• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.283-291
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• 2022

Hydrogen energy has received much attention as a solution to the supply of renewable energy and to respond to climate change. Hydrogen is the most suitable candidate of storing unused electric power in a large-capacity long cycle. Among the technologies for producing hydrogen, water electrolysis is known as an eco-friendly hydrogen production technology that produces hydrogen without carbon dioxide generation by water splitting reaction. Membranes in water electrolysis system physically separate the anode and the cathode, but also prevent mixing of generated hydrogen and oxygen gases and facilitate ion transfer to complete circuit. In particular, the key to next-generation anion exchange membrane that can compensate for the shortcomings of conventional water electrolysis technologies is to develop high performance anion exchange membrane. Many studies are conducted to have high ion conductivity and excellent durability in an alkaline environment simultaneously, and various materials are being searched. In this review, we will discuss the research trends and points to move forward by looking at the research on anion exchange membranes based on commercial polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-polystyrene (SEBS) block copolymers.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.322-331
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• 2017

Hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) was studied over $Ni_4Cr$ nanofibers(NFs) prepared by electrospinning method and oxidation/reduction heat treatment for alkaline water electrolysis. The physicochemical and electrochemical properties such as average diameter, lattice parameter, HER activity of synthesized $Ni_4Cr$ NFs could be modified by proper electrospinning process condition and reduction temperature. It was shown that $Ni_4Cr$ NFs had average diameter from 151 to 273 nm. Also, it exhibited the overpotential between 0.419 V and 0.526 V at $1mA/cm^2$ and Tafel slope of -334.75 mV to -444.55 mV per decade in 1 M KOH solution. These results indicate that $Ni_4Cr$ NFs with reduction heat treatment at $600^{\circ}C$ show thinnest diameter and highest HER activity among the other catalysts.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.432-438
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• 2018

Microalgae hold promise as a renewable energy source for the production of biofuel, as they can convert light energy into chemical energy through photosynthesis. However, cost-efficient harvest of microalgae remains a major challenge to commercial-scale algal biofuel production. We first investigated the potential of electrolytic water as a flocculant for harvesting Tetraselmis sp. Alkaline electrolyzed water (AEW) is produced at the cathode through water electrolysis. It contains mineral ions such as $Na^+$, $K^+$, $Ca^{2+}$, and $Mg^{2+}$ that can act as flocculants. The flocculation activity with AEW was evaluated via culture density, AEW concentration, medium pH, settling time, and ionic strength analyses. The flocculation efficiency was 88.7% at 20% AEW (pH 8, 10 min) with a biomass concentration of 2 g/l. The initial biomass concentration and medium pH had significant influences on the flocculation activity of AEW. A viability test of flocculated microalgal cells was conducted using Evans blue stain, and the cells appeared intact. Furthermore, the growth rate of Tetraselmis sp. in recycled flocculation medium was similar to the growth rate in fresh F/2 medium. Our results suggested that AEW flocculation could be a very useful and affordable methodology for fresh biomass harvesting with environmentally friendly easy operation in part of the algal biofuel production process.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.442-454
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• 2021

The porous transport layer (PTL) is essential to effectively remove oxygen and hydrogen gas from the electrode surface at high current density operation conditions. In this study, the effect of PTL with different characteristics such as pore size, pore gradient, interfacial coating was investigated by multi-layered sintered mesh. A water electrolysis single cell of active area of the 34.56 cm² was constructed, and IV performance and impedance analysis were conducted in the range of 0 to 2.0 A/cm². It was confirmed that the multi-layered sintered mesh PTL, which have an average pore size of 25 to 57 ㎛ and a larger pore gradient, removed bubbles effectively and thus seemed to improve IV performance. Also, it was confirmed that the catalytic metals such as Ni, NiMo coating on the PTL reduced activation overpotential, but increased mass transport overpotential.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.199-205
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• 2015

This study is about ionic water generator filter Recently, a lot of people feel deep interest in health and drinking water. And there are various types of water. Ionic water generator is a system with special function, and can be classified as a medical device and should be manufactured after approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Basically ionized water is different from the packaged and stored water. When the tap water or ground water passes through the various filters of ionic water generator, it turns to the purified water of pH7 ~ 7.5 and we can electrolyze that water into anion and cation by diaphragm. And in negative electrode side, we can get alkaline water with calcium ($Ca^+$), potassium ($K^+$), magnesium ($Mg^+$), sodium ($Na^+$) for body. In general, we can change pH value from 5 to 9 of ionizer by controlling the level of electrolysis voltage in the ionizer. In general, 1stage (pH8), 2stage (pH8.5), 3stage (pH9), 4stage (pH9.5) are used as the alkaline ionized water, -1Stage (pH6.0), -2 stage (pH5.0) are used as the acidic water. But in early stage, the water that passed through filter was weakly alkaline water and that was problem. Therefore, when filter condition is stable, the pH and ORP value of water is different with the early one. the initial setting pH value of the ionizer was confirmed that changes significantly. In order to resolve this problem we need to wash filter for some period time and neutralize by acidification treatment of the filter.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.371-383
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• 2021

