• Membrane Journal
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.154-162
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• 2024

Anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are essential components in water electrolysis systems, serving to physically separate the generated hydrogen and oxygen gases while enabling the selective transport of hydroxide ions between electrodes. Key characteristics sought in AEMs include high ion conductivity and robust chemical and mechanical stability in alkaline. In this study, quaternized Poly(terphenyl piperidinium)/cellulose nanocrystals (qPTP/CNC) mixed matrix membrane was fabricated. The polymer matrix, PTP, was synthesized via super-acid polymerization, known for its excellent ion conductivity and alkaline durability. The qPTP/CNC membrane showed a dense and uniform morphology without significant voids or large aggregates at the polymer-nanoparticle interface. The qPTP/CNC membrane containing 2 wt% CNC demonstrated a high ion exchange capacity of 1.90 mmol/g, coupled with low water uptake (9.09%) and swelling ratio (5.56%). Additionally, the qPTP/CNC membrane showed significantly lower resistance and superior alkaline stability (384 hours at 50℃ in 1 M KOH) compared to the commercial FAA-3-50 membrane. These results highlight the potential of hydrophilic additive CNC in enhancing ion conductivity and alkaline durability of ion exchange membranes.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.31-39
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• 2005

Direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is considered as a candidate for portable power sources, that could overcome the disadvantages of lithium battery. But in order to attain commercial viability the long term stability of the DMFC should be achieved. Understanding the long-term behavior of membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) is a prerequisite to this purpose and the optimization of the MEA is also needed. In this study we have investigated the changes in performance and electrochemical properties of the MEA during extended operation and the effects of heat treatment of MEA on the long-term performance. The MEAs have been treated in an autoclave with saturated water vapor at 120$^{\circ}C$, vacuum oven at 140$^{\circ}C$ and boiling in organic solvents. The autoclaved MEA was found to be have the best long term performance. The on-off operation mode also increased the performance probably due to effective removal of products from the electrodes. Physical and electrochemical analyses using a scanning electron microscope, impedance analyser and half-cell technique have been done to characterize the MEAs.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.6-10
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• 2021

The mesh mask screen, which is generally used for screen printing metallization of silicon solar cell, requires high squeegee pressure and low printing speed. These requirements are acting as a limiting factor in production yield in photovoltaic industries. In order to improve the productivity, a metal mask, which has high durability and high printing speed, has been researched. In this paper, the characteristics of each solar cell, in which electrodes were formed by using a metal mask and a mesh mask, were analyzed through recombination current density. In particular, the metal-induced recombination current density (Jom) representing the recombination of the emitter-metal interface was calculated using the shading method, and the resulting efficiency and open-circuit voltage were analyzed through the diode equation. As a result of analyzing the proportion of the metal-induced recombination current density to the total emitter recombination current density, it was analyzed that the reduction of the metal-induced recombination current density through the metal mask is an important factor in reducing the total recombination current density of the solar cell.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.202-207
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• 2023

In the case of driving water electrolysis by receiving surplus electricity from solar and wind power generation, operation and stopping must be repeated according to weather fluctuations. When the PEMWE(Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Water Electrolysis) is driven and stopped, the PEM fuel cell is in the same state as the PEM fuel cell due to the residual hydrogen and oxygen, and the high potential of the water electrolysis formed during operation is highly likely to cause degradation of the electrode and membrane even during stopping. In this study, in order to check how much degradation of the electrode and membrane progresses during the repeated driving/shutdown process of PEM water electrolysis, the performance decrease was measured by changing the number of driving/shutdown for 144 hours. Changes in electrode catalyst active area, hydrogen permeability and fluorine emision rate of membranes were analyzed to measure changes in the properties of electrodes and polymer membranes. Overall, the PEMWE performance decreased as the number of stops increased. When stopped 5 times in 144 hours, the IrO_x catalyst activity decreased by more than 30%, and the hydrogen permeability increased by 80%, confirming that both the electrode and the membrane were deteriorated.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2014

Flexible transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) have recently attracted a great deal of attention owing to rapid advances in flexible electronic devices, such as flexible displays, flexible photovoltanics, and e-papers. As the performance and reliability of flexible electronics are critically affected by the quality of TCE films, it is imperative to develop TCE films with low resistivity and high transparency as well as high flexibility. Indium tin oxide (ITO) has been the most dominant transparent conducting material due to its high optical transparency and electrical conductivity. However, ITO is susceptible to cracking and delamination when it is bent or deformed. Therefore, various types of flexible TCEs, such as carbon nanotube, conducting polymers, graphene, metal mesh, Ag nanowires (NWs), and metal mesh have been extensively investigated. Among several options to replace ITO film, Ag NWs and metal mesh have been suggested as the promising candidate for flexible TCEs. In this paper, we focused on Ag NWs and metal mesh, and summarized the current development status of Ag NWs and metal mesh. The several critical issues such as high contact resistance and haze are discussed, and newly developed technologies to resolve these issues are also presented. In particular, the flexibility and durability of Ag NWs and metal mesh was compared with ITO electrode.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1-7
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• 2017

