• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.6-12
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• 2003

Plasma carbon black(PB) which prepared by plasma pyrolysis of methane was treated at 800, 1300 and $2100^{\circ}C$ under $2\times10^{-2}$ torr. Four different samples including raw PB were added to $LiCoO_2$, cathode active material of lithium secondary battery, to investigate effects of properties of plasma black as conductors on electrochemical characteristics. Based on our experimental results, PB conductors with low amount of surface functional groups and high electrical conductivity enhanced the cyclability and the initial discharge capacity. However, deterioration of rate capability and cyclability were observed (or the plasma black treated at $2100^{\circ}C$ For the plasma black conductor prepared from plasma pyrolysis, the effects of properties of carbon black on electrochemical characteristics were combined results of changes in electrical conductivity and structural properties such as agglomeration of plasma black. The conductivity of plasma black increased with treatment temperature, while dispersion of plasma black decreased. As a result, the high cyclability of cell was observed at $800^{\circ}C$ of heat treatment temperature.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.327-333
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• 2022

In this study, silicon/carbon nanotube/carbon (Si/CNT/C) composites for anode were prepared to improve the volume expansion of silicon used as a high-capacity anode material. Si/CNT were prepared by electrostatic attraction of the positively charged Si and negatively charged CNT and then hydrothermal synthesis was performed to obtain the spherical Si/CNT/C composites. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), polyacrylic acid (PAA), and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) were used as binders for electrode preparation, and coin cell was assembled using 1.0 M LiPF₆ (EC:DMC:EMC = 1:1:1 vol%) electrolyte and fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) additive. The physical properties of Si/CNT/C anode materials were analyzed using SEM, EDS, XRD and TGA, and the electrochemical performances of lithium-ion batteries were investigated by charge-discharge cycle, rate performance, dQ/dV and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests. Also, it was confirmed that both capacity and rate performance were significantly improved using the PAA/SBR binder and 10 wt% FEC-added electrolyte. It is found that Si/CNT/C have the reversible capacity of 914 mAh/g, the capacity retention ratio of 83% during 50 cycles and the rate performance of 70% in 2 C/0.1 C.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.239-244
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• 2007

In order to investigate the effect of fluorine ion in the $Li_{1-x}FeO_2Li_xMnO_2$ (Mn/(Mn + Fe) = 0.8) cathode material, it was synthesized $Li_{1-x}FeO_{2-y}F_y-Li_xMnO_2$ (Mn/(Mn + Fe) = 0.8, $0.05{\le}y{\le}0.15$) cathode materials at $350^{\circ}C$ for 10hrs using solid-state method. $Li_{1-x}FeO_{2-y}F_y-Li_xMnO_2$ (Mn/(Mn + Fe) = 0.8, $0.0{\le}y{\le}0.1$ was composed many large needle-like particles of about $1-1.5\;{\mu}m$ and small particles of about 50-100 nm, which were distributed among the larger particles. However, $Li_{1-x}FeO_{1.85}F_{0.15}-Li_xMnO_2$ material showed slightly different particle morphology. The particles of $Li_{1-x}FeO_{1.85}F_{0.15}-Li_xMnO_2$ were suddenly increased and started to be a spherical type of particle shape. $Li/Li_{1-x}FeO_{1.9}F_{0.1}-Li_xMnO_2$ cell showed a high initial discharge capacity of 163 mAh/g and a high cycle retention rate of 95% after 50 cycles. The initial discharge capacity of $Li/Li_{1-x}FeO_{2-y}F_y-Li_xMnO_2$ ($0.05{\le}y{\le}0.15$) cells increased according to the increase of F content. However, the cycleability of this cell was very rapidly decreased when the substituted fluorine content is over 0.1. We suggested that too large amount of F ion fail to substitute into the $Li_{1-x}FeO_2-Li_xMnO_2$ structure, which resulted in the severe decline of battery performance.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.590-592
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• 2010

