• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
• /
• v.51 no.6
• /
• pp.421-429
• /
• 2018

In this study, various electrochemical experiments were carried out to compare the corrosion characteristics of AA5052-O, AA5083-H321 and AA6061-T6 in seawater. The electrochemical impedance and potentiostatic polarization measurements showed that the corrosion resistance is decreased in the order of AA5052-O, AA5083-H321 and AA6061-T6, with AA5052-O being the highest resistant. This is closely associated with the property of passive film formed on three tested Al alloys. Based on the slope of Mott-Schottky plots of an n-type semiconductor, the density of oxygen vacancies in the passive film formed on the alloys was determined. This revealed that the defect density is increased in the order of AA5052-O, AA5083-H321 and AA6061-T6. Considering these facts, it is implied that the addition of Mg, Si, and Cu to the Al alloys can degrade the passivity, which is characterized by a passive film structure containing more defect sites, contributing to the decrease in corrosion resistance in seawater.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.11-17
• /
• 2020

Copper has been proved to be the best catalyst for electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction, however, for optimal efficiency and selectivity, its performance requires improvements. Electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (RR) using CuO nanowire electrode was performed with different concentrations of KHCO3 electrolyte (0.1 M, 0.5 M, and 1 M). Cu(OH)2 was formed on Cu foil, followed by thermal-treatment at 200℃ under the air atmosphere for 2 hrs to transform it to the crystalline phase of CuO. We evaluated the effects of different KHCO3 electrolyte concentrations on electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (RR) using the CuO nanowire electrode. At a constant current (5mA), low concentrated bicarbonate exhibited a more negative potential -0.77 V vs. Reversible Hydrogen Electrode (RHE) (briefly abbreviated as VRHE), while the negative potential reduced to -0.33 VRHE in the high concentration of bicarbonate solution. Production of H2 and CH4 increased with an increased concentration of electrolyte (KHCO3). CH4 production efficiency was high at low negative potential whereas HCOOH was not influenced by bicarbonate concentration. Our study provides insights into efficient, economically viable, and sustainable methods of mitigating the harmful environmental effects of CO2 emission.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.90-99
• /
• 2022

Owing to the rising concern of global warming, lithium-ion batteries have gained immense attention over the past few years for the development of highly efficient electrochemical energy conversion and storage systems. In this study, alpha-phase VOPO₄·2H₂O with nanosheet morphology was prepared via a facile hydrothermal method for application in high-performance lithium-ion batteries. The X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses indicated that the obtained sample had an alpha-2 (αII) phase, and the nanosheet morphology of the sample was confirmed using SEM. The lithium-ion battery with VOPO₄·2H₂O as the anode exhibited excellent long-term cycle life and a high capacity of 256.7 mAh g^-1 at room temperature. Prelithiation effectively improved the specific capacity of pristine VOPO₄·2H₂O. The underlying electrochemical mechanisms were investigated by carrying out AC impedance, rate capability, and other instrumental analyses.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.479-485
• /
• 2022

The power of energy storage devices is characterized by capacitance and the internal resistance. The capacitance is measured on an assumption that the charges are stored at the electrode interface and the electric double layer behaves like an ideal capacitor. However, in most cases, the electric double layer is not ideal so a constant phase element (CPE) is used instead of a capacitor to describe the practical observations. Nevertheless, another problem with the use of the CPE is that CPE does not give capacitance directly. Fortunately, a few methods were suggested to evaluate the effective capacitance in the literature. However, those methods may not be suitable for supercapacitors which are modeled as an equivalent circuit of a CPE and resistor connected in series because the time constant of the equivalent circuit is not clearly studied. In this report, in order to study the time constant of the CPE and find its equivalent capacitor, AC and DC methods are utilized in a complementary manner. As a result, the time constants in the AC and DC domains are compared with digital simulation and a proper equation is presented to calculate the effective capacitance of a supercapacitor, which is extended to an electrochemical system where faradaic and ohmic processes are accompanied by imperfect charge accumulation process.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.153-163
• /
• 2023

Two types of accelerated tests, Water Drop Test (WDT) and Temperature-Humidity-Bias Test (THBT), can be used to evaluate the susceptibility to electrochemical migration (ECM). In the WDT, liquid water is directly applied to a specimen, typically a patterned conductor like a printed circuit board. Time to failure in the WDT typically ranges from several seconds to several minutes. On the other hand, the THBT is conducted under elevated temperature and humidity conditions, allowing for assessment of design and life cycle factors on ECM. THBT is widely recognized as a more suitable method for reliability testing than WDT. In both test methods, localized corrosion can be observed on the anode. Composition of dendrites formed during the WDT is similar to that formed during THBT. However, there is a lack of correlation between the time to failure obtained from WDT and that obtained from THBT. In this study, we investigated the relationship between electrochemical parameters and time to failure obtained from both WDT and THBT. Differences in time to failure can be attributed to actual anode potential obtained in the two tests.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.261-268
• /
• 2022

