• Proceedings of the Korean Ceranic Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.1-112
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• 2005

This report is results of a research on recent R&D trends in electroceramics, mainly focusing on the papers submitted to the organizing committee of the International Conference on Electroceramics 2005 (ICE-2005) which was held at Seoul on 12-15 June 2005. About 380 electroceramics researchers attended at the ICE-2005 from 17 countries including Korea, presenting and discussing their recent results. Therefore, we can easily understand the recent research trends in the field of electroceramics by analyses of the subject and contents of the submitted papers. In addition to the analyses of the papers submitted to the ICE-2005, we also collected some informations about domestic and international research trends to help readers understand this report easily. We analysed the R&D trends on the basis of four main categories, that is, informatics electroceramics, energy and environment ceramics, processing and characterization of electroceramics, and emerging fields of electroceramics. Each main category has several sub-categories again. The informatics ceramics category includes integrated dielectrics and ferroelectrics, oxide and nitride semiconductors, photonic and optoelectronic devices, multilayer electronic ceramics and devices, microwave dielectrics and high frequency devices, and piezoelectric and MEMS applications. The energy and environment ceramics category has four sub-categories, that is, rechargable battery, hydrogen storage, fuel cells, and advanced energy conversion concepts. In the processing and characterization category, there exist domain, strain, and epitaxial dynamics and engineering sub-category, innovative processing and synthesis sub-category, nanostructured materials and nanotechnology sub- category, single crystal growth and characterization sub-category, theory and modeling sub-category. Nanocrystalline electroceramics, electroceramics for smart sensors, and bioceramics sub-categories are included to the emerging fields category. We hope that this report give an opportunity to understand the international research trend, not only to Korean ceramics researchers but also to science and technology policy researchers.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.131-137
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• 2012

Polyaniline (PANI) and polypyrrole (Ppy) hollow sphere structures with controlled shell thicknesses can be easily synthesized than those of using a layer-by-layer method for cathode active material of lithium-ion batteries. Polystyrene (PS) core was synthesized by emulsion polymerization using an anion surfactant. The shell thicknesses of PANI and Ppy were controlled by amounts of aniline and pyrrole monomers. PS was removed by an organic solution. This structure increased in contact with an electrolyte and a specific capacity in lithium-ion batteries. But polymers have disadvantages such as the difficult control of molecular weights and low densities. These disadvantages were completed by controlled shell thicknesses. The amount of aniline monomer increased from 1.2, 2.4, 3.6, 4.8 to 6.0 mL, and the shell thicknesses were 30.2, 38.0, 42.2, 48.2, and 52.4 nm, respectively. And the amount of pyrrole monomer was 0.6, 1.2, 2.4 and 3.6 mL, the shell thicknesses were 16.0, 22.0, 27.0 and 34.0 nm, respectively. In the cathode materials with controlled shell thicknesses, shell thicknesses of the PANI hollow spheres were 30.2, 42.2, and 52.4 nm, and discharge specific capacities of after 10 cycle were ~18, ~29, and ~62 mAh/g, respectively. The shell thicknesses of the Ppy hollow spheres were 16.0, 22.0, 27.0 and 34.0 nm, and discharge specific capacities of after 15 cycle were ~15, ~36, ~56, and ~77 mAh/g, respectively. Thus, shell thicknesses of PANI and Ppy increased, the specific capacities increased.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2019

A macroporous Sn thick film as a high capacity negative electrode for a lithium ion secondary battery was prepared by using a chemical etching method using nitric acid for a Sn film having a thickness of $52{\mu}m$. The porous Sn thick film greatly reduced the over-voltage for the alloying reaction with lithium by the increased reaction area. At the same time. The porous structure of active Sn film plays a part in the buffer and reduces the damage by the volume change during cycles. Since the porous Sn thick film electrode does not require the use of the binder and the conductive carbon black, it has substantially larger energy density. As the concentration of nitric acid in etching solution increased, the degree of the etching increased. The etching of the Sn film effectively proceeded with nitric acid of 3 M concentration or more. The porous Sn film could not be recovered because the most of Sn was eluted within 60 seconds by the rapid etching rate in the 5 M nitric acid. In the case of etching with 4 M nitric acid for 60 seconds, the appropriate porous Sn film was formed with 48.9% of weight loss and 40.3% of thickness change during chemical acid etching process. As the degree of etching of Sn film increased, the electrochemical activity and the reversible capacity for the lithium storage of the Sn film electrode were increased. The highest reversible specific capacity of 650 mAh/g was achieved at the etching condition with 4 M nitric acid. The porous Sn film electrode showed better cycle performance than the conventional electrode using a Sn powder.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.65-75
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• 2021