Li-Mn spinel ($LiMn_2O_4$) is prepared by a hydrothermal process with K-Birnessite ($KMnO_4{\cdot}yH_2O$) as a precursor. The K-Birnessite obtained via a hydrothermal process with potassium permanganate [$KMnO_4$] and urea [$CO(NH_2)_2$] as starting materials are converted to Li-Mn spinel nanoparticles reacting with LiOH. The molar ratio of LiOH/K-Birnessite is adjusted in order to find the effect of the ratio on the structural, morphological and electrochemical performances of the Li-Mn spinel. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and thermogravimetry (TG) are used to investigate the crystal structure and morphology of the samples. Galvanostatic charge and discharge are carried out to measure the capacity and rate capability of the Li-Mn spinel. The capacity shows a maximum value of $117\;mAhg^{-1}$ when the molar ratio of LiOH/K-Birnessite is 0.8 and decreases with the increase of the ratio. However the rate capability is improved with the increase of the ratio due to the reduction of the particle size.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.142-149
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• 2020

In this study, the electrochemical performance of Graphite/Silicon/Pitch composites as anode material was investigated to improve the low theoretical capacity of artificial graphite. Spherical artificial graphite surface was coated with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) amphiphiles material to synthesize Graphite/Silica material by silica islands growth. The Graphite/Silicon/Pitch composites were prepared by petroleum pitch coating and magnesiothermic reduction. The Graphite/Silicon/Pitch composite electrodes manufactured using poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) binders. The coin type half cell was assembled using various electrolytes and additives. The Graphite/Silicon/Pitch composites were analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The electrochemical characteristics of Graphite/Silicon/Pitch composite were investigated by constant current charge/discharge, rate performance, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The Graphite/Silicon/Pitch composites showed high cycle stability at a graphite/silica/pitch ratio (1:4:8 wt%). When the electrode is prepared using PAA binder, the high capacity and stability is obtained. The coin type half cell assembled using EC: DMC: EMC electrolyte showed high initial capacity (719 mAh/g) and excellent cycle stability. The rate performance has an capacity retention (77%) at 2 C/0.1 C and an capacity recovery (88%) at 0.1 C / 0.1 C when the vinylene carbonate (VC) was added.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.861-867
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• 2019

$Li_4Ti_5O_{12}$ is a promising next-generation anode material for lithium-ion batteries due to excellent cycle life, low irreversible capacity, and little volume expansion during charge-discharge process. However, it has poor charge capacity at high current density due to its low electrical conductivity. To improve this weakness, porous $Li_4Ti_5O_{12}$ was synthesized by sol-gel method with P123 as chelating agent. The physical characteristics of as-prepared sample was investigated by XRD, SEM, and BET analysis, and electrochemical properties were characterized by cycle performance test, cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). $Li_4Ti_5O_{12}$ synthesized by 0.01mol ratio of P123/Ti showed most unified particle size, high specific surface area, and relatively high porosity. EIS analysis showed that depressed semicircle size was remarkably reduced, which suggested resistance value in electrode was decreased. Capacity in rate performance showed 178 mAh/g at 0.2C, 170 mAh/g at 0.5C, 110 mA/h at 5C, and 90 mAh/g at 10C. Capacity retention also showed 99% after rate performance.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2024

In this study, the electrochemical properties of SiOx@C composite materials were prepared to alleviate volume expansion and cycle stability of silicon and to increase the capacity of anode material for LIBs. SiO₂ particles of 100, 200, and 500 nm were synthesized by the Stӧber method, and reduced to SiOx (0≤x≤2) through the magnesiothermic reduction method. Then, SiOx@C anode materials were synthesized by carbonization of PVC on SiOx. The physical properties of prepared SiOx and SiOx@C anode materials were analyzed by XRD, SEM, TGA, Raman spectroscopy, XPS and BET. The electrochemical properties were investigated by cycling performance, rate performance, CV and EIS test. As a result, the SiOx@C-7030 manufactured by coating carbon at SiOx : C = 70 : 30 on a 100 nm SiOx with the smallest particle size showed the best electrochemical properties with a discharge capacity of 1055 mAh/g and a capacity retention rate of 81.9% at 100 cycles. It was confirmed that cycle stability was impoved by reducing particle size and carbon coating.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2023