In this study, electrochemical treatment of urban wastewater with electrical conductivity of 1000 μS cm^-1 and chemical oxygen demand of 250 mg L^-1 was investigated using the variables of initial pH value, current density and flow rate. Electrocoagulation was used, in which aluminum and stainless steel were selected, as the electrochemical treatment process. The electrocoagulation process was operated in continuous mode. The data obtained in experimental studies show that the best COD removal efficiency occurred in experiments where the initial pH value was 6. The increase in current density from 5 A to 15 A decreased the removal efficiency from 79 to 67%. The increase in flow rate under constant current density also reduced the efficiency of removal as expected. In experiments in which current density and flow rate were examined together, the increase in flow rate allowed the application of higher current densities. This situation led to considerable reductions in energy consumption values, even if the COD removal efficiency did not significantly increase. The high COD removal obtained with the use of high flow rate and high current density indicates that the electrocoagulation process can be used for high flow rate municipal wastewater treatment.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.303-310
• /
• 2023

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a bioelectrochemical system where electrochemically active bacteria convert organic waste into electricity. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and chitosan (CS) are polymers that have been studied as potential alternative ion exchange membranes to Nafion for many electrochemical systems. This study examined the optimal mixing ratio of PVA and chitosan CS in a PVA:CS composite membrane for MFC applications. PVA:CS composite membranes with 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 ratios were synthesized and tested. The water uptake and ion exchange capacity, Fourier transform infrared spectra, and scanning electron microscopy images were analyzed to determine the physicochemical properties of PVA:CS membranes. The prepared membranes were applied to the ion exchange membrane of the MFC system, and their effects on the electrochemical performance were evaluated. These results showed that the composite membrane with a 3:1 (PVA:CS) ratio showed comparable performance to the commercialized Nafion membrane and produced more electricity than the other synthesized membranes. The PVA:CS membrane implemented MFCs produced a maximum power density of 0.026 mW cm^-2 from organic waste with stable performance. Therefore, it can be applied to a cost-effective MFC system.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.242-252
• /
• 2024

To date, methods used to assess the interfacial transition zone (ITZ), which represents the boundary between the aggregate and paste inside concretes, have primarily relied on destructive tests, and non-destructive tests has received little attention until recently. This study assessed the interfaces of concretes with lightweight aggregates based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) for high-strength concretes and examined the possibility of estimating the compressive strength of concretes through non-destructive testing using EIS. The experimental results revealed that the impedance of the hardened cement increased with increasing compressive strength and aggregate density. In particular, when the results of impedance measurement were displayed as a Nyquist plot, the intercept of the x-axis depicting the effective conductivity was proportional to the compressive strength. Furthermore, an equivalent circuit was selected to interpret the correlation between cement aggregates and impedance. Consequently, the compressive strength was found to increase with the value of the resistances of the electrolyte filled in continuous pores in the cement aggregate. And, the pores formed in the ITZ affect this value. The resistance at the ITZ for different aggregates was also obtained, and it was found that the resistance was consistent with the results predicted by SEM images of the ITZ and correlated with the strength of the concretes. The proposed method can be used as a way to easily determine the strength of cement according to differences in aggregate.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.82-92
• /
• 2022

This study aims to investigate the effect of total electrochemical cell resistance (TECR) on electrochemical impedance (EI) measurements of reinforced concrete (RC) by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) using a three-electrode system. A series of experimental study is performed to measure electrochemical behavior of a steel bar embedded in a concrete cube specimen, with a side length of 200 mm, in various experimental conditions. Main variables include concrete dry conditions, coupling resistance between sensing electrodes and concrete surface, and area of the counter electrode. It is demonstrated that EI values remains stable when the compliant voltage of a measuring device is sufficiently great compared to the potential drop caused by TECR of concrete specimens. It is confirmed that the effect of the coupling resistance of TECR is far more influential than other two factors (concrete dry conditions and area of the counter electrode). The results in this study can be used as a fundamental basis for development of a surface-mount sensor for corrosion monitoring of reinforced concrete structures exposed to wet-and-dry cycles under marine environment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
• /
• 2002.10b
• /
• pp.315-316
• /
• 2002

Electrochemical discharge machining is a very recent technique for non-conducting materials such as ceramics and glasses. ECDM is conducted in the NaOH solution and the cathode electrode is separated from the solution by $H_2$ gas bubble. Then the discharge is appeared and the non-conductive material is removed by spark and some chemical reactions. In the ECDM technology, the $H_2$ bubble control is the most important factor to stabilize the discharging condition. In this paper, we proposed the discharge peak monitoring/ discharging duty feedback algorithms for the discharge stabilization and the feasibility of this algorithm is verified by various pattern machining in the constant preload conditions for the cathode electrode.