Cobalt silicide was used as a counter electrode in order to confirm its reliability in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) devices. 100 nm-Co/300 nm-Si/quartz was formed by an evaporator and cobalt silicide was formed by vacuum heat treatment at $700^{\circ}C$ for 60 min to form approximately 350 nm-CoSi. This process was followed by etching in $80^{\circ}C$-30% $H_2SO_4$ to remove the cobalt residue on the cobalt silicide surface. Also, for the comparison against Pt, we prepared a 100 nm-Pt/glass counter electrode. Cobalt silicide was used for the counter electrode in order to confirm its reliability in DSSC devices and maintained for 0, 168, 336, 504, 672, and 840 hours at $80^{\circ}C$. The photovoltaic properties of the DSSCs employing cobalt silicide were confirmed by using a simulator and potentiostat. Cyclic-voltammetry, field emission scanning electron microscopy, focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectrometry analyses were used to confirm the catalytic activity, microstructure, and composition, respectively. The energy conversion efficiency (ECE) as a function of time and ECE of the DSSC with Pt and CoSi counter electrodes were maintained for 504 hours. However, after 672 hours, the ECEs decreased to a half of their initial values. The results of the catalytic activity analysis showed that the catalytic activities of the Pt and CoSi counter electrodes decreased to 64% and 57% of their initial values, respectively(after 840 hours). The microstructure analysis showed that the CoSi layer improved the durability in the electrolyte, but because the stress concentrates on the contact surface between the lower quartz substrate and the CoSi layer, cracks are formed locally and flaking occurs. Thus, deterioration occurs due to the residual stress built up during the silicidation of the CoSi counter electrode, so it is necessary to take measures against these residual stresses, in order to ensure the reliability of the electrode.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.715-719
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• 2012

We investigated the effects of electrochemical characteristics and generation of chlorine by the different amount of Ru coating which was prepared for $RuO_2$/Ti electrode coated with 1.5 mg, 2.5 mg, 5.5 mg, 8.5 mg Ru per unit area ($cm^2$). As a Result of the cycle voltammetry experiments, chlorine overvoltage of Ru-coated electrodes showed to be the nearly sustained value of approximately 1.15V (vs. Ag/AgCl). By contrary, According to the results of the AC impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization tests, the amount of Ru per unit area ($cm^2$) included 2.5 mg, 3.5 mg as $RuO_2$/Ti offered the highest levels of durability which was electrode resistance and corrosion rate appeared to be $0.4582{\Omega}$, $0.5267{\Omega}$ and 0.082 mm/yr, 0.058 mm/yr, respectively. It was also observed that generation of chlorine coated with 3.5 mg per unit area ($cm^2$) was the highest value of 15.2 mg/L.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.352-360
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to determine the electrochemical properties develop DSA electrode for sewage sludge solubilization. Using Ir as a main catalyst, the catalyst selected for the sewage sludge solubilization durability and proceeds to functional electrode suitable for sewage sludge electrolysis experiment were obtained the following results. Less mass reduction of the sintering temperature of the main catalyst, Ir coated electrodes, the endothermic reaction zone $300^{\circ}C$ to $500^{\circ}C$, which was selected from a range of experiments. The efficiency of the catalyst results came up to $350^{\circ}C$ best. Each Binder stars (Ta, Sn, W) in this experiment was the biggest catalyst efficiency at $350^{\circ}C$. Used as a binder, $TaCl_5$, $SnCl_4$, $WCl_6$ of the Ta and without affecting the other characteristics of the main catalyst than Sn, W. For the 50% $IrO_2$ electrode is 1.4 V (vs. Ag / AgCl) in a current of about $29mA/cm^2$ was caused to evaluate the effectiveness of the electrode.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.82-88
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• 2017

MET (Microbial Electrochemical Technology), such as MFC (Microbial Fuel Cell) and MEC (Microbial Electrolysis Cell), is a promising technology for producing sustainable biogas from an anaerobic digester (AD). At current stage, however, the most likely limiting factors, large internal resistances, should be overcome for successful scale up of this technology. Various researchers reported that application of electrode materials containing high current density, increase of ion strength and conductivity, configuration of electrode are good methods for minimizing internal resistances. Recently, stainless steel is receiving great attention because of not only high performance and durability but also low cost. Therefore, in this study, we evaluate electrochemical characteristics and biogas production rate using various electrode materials and configuration (graphite carbon coated with catalysts ($GC-C_M$) or not (GC), stainless steel mesh (SUS-M) and plate (SUS-P)). As the results, current densities of $GC-C_M$, GC, SUS-P, SUS-M were 2.03, 1.36, 1.04, $1.13A/m^2$, respectively. Methane yields of $GC-C_M$, GC, SUS-P, SUS-M were 0.27, 0.14, 0.19, 0.21 $L-CH_4/g-COD_{rem}$., respectively. Stainless steel shows high current density and methane yield, which are similar as graphite carbon coated with catalysts.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.49-54
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• 2020

To attach a stretchable/flexible electrode to something or something to on electrode, conductive adhesives must be stretchable/flexible to suit the properties of the electrode. In particular, conductive adhesive require durability and heat resistance, and unlike conventional adhesives, they should also have conductivity. To this end, Epoxy, which has good strength and adhesion, was selected as an adhesive, and a plasticizer and a reinforcement were mixed instead of a two-liquid material consisting of a conventional theme and a hardener, and a four-liquid material was used to give stretchability/flexibility to high molecules. The conductive filler was selected as silver, a material with low resistance, and for high conductivity, three shapes of Ag particles were used to increase packing density. Conductivity was compared with these developed conductive adhesives and two epoxy-based conductive adhesives being sold in practice, and about 10 times better conductivity results were obtained than products being actually sold. In addition, conductivity, mechanical properties, adhesion and strength were evaluated according to the presence of plasticizers and reinforcement agent. There was also no problem with 60% tensile after 5 minutes of curing at 120℃, and pencil hardness was excellently measured at 6H. As a result of checking the adhesion of electrodes through 3M tape test, all of them showed excellent results regardless of the mixing ratio of binders. After attaching the Cu sheet on top of the electrode through conductive adhesive, the contact resistance was checked and showed excellent performance with 0.3 Ω.