• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.598-603
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• 2015

In this study, electrochemical properties of pitch-based activated carbon fibers (ACFs) were investigated by different heat-treatment temperature of the pitch-based ACFs in order to improve the specific capacitance of electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC). The ACFs were prepared by different heat-treatment temperatures of 1050 and $1450^{\circ}C$, after activation with 4 M KOH at $800^{\circ}C$ using stabilized pitch fiber. The specific surface area of prepared ACFs increased from $828m^2/g$ to $987m^2/g$, also the micropore and mesopore volumes of prepared ACFs were increased. These results because pore was produced by desorbing oxygen and hydrogen elements within the ACFs, and pore size was increased by contraction ACFs by heat-treatment process. Because of the porous properties, the specific capacitance was increased from 73 F/g to 119 F/g using cyclic voltammetry with 1 M $H_2SO_4$ at scan rates of 5 mV/s.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.409-414
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• 2008

Porous carbon electrode for electrosorption was prepared by a wet phase inversion method. Carbon slurry that was a mixture of activated carbon powder(ACP) and PVdF solution was cast directly upon a graphite sheet by means of a casting knife. Porous carbon electrodes were fabricated by immersing the cast film in pure water as a non solvent. Physical and electrochemical properties of carbon electrodes prepared with various ACP contents(50.0, 75.0, 83.3, 87.5, 90.0 wt %). From the SEM images we can verify that the electrode was porous. The average pore sizes determined for the electrodes fabricated with various ACP contents ranged from 72.7 to 86.4 nm and the size decreased as the ACP content increased. The electrochemical properties were characterized by cyclic voltammetry(CV) method. All of the voltammograms showed typical behavior of an electric double layer charging/discharging on the carbon surface. The capacitance increased with the ACP content and the values ranged from 2.18 F/cm$^2$ for 50 wt% ACP to 4.77 F/cm$^2$ for 90 wt% ACP.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.243-249
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• 2006

Porous polymer gel electrolytes (PGEs) based on poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (P(VdF-co-HFP)) as a polymer matrix and polyvinylpyrolidone (PVP) as a pore-forming agent were prepared and electrochemical properties were investigated for an electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) in order to increase a permeability of an electrolyte into the PGE. Propylene carbonate (PC) and ethylene carbonate (EC) as plasticizers, and tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate ($TEABF_4$) as a supporting salt for the PGE were used. EDLC unit cells were assembled with the PGE and electrode comprising BP-20 and MSP-20 as activated carbon powders, Super P as a conducting agent, and P(VdF-co-HFP)/PVP as a mixed binder. Ion conductivity of PGEs increased with an increased PVP content and was the best at 7 wt% PVP, whereas electrochemical characteristics such as AC-ESR of unit cell were better in 3 wt%. And electrochemical characteristics of the unit cell with PGE were the best at a 33 : 33 weight ratio of PC to EC. Specific capacitance of a mixed plasticizer system of PE and EC was higher than that of pure PC. Ion conductivity of PGEs with a film thickness of $20{\mu}m$ was higher, but electrochemical characteristics of unit cells were higher for a $50{\mu}m$ membrane thickness. Also, the unit cell has shown the highest capacitance of 31.41 F/g and more stable electrochemical performance when PGE and electrode were hot pressed. Consequently, the optimum composition ratio of PGE for EDLCs was 23 : 66 : 11 wt% such as P(VdF-co-HFP) : PVP = 20 : 3 wt% and PC : EC = 44 : 22 wt%. In this case, $3.17{\times}10^{-3}S/cm$ of ion conductivity was achieved at the $50{\mu}m$ thickness of PGE for EDLCs. And the electrochemical characteristics of unit cells were $2.69{\Omega}$ of DC-ESR, 28 F/g of specific capacitance, and 100% of coulombic efficiency.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.341-347
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• 2023

In PEMFC, PtCo/C alloy catalysts are widely used because of good performance and durability. However, few studies have been reported on the durability of carbon supports of PtCo/C evaluated at high voltages (1.0~1.5 V). In this study, the durability of PtCo/C catalysts and Pt/C catalysts were compared after applying the accelerated degradation protocol of catalyst support. After repeating the 1.0↔1.5V voltage change cycles, the mass activity, electrochemical surface area (ECSA), electric double layer capacitance (DLC), Pt dissolution and the particle growth were analyzed. After 2,000 cycles of voltage change, the current density per catalyst mass at 0.9V decreased by more than 1.5 times compared to the Pt/C catalyst. This result was because the degradation rate of the carbon support of the PtCo/C catalyst was higher than that of the Pt/C catalyst. The Pt/C catalyst showed more than 1.5 times higher ECSA reduction than the PtCo/C catalyst, but the corrosion of the carbon support of the Pt/C catalyst was small, resulting in a small decrease in I-V performance. In order to improve the high voltage durability of the PtCo/C catalyst, it was shown that improving the durability of the carbon support is essential.