• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.83-90
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• 2021

In this study, effects of the physical and chemical properties of low temperature heated carbon on electrochemical behavior as a secondary battery anode material were investigated. A heat treatment at 600 ℃ was performed for coking of petroleum based pitch, and the manufactured coke was heat treated with different heat temperatures at 700~1,500 ℃ to prepare low temperature heated anode materials. The physical and chemical properties of carbon anode materials were studied through nitrogen adsorption and desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, elemental analysis. Also the anode properties of low temperature heated carbon were considered through electrochemical properties such as capacity, initial Coulomb efficiency (ICE), rate capability, and cycle performance. The crystal structure of low temperature (≤ 1500 ℃) heated carbon was improved by increasing the crystal size and true density, while the specific surface area decreased. Electrochemical properties of the anode material were changed with respect to the physical and chemical properties of low temperature heated carbon. The capacity and cycle performance were most affected by H/C atomic ratio. Also, the ICE was influenced by the specific surface area, whereas the rate performance was most affected by true density.

• 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.

• Clean Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.68-75
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• 2015

In this study, we investigated the structure and properties of a highly heat conductive metal-ceramic core-shell CoAl₂O₄@Al micro-composite for heterogeneous catalysts support. The CoAl₂O₄@Al was prepared by hydrothermal surface oxidation of Al metal powder, which resulted in the structure with a high heat conductive Al metal core encapsulated by a high surface area CoAl₂O₄ shell. For comparison, CoAl₂O₄ was also prepared by co-precipitation method and also utilized for a catalyst support. Rh catalysts supported on CoAl₂O₄@Al and CoAl₂O₄ were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation and characterized by N₂ adsorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), CO chemisorption, and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR). The properties of catalysts were investigated for glycerol steam reforming reaction for hydrogen production at 550 ℃. Rh/CoAl₂O₄@Al exhibited about 2.8 times higher glycerol conversion turnover frequency (TOF) than Rh/CoAl₂O₄ due to facilitated heat transport through the core-shell structure. The CoAl₂O₄@Al and CoAl₂O₄ also showed some catalytic activities due to a partial reduction of Co on the support, and a higher catalytic activity was also found on the CoAl₂O₄@Al core-shell than CoAl₂O₄. These catalysts, however, displayed deactivation on the reaction stream due to carbon deposition on the catalysts surface.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.269-277
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• 2022

With the recent development of the biological enzymatic reaction industry, lactic acid (LA) can be mass-produced from biomass sources. In particular, a catalytic process that converts LA into acrylic acid (AA) is receiving much attention because AA is used widely in the petrochemical industry as a monomer for superabsorbent polymers (SAP) and as an adhesive for displays. In the LA conversion process, NaY zeolites have been previously shown to be a high-activity catalyst, which improves AA selectivity and long-term stability. However, NaY zeolites suffer from fast deactivation due to severe coking. Therefore, the aim of this study is to modify the acid-base properties of the NaY zeolite to address this shortcoming. First, base promoters, Ca ions, were introduced to the NaY zeolites to tune their acidity and basicity via ion exchange (IE) and incipient wetness impregnation (IWI). The IWI method showed superior catalyst selectivity and stability compared to the IE method, maintaining a high AA yield of approximately 40% during the 16 h reaction. Based on the NH₃- and CO₂-TPD results, the calcium salts that impregnated into the NaY zeolites were proposed to exit as an oxide form mainly at the exterior surface of NaY and act as additional base sites to promote the dehydration of LA to AA. The NaY zeolites were further treated with KOH before calcium impregnation to reduce the total acidity and improve the dispersion of calcium through the mesopores formed by KOH-induced desilication. However, this KOH treatment did not lead to enhanced AA selectivity. Finally, calcium loading was increased from 1wt% to 5wt% to maximize the amount of base sites. The increased basicity improved the AA selectivity substantially to 65% at 100% conversion while maintaining high activity during a 24 h reaction. Our results suggest that controlling the basicity of the catalyst is key to obtaining high AA selectivity and high catalyst stability.