• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.3649-3653
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• 2013

As anode fabrication with different materials has been proven to be a successful alternative for enhancing power generation in the microbial fuel cells, a new approach to improved performance of MFCs with the use of menadione/carbon powder composite-modified carbon cloth anode has been explored in this study. Menadione has formal potential to easily accept electrons from the outer membrane cytochromes of electroactive bacteria that can directly interact with the solid surface. Surface bound menadione was able to maintain an electrical wiring with the trans-membrane electron transfer pathways to facilitate extracellular electron transfer to the electrode. In a single chamber air cathode MFC inoculated with aerobic sludge, maximum power density of $1250{\pm}35mWm^{-2}$ was achieved, which was 25% higher than that of an unmodified anode. The observed high power density and improved coulomb efficiency of 61% were ascribed to the efficient electron shuttling via the immobilized menadione.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.195-219
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• 2020

Today, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are an essential portion of modern daily life. As a promising alternative to traditional energy storage systems, they possess various advantages. This review attempts to provide the reader with an indepth understanding of the working mechanisms, current technological progress, and scientific challenges for a wide variety of lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrode nanomaterials. Electrochemical thermodynamics and kinetics are the two main perspectives underlying our introduction, which aims to provide an informative foundation for the rational design of electrode materials. Moreover, both anode and cathode materials are clarified into several types, using some specific examples to demonstrate both their advantages and shortcomings, and some improvements are suggested as well. In addition, we summarize some recent research progress in the rational design and synthesis of nanostructured anode and cathode materials, together with their corresponding electrochemical performances. Based on all these discussions, potential directions for further development of LIBs are summarized and presented.

• 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.2
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• pp.296-301
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• 2023

Solid oxide fuel cell has received more attention recently due to the fuel flexibility via internal reforming. Commonly used Ni/YSZ anode, however, can be easily deactivated by carbon coking in hydrocarbon fuels. The carbon deposition problem can minimize by developing alternative perovskite anode. This study is focused on improving conductivity and catalytic activity of the perovskite anode by introducing rGO (reduced graphene oxide). Sr_0.92Y_0.08TiO₃(SYT) anode with perovskite structure was synthesized with 1wt% of rGO. The presence of rGO during anode fabricating process and cell operation is confirmed through XPS and Raman analysis. The maximum power density of rGO/SYT anode improved to 3 times in H₂ and 6 times in CH₄ comparing to that of SYT anode due to the high electrical conductivity and good catalytic activity for CH₄.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.213-217
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• 2009

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have been known as a new alternative energy conversion technology for treating wastewater and producing electricity simultaneously. A MFC converts the chemical energy of the organic compounds to electrical energy through microbial catalysis at the anode under anaerobic conditions. To examine the performance of MFC, in this work, the characteristics of the efficiency of wastewater treatment and generation of electricity was evaluated for sewage. When acetate as a carbon source was added into the sewage, the removal efficiency of COD was increased from 75.7% to 88.2% and the voltage was increased significantly from 0.22 V to 0.4 V. The influence of distance between anode and cathode was examined and the effect of the surface area of anode was investigated under the various external resistances. It was found that the maximum power density was $610mW/m^2$ and power generation was effective when the distance between the electrodes was shorter and the surface area of the anode was smaller.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.73-73
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• 2012

Modern technology-driven society largely relies on hybrid electric vehicles or electric vehicles for eco-friendly transportation and the use of high technology devices. Lithium rechargeable batteries are the most promising power sources because of its high energy density but still have a challenge. Graphite is the most widely used anode material in the field of lithium rechargeable batteries due to its many advantages such as good cyclic performances, and high charge/discharge efficiency in the initial cycle. However, it has an important safety issue associated with the dendritic lithium growth on the anode surface at high charging current because the conventional graphite approaches almost 0 V vs $Li/Li^+$ at the end of lithium insertion. Therefore, a fundamental solution is to use an electrochemical redox couple with higher equilibrium potentials, which suppresses lithium metal formation on the anode surface. Among the candidates, $Li_4Ti_5O_{12}$ is a very interesting intercalation compound with safe operation, high rate capability, no volume change, and excellent cycleability. But the insulating character of $Li_4Ti_5O_{12}$ has raised concerns about its electrochemical performance. The initial insulating character associated with Ti4+ in $Li_4Ti_5O_{12}$ limits the electronic transfer between particles and to the external circuit, thereby worsening its high rate performance. In order to overcome these weak points, several alternative synthetic methods are highly required. Hence, in this presentation, novel ways using a synergetic strategy based on 1D architecture and surface coating will be introduced to enhance the kinetic property of Ti-based electrode. In addition, first-principle calculation will prove its significance to design Ti-based electrode for the most optimized electrochemical performance.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.243-252
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• 2021

