• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.514-518
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• 2018

The direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) has attracted researcher's attention recently, due to its high conversion efficiency and its abundant fuel, carbon. A DCFC mathematical model has developed in two-dimensional, lab-scale, and considers Boudouard reaction and carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation. The model simulates the CO production by Boudouard reaction and additional electron production by CO oxidation. The Boudouard equilibrium strongly depends on operating temperature and affects the amount of produced CO and consequentially affects the overall fuel cell performance. Two different operating temperatures (973 K, 1023 K) has been calculated to discover the CO production by Boudouard reaction and overall fuel cell performance. Moreover, anode thickness of the cell has been considered to find out the influence of the Boudouard reaction zone in fuel cell performance. It was found that in high temperature operating DCFC modeling, the Boudouard reaction cannot be neglected and has a vital role in the overall fuel cell performance.

• Carbon letters
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.121-125
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• 2003

The Pt-Ru/Carbon as an anode catalyst supported on the commercial activated carbon (AC) having high surface area and micropore was characterized for application of Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC). The Pt-Ru/AC anode catalyst used in this experiment showed the performance of $600\;mA/cm^2$ current density at 0.3 V. The borohydride reduction process using $NaBH_4$, denoted as a process A, showed much higher current and power densities than process B prepared by changing the reduction and washing process of process A. The particle sizes are strongly affected by the reduction process than the specific surface area of raw active carbon and the sizes are almost constant when the specific surface area of carbon are over than the $1200\;m^2/g$. Smaller particle size of catalyst and more narrow intercrystalite distance increased the performance of DMFC.

• Carbon letters
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2005

Plasma carbon blacks of 20~30 nm diameter were synthesized by direct decomposition of natural gas using a hybrid plasma torch system with 50 kW direct current and 4 MHz of radio frequency. The insulating rector which inside diameter of 400 mm and length of 1500 mm, respectively was kept at 300~$400^{\circ}C$ during the preparation. The ultimate analysis of plasma carbon blacks reveals that the raw plasma carbon blacks contains a large quantity of volatile which is mainly consist of hydrogen. Therefore devolatilization of raw plasma carbon blacks were carried out at $900^{\circ}C$ for one hour under nitrogen atmosphere. The devolatilization leads to the decrease in electrical resistivity and surface oxygen functional groups of plasma carbon black significantly. In order to investigate the plasma carbon as a catalyst support, devolatilized plasma black at $900^{\circ}C$ (DPB) supported PtAu catalyst was synthesized by sodium boronhydride reduction method. Electrochemical measurements and direct formic acid fuel cell test indicated that catalytic activity of DPB supported PtAu catalyst for formic acid oxidation was similar to that of Vulcan XC-72 of commercial carbon black supported one.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.181-186
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• 2002

The displacement of carbon black to polypyrrole as a catalyst supporter in the fuel electrode of a direct methanol fuel cell was investigated. Polypyrrole was obtained as a black powder by the chemical polymerization of pyrrole with three different oxidants. The synthesized polypyrroles were pasted on carbon paper and transformed to the fuel electrodes with electrochemically deposited platinum. The prepared fuel electrode was assembled and mounted in a unit cell using a membrane and cathodic electrode film. In comparison with the carbon black fuel electrode, the performance of the unit cell was analyzed in relation to the state of the catalyst, the type of oxidant, and the morphology of the polypyrrole powder.

