• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.279-282
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• 2007

When reformer for fuel cell is used, CO in hydrogen gas leads to a seriously decreased membrane electrode assembly (MEA) performance by catalyst poisoning. The effect of CO on performance of modified MEA by sputtering method is studied in this paper. The experimental results show that sputtered Pt and Ru thin film improve a single cell performance of MEA and sputtered metal thin film has a CO tolerance. The air injection process on anode show improved CO tolerance test result. Moreover, Pt, Ru and PtRu thin film by sputtering had influence on the CO tolerance with air injection process.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.346-352
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• 2012

The properties of methane oxidation were studied in this research over transition metal containing $CeO_2$ (TM/$CeO_2$, TM=Ni, Co, Cu, Fe) with TM content of 5 wt. % at atmospheric pressure. The characteristics of catalysts were investigated by various characterization techniques, including XRD, GC, SEM and EPMA analyses. The catalytic tests were carried out in a fixed Rmix ratio of 1.5 ($CH_4/O_2$) in a fixed-bed reactor operating isothermally at atmospheric pressure. Only the Ni/$CeO_2$ catalysts showed syngas production above $400^{\circ}C$ via typical partial oxidation reaction whereas other catalysts induced complete oxidation resulting in the production of $CO_2$ and $H_2O$ in whole reaction temperature range. From the quantitative analysis on carbon deposition after catalytic tests, Cu/$CeO_2$ was found to show the highest resistance on carbon deposition. Therefore Cu can be proposed as an efficient catalyst element which can be combined with a conventional Ni-based SOFC anode to enhance the carbon tolerance.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.3049-3052
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• 2008

MCFC(molten carbonate fuel cell) power generation system is prime candidate for the utilization of fossil based fuels to generate ultra clean power with a high efficiency. In the MCFC power plant system, a combustor performs a role to supply high temperature mixture gases for cathode and heat for reformer by using the stack off-gas of the anode which includes a high concentration of $H_2O$ and $CO_2$. Since a combustor needs to be operated in a very lean condition and to avoid excessive local heating, catalytic combustor is usually used. The catalytic combustion is accomplished by the catalytic chemical reaction between fuel and oxidizer at catalyst surface, different from conventional combustion. In this study, a mathematical model for the prediction of internal flow and catalytic combustion characteristics in the catalytic combustor adopted in the MCFC power plant system is suggested by using the numerical methods. The numerical simulation models are then implemented into the commercial CFD code. After verifying result by comparing with the experimental data and calibrated kinetic parameters of catalytic combustion reaction, a numerical simulation is performed to investigate the variation of flow and combustion characteristics by changing such various parameters as inlet configuration and inlet temperature. The result show that the catalytic combustion can be effectively improved for most of the case by using the perforated plate and subsequent stable catalytic combustion is expected.

• Proceedings of the Korean Fiber Society Conference
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• 1996.10a
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• pp.124-130
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• 1996

The hydrocarbons containing more than 10 carbons(0.1% of total volume, C10+), residue of aromatization from aliphatic hydrocarbons, were condensated in the presence of catalyst aluminumchloride and cocatalyst nitrobenzene(NB) to be pitchs with desirable properties. The properties of pitch were affected by the concentration of cocatalyst chosen 20 and 30wt.%. The pitch with 30wt.% NB showed higher carbon yield and lower crystallinity than that with 20wt.% NB. The two pitches were heat treated at 1000C and measured of charge/discharge capacity of the carbon as an anode. The carbon prepared at 20wt.% NB exhibited excellent cyclic stability with a capacity of 218mAh/.g and that at 30wt.% exhibited rather low cyclic stability with higher capacity of 235mAh/g.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.67-95
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• 2024

Direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs) have gained much attention as promising energy conversion devices due to their ability to utilize alcohol as a fuel source. In this regard, Molybdenum-based electrocatalysts (Mo-ECs) have emerged as a substitution for expensive Pt and Ru-based co-catalyst electrode materials in DAFCs, owing to their unique electrochemical properties useful for alcohol oxidation. The catalytic activity of Mo-ECs displays an increase in alcohol oxidation current density by several folds to 1000-2000 mA mg_Pt^-1, compared to commercial Pt and PtRu catalysts of 10-100 mA mg_Pt^-1. In addition, the methanol oxidation peak and onset potential have been significantly reduced by 100-200 mV and 0.5-0.6 V, respectively. The performance of Mo-ECs in both acidic and alkaline media has shown the potential to significantly reduce the Pt loading. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the bifunctional mechanism involved in the oxidation of alcohols and factors affecting the electrocatalytic oxidation of alcohol, such as synthesis method, structural properties, and catalytic support materials. Furthermore, the challenges and prospects of Mo-ECs for DAFCs anode materials are discussed. This in-depth review serves as valuable insight toward enhancing the performance and efficiency of DAFC by employing Mo-ECs.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.382-386
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• 2011

