• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.746-752
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• 2016

In this study, soft carbon was prepared by carbonization of carbon precursor (pitch) obtained from PFO (pyrolysis fuel oil) heat treatment. Three carbon precursors prepared by the thermal reaction were 3903 (at $390^{\circ}C$ for 3 h), 4001 (at $400^{\circ}C$ for 1 h) and 4002 (at $400^{\circ}C$ for 2 h). After the prepared soft carbon was ground to a particle size of $25{\sim}35^{\circ}C$, the soft carbon was synthesised by the chemical treatment with boric acid ($H_3BO_3$). The prepared soft carbon were analysed by XRD, FE-SEM and XPS. Also, the electrochemical performances of soft carbon were investigated by constant current charge/discharge test, cyclic voltammetry and impedance tests in the electrolyte of $LiPF_6$ dissolved inorganic solvents (EC:DMC=1:1 vol%+VC 3 wt%). The coin cell using soft carbon of $25{\sim}35^{\circ}C$ with 3903 soft carbon ($H_3BO_3$/Pitch=3:100 in weight) has better initial capacity and efficiency (330 mAh/g, 82%) than those of other coin cells. Also, it was found that the retention rate capability of 2C/0.1C was 90% after 30 cycles.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.247-255
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• 2014

$La_{0.8}Sr_{0.2}CuO_3$ powder with the perovskite structure was prepared as electrode catalyst using citrate method. Porous electrode was made with as-prepared catalyst, carbon as supporter and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as hydrophobic binder. As results of potentiostatic electrolysis with potential of -1.5~-2.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl in 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 M KOH at 5 and $10^{\circ}C$ on the porous electrode, liquid products were methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol and 1, 2-butanol regardless reaction temperature, while gas products were methane, ethane and ethylene at $5^{\circ}C$, and methane, ethane and propane at $10^{\circ}C$ respectively. Optimal potentials for $CO_2$ reduction in the view of over all faradic efficiency were high values (-2.0 and -2.2 V) for gas products whereas low potential (-1.5 V) for liquid products regardless of concentration and temperature.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.41-51
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• 2016

In the stratosphere, the air is stable and a photovoltaic (PV) system can produce more solar energy compared to in the atmosphere. If unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) fly in the stratosphere, the flight stability and efficiency of the mission are improved. On the other hand, the weakened lift force of the UAV due to the rarefied atmosphere can require more power for lift according to the weight and/or wing area of the UAV. To solve this problem, it is necessary to minimize the weight of the aircraft and improve the performance of the power system. A regenerative fuel cell (RFC) consisting of a fuel cell (FC) and water electrolysis (WE) combined PV power system has been investigated as a good alterative because of its higher specific energy. The WE system produces hydrogen and oxygen, providing extra energy beyond the energy generated by the PV system in the daytime, and then saves the gases in tanks. The FC system supplies the required power to the UAV at night, so the additional fuel supply to the UAV is not needed anymore. The specific energy of RFC systems is higher than that of Li-ion battery systems, so they have less weight than batteries that supply the same energy to the UAV. In this paper, for a stratospheric long-endurance hybrid UAV based on an RFC system, three major design factors (UAV weight, wing area and performance of WE) affecting the ability of long-term flight were determined and a simulation-based feasibility study was performed. The effects of the three design factors were analyzed as the flight time increased, and acceptable values of the factors for long endurance were found. As a result, the long-endurance of the target UAV was possible when the values were under 350 kg, above 150 m² and under 80 kWh/kg H₂.

• Composites Research
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.14-20
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• 2013

The electrospun PVDF containing CNT was made for fabricating materials of the actuator. The electrochemical and their actuating movement were evaluated for the actuator performance in the electrochemical environment. The actuator (which was fabricated by electrospinning) had some advantages, i.e., good dispersion and flexible properties. In the electrospinning process, the final product would have different forms based on different essential factors. In this work, electrospun nanofibers were aligned by using the drum-type collector, and the morphology was identified via the field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). The uniform dispersion of CNT in PVDF nanofiber was observed by electron probe X-ray micro-analysis (EPMA) test. The results of tensile strength and electrical resistivity provided the aligned state. The electrospun CNT/PVDF nanofiber sheet on the aligned direction showed better mechanical and electrical properties than the case of the vertically-aligned direction. The efficiency and electrical capacities of electrospun CNT/PVDF nanofiber sheets were compared with the cast PVDF sheet for actuator application. Electrospun CNT/PVDF nanofiber sheet exhibited much better the case of actuator performance than cast neat PVDF actuator, due to the excellent electrical connecting areas.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.34-39
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• 2015

This study confirmed the characteristics of hydrogen production according to electrode materials by producing non-diaphragm alkaline water electroanalyzer that can be controlled at medium temperature to produce hydrogen. As a result of the electrochemical characteristics by electrode material ($IrO_2/Ti$, $RuO_2/Ti$, Ti), the highest efficiency was found in $RuO_2/Ti$, as a result of hydrogen production experiment by electrolyte concentration, electrolyte concentration has a tendency to be proportional to hydrogen production and the condition of 30% KOH showed the highest hydrogen production as $118.9m^3/m^3/day$. In the experiment that confirmed hydrogen production according to electrode materials, in case of combination of anode ($IrO^2/Ti$) and cathode ($RuO^2/Ti$), it was $157.55m^3/m^3/day$ that showed a higher hydrogen production by around 6.97% than that of $IrO^2/Ti$ and cathode. It is presumed that the improvement of electrochemical activation of DSA electrode increases hydrogen production and influences the improvement of durability compared to the former electrode so that it enables stable alkaline water electrolysis.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.199-208
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• 1994

