• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.378-385
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• 2014

In this research, we investigate electrical performance and electrochemical properties of graphene supported Pt (Pt/G) and PtM (M = Ni and Y) alloy catalysts (PtM/Gs) that are synthesized by modified polyol method. With the PtM/Gs that are adopted for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) as cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), their catalytic activity and ORR performance and electrical performance are estimated and compared with one another. Their particle size, particle distribution and electrochemically active surface (EAS) area are measured by TEM and cyclic voltammetry (CV), respectively. On the other hand, regarding ORR activity and electrical performance of the catalysts, (i) linear sweeping voltammetry by rotating disk electrode and rotating ring-disk electrode and (ii) PEMFC single cell tests are used. The TEM and CV measurements demonstrate particle size and EAS of PtM/Gs are compatible with those of Pt/G. In case of PtNi/G, its half-wave potential, kinetic current density, transferred electron number per oxygen molecule and $H_2O_2$ production % are excellent. Based on data obtained by half-cell test, when PEMFC singlecell tests are carried out, current density measured at 0.6V and maximum power density of the PEMFC single cell employing PtNi/G are better than those employing Pt/G. Conclusively, PtNi/Gs synthesized by modified polyol shows better ORR catalytic activity and PEMFC performance than other catalysts.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.369-378
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• 2022

The recycling of solid waste materials to fabricate carbon-based electrode materials is of great interest for low-cost green supercapacitors. In this study, porous carbon foam (PCF) was prepared from waste floral foam (WFF) as an electrode material for supercapacitors. WFF was directly carbonized at various temperatures of 600, 800, and 1,000 ℃ under an inert atmosphere. The WFF-derived PCF (C-WFF) was found to have a specific surface area of 458.99 m²/g with multi-modal pore structures. The supercapacitive behavior of the prepared C-WFF was evaluated using a three-electrode system in a 6 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. As a result, the prepared C-WFF as an active material showed a high specific capacitance of 206 F/g at 1 A/g, a rate capability of 36.4 % at 20 A/g, a specific power density of 2,500 W/kg at an energy density of 2.68 Wh/kg, and a cycle stability of 99.96 % at 20 A/g after 10,000 cycles. These results indicate that the C-WFF prepared from WFF could be a promising candidate as an electrode material for high-performance green supercapacitors.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.157-162
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• 2014

In this research, we investigate electrical performance and electrochemical properties of carbon supported Pt (Pt/C) that is synthesized by polyol method. With the Polyol_Pt/C that is adopted for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) as cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), their catalytic activity and ORR performance and electrical performance are estimated and compared with commercial Pt/C(Johnson Mattey) catalyst. Their electrochemically active surface (EAS) area are measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV), respectively. On the other hand, regarding ORR activity and electrical performance of the catalysts, (i) linear sweeping voltammetry by rotating disk electrode and (ii) PEMFC single cell tests are used. The CV measurement demonstrate EAS of Polyol_Pt/C is compared with commercial JM_Pt/C. In case of Polyol_Pt/C, its half-wave potential, kinetic current density are excellent. Based on data obtained by half-cell test, when PEMFC single cell tests are carried out, current density measured at 0.6V and maximum power density of the PEMFC single cell employing Polyol_Pt/C are better than those employing commercial Pt/C. Conclusively, Polyol_Pt/C synthesized by modified polyol process shows better ORR catalytic activity and PEMFC performance than other catalysts.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.92-96
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• 2019

Transition metal oxide is widely used as a water electrolysis catalyst to substitute for a noble metal catalyst such as $IrO_2$ and $RuO_2$. In this study, the sol-gel method is used to synthesize the $Cu_xCo_{3-x}O_4$ catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER),. The CuxCo3-xO4 is synthesized at various calcination temperatures from $250^{\circ}C$ to $400^{\circ}C$ for 4 h. The $Cu_xCo_{3-x}O_4$ synthesized at $300^{\circ}C$ has a perfect spinel structure without residues of the precursor and secondary phases, such as CuO. The particle size of $Cu_xCo_{3-x}O_4$ increases with an increase in calcination temperature. Amongst all the samples studied, $Cu_xCo_{3-x}O_4$, which is synthesized at 300?, has the highest activity for the OER. Its onset potential for the OER is 370 mV and the overpotential at $10mA/cm^2$ is 438 mV. The tafel slope of $Cu_xCo_{3-x}O_4$ synthesized at $300^{\circ}C$ has a low value of 58 mV/dec. These results are mainly explained by the increase in the available active surface area of the $Cu_xCo_{3-x}O_4$ catalyst.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.442-454
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• 2021

The porous transport layer (PTL) is essential to effectively remove oxygen and hydrogen gas from the electrode surface at high current density operation conditions. In this study, the effect of PTL with different characteristics such as pore size, pore gradient, interfacial coating was investigated by multi-layered sintered mesh. A water electrolysis single cell of active area of the 34.56 cm² was constructed, and IV performance and impedance analysis were conducted in the range of 0 to 2.0 A/cm². It was confirmed that the multi-layered sintered mesh PTL, which have an average pore size of 25 to 57 ㎛ and a larger pore gradient, removed bubbles effectively and thus seemed to improve IV performance. Also, it was confirmed that the catalytic metals such as Ni, NiMo coating on the PTL reduced activation overpotential, but increased mass transport overpotential.