Anion exchange membranes have been used for water electrolysis, which can produce hydrogen, and fuel cells, which can generate electrical energy using hydrogen fuel. Anion exchange membranes operate based on hydroxide ion (OH^-) conduction under alkaline conditions. However, since the anion exchange membrane shows relatively low ion conductivity and alkaline stability, there is still a limit to its commercialization in water electrolysis and fuel cells. To address these issues, it is important to develop novel anion exchange membrane materials by rationally designing a polymer structure. In particular, the polymer structure and synthetic method need to be controlled. By doing so, for polymers, the physical properties, ionic conductivity, and alkaline stability can be maintained. Among many anion exchange membranes, poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) is commercially available and easily accessible. In addition, the PPO has relatively high mechanical and chemical stability compared to other polymers. In this review, we introduce the recent development strategy and characteristics of PPO-based polymer materials used in anion exchange membranes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2000.04b
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• pp.1-5
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• 2000

As the semiconductor devices are miniaturized, the number of the unit cleaning processes increases. In order to processes by conventional RCA cleaning process, the consumption of volume of liquid chemical and DI water became huge. Therefore, the problem of environmental issues are evolved by the increased consumption of chemicals. To resolve this matter, an advanced cleaning process by Electrolyzed Water was studied in this work. The electrolyzed water was made by an electrolysis equipment which was composed of three chambers of anode, cathode, and middle chambers. In the case of electrolyzed water with electrolytes in the middle chamber, oxidatively acidic water of anode and reductively alkaline water of cathode were obtained. The oxidation/reduction potentials and pH of anode water and cathode water were measured to be +l000mV and 4.8, and -530mV and 6.3, respectively. The Si-wafers contaminated with metallic impurities were cleaning with the electrolyzed water. To analysis the amounts of metallic impurities on Si-water surfaces, ICP-MS(Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass spectrometer) was introduced. From results of ICP-MS measurements, it was concluded that the ability of electrolyzed water was equivalent to that of the conventional RCA cleaning.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.293-298
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• 2021

To synthesize Fe/Ni nanocatalysts loaded on carbon black, Iron(II) acetylacetonate and nickel (II) acetylacetonate and were reduced to Fe and Ni metallic nanoparticles by a spontaneous reduction reaction. The distribution of the Fe and Ni nanoparticles was observed by transmission electron microscopy, and the loading weight of Fe/Ni nanocatalysts on the carbon black was measured by thermogravimetric analyzer. The elemental ratio of Fe and Ni was estimated by energy dispersive x-ray analyzer. It was found that the loading weight of Fe/Ni nanoparticles was 6.23 wt%, and the elemental ratio of Fe and Ni was 0.53:0.40. Specific surface area was measured by BET analysis instrument and I-V characteristics were estimated.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.202-208
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• 2022

Pt-Ni nanocatalysts were loaded on carbon black by spontaneous reduction reaction of platinum (II) acetylacetonate and nickel (II) acetylacetonate, and they were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), energy dispersive x-ray analyzer (EDS), BET surface area and fuel cell test station. The distribution of the Pt and Ni nanoparticles was observed by TEM, and the loading weight of Pt-Ni nanocatalysts on the carbon black was measured by TGA. The elemental ratio of Pt and Ni was estimated by EDS. It was found that the loading weight of Pt-Ni nanoparticles was 5.54 wt%, and the elemental ratio of Pt and Ni was 0.48:0.35. Specific surface area was measured by BET analysis instrument and I-V characteristics were estimated.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.610-617
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• 2017

This paper presents a study of the effect of thickness of porous Al-Ni electrodes, on the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) in alkaline media. As varying deposition time at 300 W DC sputtering power, the thickness of the Al-Ni electrodes was controlled from 1 to $20{\mu}m$. The heat treatment was carried out in $610^{\circ}C$, followed by selective leaching of the Al-rich phase. XRD studies confirmed the presence of $Al_3Ni_2$ intermetallic compounds after the heat treatment, indicating the diffusion of Ni from the Ni-rich phase to Al-rich phase. The porous structure of the Al-Ni electrodes after the selective leaching of Al was also confirmed in SEM-EDS analysis. The double layer capacitance ($C_{dl}$) and roughness factor ($R_f$) of the electrodes were increased for the thicker Al-Ni electrodes. As opposed to the general results in above, there were no further improvements of the HER activity in the case of the electrode thickness above $10{\mu}m$. This result may indicate that the $R_f$ is not the primary factor for the HER activity in alkaline media.