With increasingly strict requirements for advanced energy storage devices in electric vehicles (EVs) and stationary energy storage systems (EES), the development of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with high power density and safety has become an urgent task. Because the performance of LIBs is determined primarily by the physicochemical characteristics of its electrode material, TiO₂, owing to its excellent stability, high safety levels, and environmentally friendly properties, has received significant attention as an alternative material for the replacement of commercial carbon-based anode materials. In particular, self-organized TiO₂ micro and nanostructures prepared by anodization have been intensively investigated as promising anode materials. In this review, the mechanism for the formation of anodic TiO₂ nanotubes and microcones and the parameters that influence their morphology are described. Furthermore, recent developments in anodic TiO₂-based composites as anode electrodes for LIBs to overcome the limitations of low conductivity and specific capacity are summarized.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.530-536
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• 2023

The theoretical capacity of silicon-based anode materials is more than 10 times higher than the capacity of graphite, so silicon can be used as an alternative to graphite anode materials. However, silicon has a much higher contraction and expansion rate due to lithiation of the anode material during the charge and discharge processes, compared to graphite anode materials, resulting in the pulverization of silicon particles during repeated charge and discharge. To compensate for the above issues, there is a growing interest in SiO_x materials with a silica or carbon coating to minimize the expansion of the silicon. In this study, spherical silica (SiO₂) was synthesized using TEOS as a starting material for the fabrication of such SiO_x through heating in a reduction atmosphere. SiO_x powder was produced by adding PVA as a carbon source and inducing the reduction of silica by the carbothermal reduction method. The ratio of TEOS to distilled water, the stirring time, and the amount of PVA added were adjusted to induce size and morphology, resulting in uniform nanosized spherical silica particles. For the reduction of the spherical monodisperse silica particles, a nitrogen gas atmosphere mixed with 5 % hydrogen was applied, and oxygen atoms in the silica were selectively removed by the carbothermal reduction method. The produced SiO_x powder was characterized by FE-SEM to examine the morphology and size changes of the particles, and XPS and FT-IR were used to examine the x value (O/Si ratio) of the synthesized SiO_x.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.75-80
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• 2015

We introduce a new synthesis method to prepare small TiO₂ nanoparticles with a narrow particle size distribution, which is achieved by electron beam (E-beam) irradiation. The effects of E-beam irradiation on the synthesis of TiO₂ nanoparticles and the electrochemical performance of TiO₂ nanoparticles as alternative anode materials for Li-ion batteries are investigated. The TiO₂ nanoparticles induced by E-beam irradiation present better cycling performance and rate capability than the TiO₂ nanoparticles synthesized by normal hydrolysis reaction. The better electrochemical performance is attributed to small particle size and narrow particle size distribution, resulting in the large surface area that provides innumerable reaction sites and short diffusion length for Li⁺ through TiO₂ nanoparticles.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.285-295
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• 2021

The inverse spinel Cobalt ferrite (CoFe₂O₄, CFO) is considered to be a promising alternative to commercial graphite anodes for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). However, the further development of CFO is limited by its unstable structure during battery cycling and low electrical conductivity. In an effort to address the challenge, we construct three-dimensional hierarchical flower-like CFO nanoclusters (CFO NCs)-decorated carbonized cotton carbon fiber (CFO NCs/CCF) composite. This structure is consisted of microfibers and nanoflower cluster composited of CFO nanoparticle, in which CCF can be used as a long-range conductive matrix, while flower-like CFO NCs can provide abundant active sites, large electrode/electrolyte interface, short lithium ion diffusion path, and alleviated structural stress. As anode materials in LIBs, the flower-like CFO NCs/CCF exhibits excellent electrochemical performance. After 100 cycles at a current density of 0.3 A g^-1, the CFO NCs/CCF delivers a discharge/charge capacity of 1008/990 mAh g^-1. Even at a high current density of 15 A g^-1, it still maintains a charge/discharge capacity of 362/361 mAh g^-1.