Coin cell is a basic testing platform for battery research, discovering new materials and concepts, and contributing to fundamental research on next-generation batteries. Li metal batteries (LMBs) are promising since a high energy density (~500 Wh kg^-1) is deliverable far beyond Li-ion. However, Li dendrite-triggered volume fluctuation and high surface cause severe deterioration of performance. Given that such drawbacks are strongly dependent on the cell parameters and structure, such as the amount of electrolyte, Li thickness, and internal pressure, reliable Li metal coin cell testing is challenging. For the LMB-specialized coin cell testing platform, this study suggests the optimal coin cell structure that secures performance and reproducibility of LMBs under stringent conditions, such as lean electrolyte, high mass loading of NMC cathode, and thinner Li use. By controlling the cathode/anode (C/A) area ratio closer to 1.0, the inactive space was minimized, mitigating the cell degradation. The quantification and imaging of inner cell pressure elucidated that the uniformity of the pressure is a crucial matter to improving performance reliability. The LMB coin cells exhibit better cycling retention and reproducibility under higher (0.6 MPa → 2.13 MPa) and uniform (standard deviation: 0.43 → 0.16) stack pressure through the changes in internal parts and introducing a flexible polymer (PDMS) film.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.120-132
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• 2021

Although the development of high-Nickel is being actively carried out to solve the capacity limitation and the high price of raw cobalt due to the limitation of high voltage use of the existing LiCoO₂, the deterioration of the battery characteristics due to the decrease in structural stability and increase of the Ni content. It is an important cause of delaying commercialization. Therefore, in order to increase the high stability of the Ni-rich ternary cathod material LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂, precursor Ni_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2-x(OH)₂/xTiO₂ was prepared using a nanosized TiO₂ suspension type source for uniform Ti substitution in the precursor. It was mixed with Li₂CO₃, and after heating, the cathode active material LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2-xTi_xO₂ was synthesized, and the physical properties according to the Ti content were compared. Through FE-SEM and EDS mapping analysis, it was confirmed that a positive electrode active material having a uniform particle size was prepared through Ti-substituted spherical precursor and Particle Size Analyzer and internal density and strength were increased, XRD structure analysis and ICP-MS quantitative analysis confirmed that the capacity was effectively maintained even when the Ti-substituted positive electrode active material was manufactured and charging and discharging were continued at high temperature and high voltage.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.2
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• pp.243-248
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• 2022

As the scope of use of portable and wearable electronic devices is expanding, the limitations of heavy and bulky solid-state batteries are being revealed. Given that, it is urgent to develop a small energy harvesting device that can partially share the role of a battery and the utilization of energy sources that are thrown away in daily life is becoming more important. Contact electrification, which generates electricity based on the coupling of the triboelectric effect and electrical induction when the two material surfaces are in contact and separated, can effectively harvest the physical and mechanical energy sources existing in the surrounding environment without going through a complicated intermediate process. Recently, the interest in the harvest and utilization of wind energy is growing since the wind is an infinitely ecofriendly energy source among the various environmental energy sources that exist in human surroundings. In this study, the optimization of the energy harvesting device for the effective harvest of wind energy based on the contact electrification was analyzed and then, the utilization strategy to maximize the utilization of the generated electricity was investigated. Natural wind based Fluttering TENG (NF-TENG) using fluttering film was developed, and design optimization was conducted. Moreover, the safe high voltage generation system was developed and a plan for application in the field requiring high voltage was proposed by highlighting the unique characteristics of TENG that generates low current and high voltage. In this respect, the result of this study demonstrates that a portable energy harvesting device based on the contact electrification shows great potential as a strategy to harvest wind energy thrown away in daily life and use it widely in fields requiring high voltage.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.20-32
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• 2022

This study implemented a chelating agent (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, EDTA) in purification to obtain high-purity vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) for use in VRFB (Vanadium Redox Flow Battery). V₂O₅ (powder) was produced through the precipitation recovery of ammonium metavanadate (NH₄VO₃) from a vanadium solution, which was prepared using a low-purity vanadium raw material. The initial purity of the powder was estimated to be 99.7%. However, the use of a chelating agent improved its purity up to 99.9% or higher. It was conjectured that the added chelating agent reacted with the impurity ions to form a complex, stabilizing them. This improved the selectivity for vanadium in the recovery process. However, the prepared V₂O₅ powder exhibited higher contents of K, Mn, Fe, Na, and Al than those in the standard counterparts, thus necessitating additional research on its impurity separation. Furthermore, the vanadium electrolyte was prepared using the high-purity V₂O₅ powder in a newly developed direct electrolytic process. Its analytical properties were compared with those of commercial electrolytes. Owing to the high concentration of the K, Ca, Na, Al, Mg, and Si impurities in the produced vanadium electrolyte, the purity was analyzed to be 99.97%, lower than those (99.98%) of its commercial counterparts. Thus, further research on optimizing the high-purity V₂O₅ powder and electrolyte manufacturing processes may yield a process capable of commercialization.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.23-53
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• 2023

