• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2011

We demonstrate a new surface modification of high-voltage lithium cobalt oxide ($LiCoO_2$) cathode active materials for lithium-ion batteries. This approach is based on exploitation of a polarity-tuned gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) coating. Herein, two contrast polymers having different polarity are chosen: polyimide (PI) synthesized from thermally curing 4-component (pyromellitic dianhydride/biphenyl dianhydride/phenylenediamine/oxydianiline) polyamic acid (as a polar GPE) and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) containing 12 wt% vinyl acetate repeating unit (as a less polar GPE). The strong affinity of polyamic acid for $LiCoO_2$ allows the resulting PI coating layer to present a highly-continuous surface film of nanometer thickness. On the other hand, the less polar EVA coating layer is poorly deposited onto the $LiCoO_2$, resulting in a locally agglomerated morphology with relatively high thickness. Based on the characterization of GPE coating layers, their structural difference on the electrochemical performance and thermal stability of high-voltage (herein, 4.4 V) $LiCoO_2$ is thoroughly investigated. In comparison to the EVA coating layer, the PI coating layer is effective in preventing the direct exposure of $LiCoO_2$ to liquid electrolyte, which thus plays a viable role in improving the high-voltage cell performance and mitigating the interfacial exothermic reaction between the charged $LiCoO_2$ and liquid electrolytes.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.605-608
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• 2011

Hybrid composite membranes were prepared by coating poly(ethylene oxide) and $SiO_2$ particles onto the porous polypropylene nonwoven matrix. Gel polymer electrolytes prepared by soaking the hybrid composite membranes in an organic electrolyte solution exhibited ionic conductivities higher than $1.1{\times}10^{-3}Scm^{-1}$ at room temperature. Dyesensitized solar cell (DSSC) employing the hybrid composite membrane with PEO and 10 wt % $SiO_2$ exhibited an open circuit voltage of 0.77 V and a short circuit current of 10.78 $mAcm^{-2}$ at an incident light intensity of 100 $mWcm^{-2}$, yielding a conversion efficiency of 5.2%. DSSC employing the hybrid composite membrane showed more stable photovoltaic performance than that of the DSSC assembled with liquid electrolyte.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.405-409
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• 2010

New sol-gel precursors having the ability to protect iron against corrosion were synthesized and used to prepare organic-inorganic hybrid coatings based on epoxy. Bisphenol A epoxy was modified with 3-isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane to improve the compatibility, and water and HCl were used as catalysts for sol-gel process. Various coating formulations were prepared depending on the type of sol-gel precursors and the amount of each ingredient, and cast on iron substrates by dip-coating and thermally cured. Corrosion protection properties of coated iron were studied by a salt spray test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy under 0.1 M NaCl electrolyte. Hybrid coatings containing anticorrosive functional group exhibited excellent corrosion protection on iron, compared to that of typical hybrid coatings. From electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, the hybrid coatings containing anticorrosive functional group could maintaine the initial impedance after 500 h, while the impedance of hybrid coatings without them started to decrease after 24 h.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.585-592
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• 2011

The enhancement of the cold-start capability of polymer electrolyte fuel cells is of great importance in terms of the durability and reliability of fuel-cell vehicles. In this study, vanadium oxide films deposited onto the flat surface of metallic bipolar plates were synthesized to investigate the feasibility of their use as an efficient self-heating source to expedite the temperature rise during startup at subzero temperatures. Samples were prepared through the dip-coating technique using the hydrolytic sol-gel route, and the chemical compositions and microstructures of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy. In addition, the electrical resistance hysteresis loop of the films was measured over a temperature range from -20 to $80^{\circ}C$ using a four-terminal technique. Experimentally, it was found that the thermal energy (Joule heating) resulting from self-heating of the films was sufficient to provide the substantial amount of energy required for thawing at subzero temperatures.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.403-408
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• 2021

In this study, a thin and flexible planar supercapacitor (PSC) was fabricated by coating polyaniline (PANI) on a screen-printed carbon electrode. Carbon ink was coated onto the flexible polyethylene terephthalate using a screen-printing method; subsequently, a thin film of PANI was coated onto the carbon surface using a dilute polymerization method. A thin flexible PANI electrode in an interdigitated structure was assembled with a polymer gel electrolyte that resulted in planar-shaped supercapacitor (PSC) devices. The as-obtained PANI/PSC was very thin and flexible, exhibiting a high areal capacitance of 409 µF/cm was obtained at a rate of 10 mV/s. This capacitance retains 46% of its original value at 500 mV/s. The flexible PANI/PSC exhibited an excellent capacitance retention of 82% even under bent states of 180° and 100 repetitive bent cycles.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.193-200
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• 2011

An amphiphilic graft copolymer comprising a poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) backbone and poly (styrene sulfonic acid) (PSSA) side chains (PVC-g-PSSA) was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Mesoporous titanium dioxide $(TiO_2)$ films with crystalline anatase phase were synthesized via a sol-gel process by templating PVC-g-PSSA graft copolymer. Titanium isopropoxide (TTIP), a $TiO_2$ precursor was selectively incorporated into the hydrophilic PSSA domains of the graft copolymer and grew to form mesoporous $TiO_2$ films, as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The performances of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) were systematically investigated by varying spin coating times and the amounts of P25 nanoparticies. The energy conversion efficiency reached up to 2.7% at 100 mW/$cm^2$ upon using quasi-solid-state polymer electrolyte.