^2$, which was higher 23.7% than the anode with Nafion binder as control. The CTP binder containing Ni for the fabrication of anode is a good alternative in terms of performance and economics of MFCs.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.57-64
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• 2017

Today, due to the environmental regulations regarding air pollution in the EU, the use of EPS (Styrofoam) as the cushioning material in the packaging industry is decreasing. In effect, air cushioning based cushioning materials are rapidly expanding into the market and replacing EPS, due to their excellent buffering ability and environmental friendliness. This is a new selective filling type air filling material manufacturing technology that affords improvements in the amount of raw materials required, its processing and its aesthetic appearance compared to the conventional air filling cushioning materials. In this study, a multi-stage air cell filling valve molding technology is developed based on selective filling technology, which allows packages to be selectively filled in various forms by applying valve forming structure technology. This multi-stage air cell filling valve molding technology is a technique in which a plurality of injection ports are formed by laminating three layers of films, viz. a first injection film, a valve film, and a second injection film having valve ends. In the conventional technology, a separate external air injection path for injecting air into a plurality of connected air bags is needed. However, in the proposed system, an external air injection path is formed inside the air bag, Due to the lack of need for an injection furnace, the raw material and process are reduced and air is injected and then discharged, while the air bag is reduced in length to 63 ~ 66% of its normal value. The outer surface of the outer air injection path is integrated inside by maintaining the original length of the cross section, while the unnecessary folded air is injected into the interior of the air bag, This smart air filling type cushioning material manufacturing technology constitutes a big improvement over the existing technologies.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2014

The composite anodes of exfoliated graphite (EG) and multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) were fabricated by using the binders with different content of epoxy in Nafion solution. The influence of the epoxy content in the anode binder on the performance of microbial fuel cell (MFC) was examined in a batch reactor. With the increase in the epoxy content in the anode binder, increase in physical binding force was observed, but at the same time an increase in the internal resistance of MFC was also observed. This was due to the increase in activation and ohmic resistance. For the anode binder without epoxy, the maximum power density was $1,892mW/m^2$, but a decrease in maximum power density was observed with the increase in the epoxy content in the anode binder. With the epoxy content of 50% in the anode binder, a decrease in the maximum power density to $1,425mW/m^2$ was observed, which about 75.3% of the anode binder without epoxy is. However, the material consisting of the same amount of epoxy and Nafion solution is a good alternative for anode binder in terms of durability and economics of MFC.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.426-438
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• 2023

Lithium-sulfur batteries, recently attracting attention as next-generation batteries, have high energy density but are limited in application due to sulfur's insulating properties, shuttle phenomenon, and volume expansion. This study used an economical and simple vacuum filtration method to prepare a freestanding electrode without a binder and collector. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are used to improve the electrical conductivity of sulfur, where CNT also acts as both collector and conductor. In addition, metal oxides (MO_x, M=Ni, Mg), which are easy to adsorb lithium polysulfide, are added to the CNT/S electrode to suppress the shuttle reaction in lithium-sulfur batteries, which is a result of suppressing the loss of active sulfur material due to the excellent adsorption of lithium polysulfide by metal oxides. The MO_x@CNT/S electrode exhibited higher capacity characteristics and cycle stability than the CNT/S electrode without metal oxides. Among the MO_x@CNT/S electrodes, the NiO@CNT/S electrode displayed a high discharge capacity of 780 mAh g^-1 at 1 C and an extreme capacity decrease to 134 mAh g^-1 after 200 cycles. Although the MgO@CNT/S electrode exhibited a low discharge rate of 544 mAh g^-1 in the initial cycle, it showed good cycle stability with 90% of capacity retention up to 200 cycles. Further, to achieve high capacity and cycle stability, the Ni_0.7Mg_0.3O@CNT/S electrode, mixed with Ni:Mg in the ratio of 0.7:0.3, manifested an initial discharge rate of 755 mAh g^-1 (1 C) and a capacity retention rate of more than 90% after 200 cycles. Therefore, applying binary metal oxides to CNT/S provides a freestanding electrode for developing economical and high-performance Li-S batteries, effectively improving lithium polysulfide's high capacity characteristics and dissolution.