In this study, the ultrasound which provides the properties of mixing, and surface cleaning effect, the increase of the effective reaction surface area and the enhancement of the effective collision frequency, was used to enhance the recovering efficiency of Cu from the Cu-ion containning waste water. The ultrasonic reactor used in this study was designed and constructed for improving the disadvantage of the existing ultrasonic reactor. From the experimental result and its analysis, we obtained following conclusions. 1. The ultrasound increased the rate of electrochemical deposition to 582.2% in maximum at the condition of $0.1M-CuSO_4$, and 2.1 V-overpotential. 2. The enhancement effect of ultrasound induced by the reduction of diffusion layer thickness was 277.8% in maximum and induced by the other effect except for the reduction effect of the diffusion layer thickness was 253.6% in maximum at $0.1M-CuSO_4$ and 2.1V overpotential. 3. This study gave the possibility of the scale-up of ultrasonic reactor and in particular, ultrasonic reactor would be effective in the treatment of waste water containning a low concentration of Cu ion.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.491-495
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• 2005

Vanadium pentoxide xerogels with a doping ratio of $Al/V_2O_5$ ranging from 0.01 to 0.05 were synthesized by doping Al into $V_2O_5$ xerogel via the sol-gel process. By using the synthesized $Al_xV_2O_5$, the $Li/Al_xV_2O_5$ cells were assembled to investigate the chemical and electrochemical properties. Surface morphology of the $Al_xV_2O_5$ xerogel showed an anisotropic corrugated sheet-like matrix, and the interlayer distance was about $11.5{\AA}$. The IR spectra of the $Al_xV_2O_5$ revealed that the doped Al was coordinated to the vanadyl group in $V_2O_5$. The $Al_xV_2O_5$ xerogels showed enhanced reversibility and energy density compared with the $V_2O_5$ xerogel. The specific capacity of the $Al_{0.05}V_2O_5$ xerogel was more than 200 mAh/g at 10 mA/g discharge rate, and cycle efficiency was about 90% after the 31st cycling test between 1.9 V and 3.9 V.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.177-181
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• 2012

Dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs) based on $TiO_2$ film photo anode incorporated with different amount of grapheme nanosheet(GNS) are fabricated and their photovoltaic performance are investigated. The $TiO_2$-GNS composite electrode has been prepared by a direct mixing method. The DSSC performance of this composite electrode was measured using N3 dye as a sensitizer. The performance of DSSCs using the $TiO_2$-GNS composite electrodes is dependent on the GNS loading in the electrodes. The results show that the DSSCs incorporating 0.01 wt% GNS in $TiO_2$photo anode demonstrates a maximum power conversion efficiency of 5.73%, 26% higher than that without GNS. The performance improvement is ascribed to increased N3 dye adsorption, the reduction of electron recombination and back transport reaction as well as enhancement of electron transport with the introduction of GNS. The presence of both $TiO_2$(anatase) and GNS has been confirmed by FieldEmission Scanning Electron Microscopy(FE-SEM). The decrease in recombination due to GNS in DSSCs has been investigated by the Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy.

• Clean Technology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.415-424
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• 2014

In this study, two kinds of polymer (PPQX-2hdPTZ (P1), POPQX-2hdPTZ (P2)) were synthesised by Suzuki coupling reaction based on phenothiazine derivative as electron-donor and quinoxaline derivative as electron-acceptor. Microwave synthesis workstation was used to shorten the polymerization time and increase the degree of polymerization. The physical, thermal stability, optical and electrochemical properties of the synthesized polymer were confirmed. The thermal stability of two polymers was outstanding as the initial decomposition temperature was $323-328^{\circ}C$. And additional substituted alkoxy chain on P2 showed higher degree of polymerization. An analysis of electrochemical properties, all polymer had similar HOMO energy level values. Device was fabricated by ITO/PEDOT:PSS/active layer/$BaF_2$/Al structure and photovoltaic properties were confirmed. Each device has a different film thickness and the resulting change in PCE was confirmed. As a result the thinner thickness of the film showed a high efficiency ($PCE_{max}:P1=1.0%$, P2 = 1.1%).

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.564-570
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• 2007

This study investigated the treatment of liquid waste containing highly concentrated iron(III)-ethylenediaminetetraaceticacid (Fe(III)-EDTA) of 70,000 mg/L by an underwater electrical discharge process using low voltage and high current. When AC voltage is applied to the discharging electrode with the other electrode grounded, the temperature of the liquid waste around the discharging electrode rapidly increases, and at the same time, hydrogen and oxygen gases are formed at the electrode as a result of electrochemical reactions. Ultimately, gases formed by vaporization of water and electrochemical reactions cover the electrode. Since the liquid waste is electrically conductive, it elongates the ground electrode up to the border of the gas layer, where electrical discharge occurs. Without hydrogen peroxide, electrical discharge was able to remove about 50% of Fe(III)-EDTA. As the concentration of hydrogen peroxide added increased, the removal efficiency of Fe(III)-EDTA increased. When the molar ratio of hydrogen peroxide to the initial Fe(III)-EDTA was higher than 24.7, more than 80 g of Fe(III)-EDTA was removed with an energy of 1 kWh. A comparison between tungsten and steel electrodes showed that electrode material did not affect the Fe(III)-EDTA removal. In the present underwater electrical discharge process, the removal of Fe(III)-EDTA was completed within 30 min at molar ratios of hydrogen peroxide to the initial Fe(III)-EDTA higher than 24.7.