In this review paper, previous studies on layered double hydroxides (LDHs) published in the Korean Citation Index (KCI) were examined to investigate a research trend for LDHs in Korea. Since the first publication in 2002, 160 papers on LDHs have been published until January 2023. Among the 31 academic fields, top 5 fields appeared in the order of chemical engineering, chemistry, materials engineering, environmental engineering, and physics. The chemical engineering shows the highest record of published paper (71 papers) while around 10 papers have been published in the other four fields. All papers were reclassified into 15 research fields based on the industrial and academic purposes of using LDHs. The top 5 in these fields are in order of environmental purification materials, polymer catalyst materials, battery materials, pharmaceutical/medicinal materials, and basic physicochemical properties. These findings suggest that researches on the applications of LDH materials in the academic fields of chemical engineering and chemistry for the improvement of their functions such as environmental purification materials, polymer catalysts, and batteries have been being most actively conducted. The application of LDHs for cosmetic and agricultural purposes and for developing environmental sensors is still at the beginning of research. Considering a market-potential and high-efficiency-eco-friendly trend, however, it will deserve our attention as emerging application fields in the future. All reclassified papers were summarized in our tables and a supplementary file, including information on applied materials, key results, characteristics and synthesis methods of LDHs used. We expect that our findings of overall trends in LDH research in Korea can help design future researches with LDHs and suggest policies for resources and energies as well as environments efficiently.

• 한국노년학
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.1293-1309
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• 2010

This study is aimed to evaluate the effects of community-based prehabilitation program developed to prevent functional decline in the frail elderly and to provide a basis to practically operate this program in the public health care service. From March to August 2009, 110 frail elderly people were recruited among the registered participants of the home visit program in Korea to perform a prospective randomized community trial. We randomly assigned these people into two groups. One group (n=50) participated in the visiting prehabilitation program for 3 months focusing on improving their muscle strength of upper and lower limbs, walking ability, and balancing. The other group (n=60) underwent our visiting fall prevention program for control. To assess the effectiveness of prehabilitation program, physical functioning (PF) and short physical performance battery (SPPB) were measured for the primary outcomes and also some other indicators: exercise performance, nutritional status, emotional functioning, experience of admission, and events of fall. As a result, significant improvements of geriatric functional status were noticed among the participants. After 3 months, PF increased by 1.3 ± 3.8 points in prehabilitation group and decreased by 1.1 ± 5.4 points in controls (p=.020). SPPB improved by 2.4 ± 2.0 points in prehabilitation group and increased only 0.3 ± 1.5 points in controls (p<.001). Significant effects were also shown in their exercise performance tests and emotional status, the number of multiple falls, and the experience of functional decline after the fall (p .002-.038). Visiting prehabilitation program is safe and effective program for frail older adults. Thus, it is strongly recommended to universally adopt this program to prevent functional decline in the frail elderly.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.9 no.spc
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• pp.107-122
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• 2003

The object of this study is to evaluate the prevailing physical and psychosocial conditions regarding occupational low back injury. This study consists of two parts. In the first part of the study, analytic biomechanical model and NIOSH guidelines are applied to evaluate risk levels of low back injury for automobile assembly jobs. Total of 246 workers are analysed. There are 20 jobs having greater back compressive forces than 300kg at L5/S1. Also, there are 44 jobs over Action Limit with respect to 1981 NIOSH guidelines. The relationship between psychosocial factors and low back injury was examined in the second part of the study. A battery of questionnaires concerning the psychosocial stress based on PWI (Psychosocial Well-being Index) and musculoskeletal pain symptoms at low back was completed by 246 workers at the same plant. Results showed that 207 out 246 workers experienced the symptoms and 27 workers were diagnosed as patients. Two groups(low stressed, high stressed) based on PWI score had no significant relationships with both symptoms and results of diagnosis. The relationships between physical work load and psychosocial stress were also analysed. Specifically, some postural factors(vertical deviation angle of forearm, horizontal deviation angle of upperarm, vertical deviation angle of thigh, etc) were highly correlated with psychosocial stress. The results illustrated that PWI scores were associated with some physical workloads. However, psychosocial stress levels couldn't be well related with the pain symptom as well as the actual incidence of low back injury since pain or discomfort regarding low back injury were more complex than that of other musculoskeletal disorders.