Microbial fuel cells (MFC), devices that use bacteria as a catalyst to generate electricity, can utilize a variety of organic wastes as electron donors. The current generated may differ depending on the organic matter concentrations used, when other conditions, such as oxidant supply, proton transfer, internal resistance and so on, are not limiting factors. In these studies, a single-cathode type MFC (SCMFC) and dual-cathode type MFC (DCMFC) were used to ascertain the current's improvement through an increase in the contact area between the anode and the cathode compartments, because the cathode reaction is one of the most serious limiting factors in an MFC. Also an MFC was conducted to explore whether an improvement in electricity generation resulted from oxidizing the carbon sources and nitrates. About 250 mg $L^{-1}$ sodium acetate was fed to an anode compartment with a flow rate of 0.326 mL $min^{-1}$ by continuous mode. The current generated from the DCMFC was higher than the value produced from MFC with a single cathode. COD removal of dual-cathode MFC was also higher than that of single-cathode MFC. The nitrate didn't affect current generation at 2 mM, but when 4 and 8 mM nitrate was supplied, the current in the single-cathode and dual-cathode MFC was decreased by 98% from $5.97{\pm}0.13$ to $0.23{\pm}0.03$ mA and $8.40{\pm}0.23$ to $0.20{\pm}0.01$ mA, respectively. These results demonstrate that increasing of contact area of the anode and cathode can raise current generation by an improvement in the cathode reaction.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.242-248
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• 2016

The overall reaction rate of fuel cell is governed by oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in the cathode due to its slowest reaction compared to the oxidation of hydrogen in the anode. The ORR efficiency can be readily evaluated by examining the adsorption strength of atomic oxygen on the surface of catalysts (i.e., known as a descriptor) and the adsorption energy can be controlled by transforming the surface geometry of catalysts. In the current study, the effect of the surface geometry of catalysts (i.e., strain effect) on the adsorption strength of atomic oxygen on platinum catalysts was analyzed by using density functional theory (DFT). The optimized lattice constant of Pt ($3.977{\AA}$) was increased and decreased by 1% to apply tensile and compressive strain to the Pt surface. Then the oxygen adsorption strengths on the modified Pt surfaces were compared and the electron charge density of the O-adsorbed Pt surfaces was analyzed. As the interatomic distance increased, the oxygen adsorption strength became stronger and the d-band center of the Pt surface atoms was shifted toward the Fermi level, implying that anti-bonding orbitals were shifted to the conduction band from the valence band (i.e., the anti-bonding between O and Pt was less likely formed). Consequently, enhanced ORR efficiency may be expected if the surface Pt-Pt distance can be reduced by approximately 2~4% compared to the pure Pt owing to the moderately controlled oxygen binding strength for improved ORR.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.412-419
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• 2023

Anion exchange membrane electrolysis is considered a promising next-generation hydrogen production technology that can produce low-cost, clean hydrogen. However, anion exchange membrane electrolysis technology is in its early stages of development and requires intensive research on electrodes, which are a key component of the catalyst-system interface. In this study, we optimized the pressure conditions of the hot-pressing process to manufacture cobalt oxide electrodes for the development of a high uniformity and high adhesion electrode production process for the oxygen evolution reaction. As the pressure increased, the reduction of pores within the electrode and increased densification of catalytic particles led to the formation of a uniform electrode surface. The cobalt oxide electrode optimized for pressure conditions exhibited improved catalytic activity and durability. The optimized electrode was used as the anode in an AEMWE single cell, exhibiting a current density of 1.53 A cm^-2 at a cell voltage of 1.85 V. In a durability test conducted for 100 h at a constant current density of 500 mA cm^-2, it demonstrated excellent durability with a low degradation rate of 15.9 mV kh^-1, maintaining 99% of its initial performance.

• Clean Technology
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• v.13 no.1 s.36
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• pp.54-63
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• 2007

Even traces of CO in the hydrogen-rich feed gas to proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) poison the platinum anode electrode and dramatically decrease the power output. In this work, a variety of catalytic materials consisting of $Cu/Ce_xZr_{1-x}O_2$, (x = 0.0-1.0) were synthesised, characterized and tested for CO oxidation and preferential oxidation of CO (PROX). These catalysts prepared by hydrothermal and deposition-precipitation methods. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, XRF, SEM, BET, $N_2O$ titration and oxygen storage capacity (OSC) measurement. The effects of composition of the support and degree of excess oxygen were investigated fur activity and $CO_2$ selectivity with different temperatures. The composition of the support markedly influenced the PROX activity. Among the various $Cu/Ce_xZr_{1-x}O_2$ catalysts having different composition, $Cu/Ce_{0.9}Zr_{0.1}O_2$ and $Cu/Ce_{0.7}Zr_{0.3}O_2$ showed the highest activities (>99%) and selectivities (ca.50%) in the temperature range of $150{\sim}160^{\circ}C$. It was found that by using of $Ce_xZr_{1-x}O_2$ mixed oxide support which possesses a high oxygen storage capacity, oxidation-reduction activity of Cu-based catalyst was improved, which resulted in the increase of catalytic activity and selectivity of CO oxidation in excess $H_2$ environments.