• Carbon letters
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2007

Carbon nanofiber (CNF) grown catalytically was chemically activated with KOH to attain structural change of CNF. The structural changes of CNF through KOH activation were investigated by using BET and SEM. From the results of BET, it was found that KOH activation was effective to develop particular sizes of pores on the CNF surface, increasing the surface area of CNF. Activated CNF was applied as an anode catalyst support of fuel cell. The effects of different activation conditions including the activation temperature and the activation time on the specific surface area of the CNF activated with KOH were investigated to obtain appropriate structure as a catalyst support. The 60 wt% Pt-Ru catalyst prepared was observed by using TEM and XRD.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.786-789
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• 2011

In order to estimate the possibility of applying electrolytes generally used in solid oxide fuel cells(SOFCs) to direct carbon fuel cells(DCFCs), properties of YSZ(yttria stabilized zirconia) electrolyte were evaluated. In this study, vacuum slurry coating method was adapted to coat thin layer on anode support substrate. After sintering the electrolyte at $1400^{\circ}C$ for 5hrs, microstructure was analyzed by using SEM image. Also, gas permeability and ionic conductivity were measured to find out the potential possibility of electrolyte for DCFCs. The YSZ electrolyte represented dense coating layer and low gas permeability value. The ionic conductivity of YSZ electrolyte was high over $800^{\circ}C$. After measurement of the electrolyte properties, direct carbon fuel cell was fabricated and its performance was measured at $800^{\circ}C$.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.697-704
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• 2016

Coal modified by acid treatment was investigated to analyze the correlation between the cell performance and electrochemical parameters in a direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC). The fuels were subjected to thermogravimetry analysis, gas adsorption test, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to investigate the fuel properties and surface characteristics. After the treatment of raw coal, the thermal reactivity of the treated fuels increased, and the specific surface area decreased, though the mean pore diameters of three fuels were similar. The coal treated by $HNO_3$ showed the highest ratio of oxygen to carbon, and also an increase in the surface oxygen groups on the fuel surface. Through comparison between the fuel surface properties and electrochemical performance, it was confirmed that the surface oxygen groups have an influence on the improvement in the DCFC performance.

• Carbon letters
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.198-202
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• 2015

Carbon-supported Pt catalyst systems containing defect adsorption sites on the anode of direct methanol fuel cells were investigated, to elucidate the mechanisms of H₂ dissociation and carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Density functional theory calculations were carried out to determine the effect of defect sites located neighboring to or distant from the Pt catalyst on H₂ and CO adsorption properties, based on electronic properties such as adsorption energy and electronic band gap. Interestingly, the presence of neighboring defect sites led to a reduction of H₂ dissociation and CO poisoning due to atomic Pt filling the defect sites. At distant sites, H₂ dissociation was active on Pt, but CO filled the defect sites to form carbon π-π bonds, thus enhancing the oxidation of the carbon surface. It should be noted that defect sites can cause CO poisoning, thereby deactivating the anode gradually.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.769-774
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• 2011

Porous carbon nanofibers(CNF) were synthesized via NaOH activation at 700~$900^{\circ}C$, and the porous CNF-supported PtRu catalysts were evaluated for the anode in direct methanol fuel cells. The change of surface characteristics by NaOH activation was examined by analyses of the specific surface area and pore size distribution. The morphological and structural modification was investigated under scanning electron microscopy. The activity of catalysts supported on porous CNFs was examined by cyclic voltammograms and single cell tests. The pore formation on CNF by the NaOH activation was discussed, concerning the catalyst activity, when they were applied as catalyst supports.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.620-628
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• 2014

Direct Carbon Fuel Cell(DCFC) is one of new power generation that the chemical energy of solid carbon can be converted into electrical energy directly. At the high temperature, the electrochemical reaction of the carbon takes place and the carbon reacts with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide as followed overall reaction ($C+O_2{\rightarrow}CO_2$). However, in case of using the raw coals as a fuel of DCFC, the volatile matter containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen produces at operating temperature. In this study, the electrochemical reaction of Adaro coal was compared with Graphite. This work focused on the electrochemical reaction of two kinds of solid carbon by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy(EIS). The EIS results were estimated by equivalent circuit analysis. The constant phase element(CPE) was applied in Randle circuit to explain an electrode and fuel interface. The correlation between the fuel characteristic and electrochemical results was discussed by elements of equivalent circuit of each fuel.