The cathode, which is one of the four major components of a lithium secondary battery, is an important component responsible for the energy density of the battery. The mixing process of active material, conductive material, and polymer binder is very essential in the commonly used wet manufacturing process of the cathode. However, in the case of mixing conditions of the cathode, since there is no systematic method, in most cases, differences in performance occur depending on the manufacturer. Therefore, LiMn₂O₄ (LMO) cathodes were prepared using a commonly used THINKY mixer and homogenizer to optimize the mixing method in the cathode slurry preparation step, and their characteristics were compared. Each mixing condition was performed at 2000 RPM and 7 min, and to determine only the difference in the mixing method during the manufacture of the cathode other experiment conditions (mixing time, material input order, etc.) were kept constant. Among the manufactured THINKY mixer LMO (TLMO) and homogenizer LMO (HLMO), HLMO has more uniform particle dispersion than TLMO, and thus shows higher adhesive strength. Also, the result of the electrochemical evaluation reveals that HLMO cathode showed improved performance with a more stable life cycle compared to TLMO. The initial discharge capacity retention rate of HLMO at 69 cycles was 88%, which is about 4.4 times higher than that of TLMO, and in the case of rate capability, HLMO exhibited a better capacity retention even at high C-rates of 10, 15, and 20 C and the capacity recovery at 1 C was higher than that of TLMO. It's postulated that the use of a homogenizer improves the characteristics of the slurry containing the active material, the conductive material, and the polymer binder creating an electrically conductive network formed by uniformly dispersing the conductive material suppressing its strong electrostatic properties thus avoiding aggregation. As a result, surface contact between the active material and the conductive material increases, electrons move more smoothly, changes in lattice volume during charging and discharging are more reversible and contact resistance between the active material and the conductive material is suppressed.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.139-145
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• 2001

Various compositions of iron oxide based materials as a cathode of lithium secondary battery have been fabricated and tested with electrochemical method. A layered form of $LiFeO_2$ was synthesized by mixing and heating the initial materials of $FeCl_3\;6H_2O,\;LiOH$ and NaOH at low temperature. The effect of changing the precursors composition was investigated. As a result, when increasing the additive amount of NaOH, the capacity of the electrode is decreased but the performance and declining rate of capacity became smaller. $LiFeO_2$ synthesized with the weight ratio of $NaOH/FeCl_3/LiOH,\;2/1/7$ showed the largest capacity, but the discharging efficiency was sharply decreased after 30 cycles. Charge-discharge tests of lithium cells with $LiFeO_2$ cathode having the layer structure were performed. This cell showed the reversibility in the range of 1.5-4.5V of cell voltage. By using CPR method, chemical diffusion coefficients were measured in 1M $LiPF_6/EC/DEC$ solution. The value of chemical diffusion coefficient decreased with increasing the lithium content x, In 0.5$10^{-11}^cm^2/s$.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.101-106
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• 2016

In this study, we prepared an ionic liquid composite solid polymer electrolyte (PEO-LiTFSI-$Pyr_{14}TFSI$) with poly(ethylen oxide), lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, N-butyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide by blending-cross linking process. Although the PEO-LiTFSI-$Pyr_{14}TFSI$ composite solid polymer electrolyte displayed a small peak at 4.4 V, it had high electrochemical oxidation stability up to 5.7 V. Ionic conductivity of the PEO-LiTFSI-$Pyr_{14}TFSI$ composite solid polymer electrolyte increased with increasing temperature from $10^{-6}S\;cm^{-1}$ at $30^{\circ}C$ to $10^{-4}S\;cm^{-1}$ at $70^{\circ}C$. To investigate the electrochemical properties, the PEO-LiTFSI-$Pyr_{14}TFSI$ composite solid polymer electrolyte assembled with $LiFePO_4$ cathode and Li-metal anode. At 0.1 C-rate, the cell delivered $40mAh\;g^{-1}$ for $30^{\circ}C$, $69.8mAh\;g^{-1}$ for $40^{\circ}C$ and $113mAh\;g^{-1}$ for $50^{\circ}C$, respectively. The PEO-LiTFSI-$Pyr_{14}TFSI$ solid polymer electrolyte exhibited good charge-discharge performance in Li/SPE/$LiFePO_4$ cells at $50^{\circ}C$.