• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.664-670
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• 2021

Stainless steel was applied as bipolar plate (BP) of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) due to high mechanical strength, electrical conductivity, and good machinability. However, stainless steel was corroded and increased contact resistance resulting PEMFC performance decrease. Although the corrosion resistance could be improved by surface treatment such as noble metal coating, there is a disadvantage of cost increase. The stainless steel corrosion behavior and passive layer influence on PEMFC performance should be studied to improve durability and economics of metal bipolar plate. In this study, SUS316L bipolar plate of 25 cm² active area was manufactured, and experiments were conducted for corrosion behavior at an anode and cathode. The influence of SUS316L BP corrosion on fuel cell performance was measured using the polarization curve, impedance, and contact resistance. The metal ion concentration in drained water was analyzed during fuel cell operation with SUS316L BP. It was confirmed that the corrosion occurs more severely at the anode than at the cathode for SUS316L BP. The contact resistance was increased due to the passivation of SUS316L during fuel cell operation, and metal ions continuously dissolved even after the passive layer formation.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.87-103
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• 2019

Nonaqueous organic electrolyte solution in commercially available lithium-ion batteries, due to its flammability, corrosiveness, high volatility, and thermal instability, is demanding to be substituted by safer solid electrolyte with higher cycle stability, which will be utilized effectively in large-scale power sources such as electric vehicles and energy storage system. Of various types of solid electrolytes, composite solid electrolytes with polymer matrix and active inorganic fillers are now most promising in achieving higher ionic conductivity and excellent interface contact. In this review, some kinds and brief history of solid electrolyte are at first introduced and consequent explanations of polymer solid electrolytes and inorganic solid electrolytes (including active and inactive fillers) are comprehensively carried out. Composite solid electrolytes including these polymer and inorganic materials are also described with their electrochemical properties in terms of filler shapes, such as particle (0D), fiber (1D), plane (2D), and solid body (3D). In particular, in all-solid-state lithium batteries using lithium metal anode, the interface characteristics are discussed in terms of cathode-electrolyte interface, anode-electrolyte interface, and interparticle interface. Finally, current requisites and future perspectives for the composite solid electrolytes are suggested by help of some decent reviews recently reported.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.395-408
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• 2020

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have gained much attention as eco-friendly energy conversion devices without emission of environmental pollutant. Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) that can transfer proton from anode to cathode and also prevent fuel cross-over has been regarded as a key component of PEMFCs. Although perfluorinated polymer membranes such as Nafion® were already commercialized in PEMFCs, their high cost and toxic byproduct generated by degradation have still limited the wide spread of PEMFCs. To overcome these issues, development of hydrocarbon based PEMs have been studied. Incorporation of cross-linked structure into the hydrocarbon based PEM system has been reported to fabricate the PEMs showing both high proton conductivity and outstanding physicochemical stability. This study focused on the various cross-linking strategies to the preparation of cross-linked PEMs based on hydrocarbon polymers with ion conducting groups for application in PEMFCs.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.903-913
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• 2021

Three-type PVC membranes denoted by AEM-1, AEM-2, and AEM-3 with a cross-linked anion-exchange group were prepared by substitution reaction of PVC with triethyldiamine (TEDA), 1,4-dimethylpiperazine (DMP), and 1,4-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene (BIB) in cyclohexanone, respectively. We confirmed the successful preparation of the AEM-1, AEM-2, and AEM-3 via ionic conductivity (S/cm), water uptake (%), contact angle, ion-exchange capacity (m_eq/g), thermal properties, SEM and XPS analysis, respectively. The electrochemical capacitor experiments using PVC membrane with cross-linked anion-exchange group in organic electrolytes were performed. The prepared AEM-1, AEM-2 AEM-3 have a good stability by charge and discharge performance in organic electrolyte. As a result, the AEM-2 and AEM-3 membrane based on PVC prepared by the solvent casting method after substituent reaction is suitable for the use as a separator in organic electrochemical capacitor (supercapacitor).

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2021

BACKGROUND: Soil salinity causes reduction of crop productivity. Rhizosphere microbes have metabolic capabilities and ability to adaptation of plants to biotic and abiotic stresses. Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) could play a role as elicitors for inducing tolerance to stresses in plants by affecting resident microorganism in soil. This study was conducted to demonstrate the effect of selected strains on rhizosphere microbial community under salinity stress. METHODS AND RESULTS: The experiments were conducted in tomato plants in pots containing field soil. Bacterial suspension was inoculated into three-week-old tomato plants, one week after inoculation, and -1,000 kPa-balanced salinity stress was imposed. The physiological and biochemical attributes of plant under salt stress were monitored by evaluating pigment, malondialdehyde (MDA), proline, soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and ion concentrations. To demonstrate the effect of selected Bacillus strains on rhizosphere microbial community, soil microbial diversity and abundance were evaluated with Illumina MiSeq sequencing, and primer sets of 341F/805R and ITS3/ITS4 were used for bacterial and fungal communities, respectively. As a result, when the bacterial strains were inoculated and then salinity stress was imposed, the inoculation decreases the stress susceptibility including reduction in lipid peroxidation, enhanced pigmentation and proline accumulation which subsequently resulted in better plant growth. However, bacterial inoculations did not affect diversity (observed OTUs, ACE, Chao1 and Shannon) and structure (principle coordinate analysis) of microbial communities under salinity stress. Furthermore, relative abundance in microbial communities had no significant difference between bacterial treated- and untreated-soils under salinity stress. CONCLUSION: Inoculation of Bacillus strains could affect plant responses and soil pH of tomato plants under salinity stress, whereas microbial diversity and abundance had no significant difference by the bacterial treatments. These findings demonstrated that Bacillus strains could alleviate plant's salinity damages by regulating pigments, proline, and MDA contents without significant changes of microbial community in tomato plants, and can be used as effective biostimulators against salinity stress for sustainable agriculture.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.85-89
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• 2021

AlGaN-based UV-C light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were applied for p-type activation by electrochemical potentiostatic activation (EPA). The p-type activation efficiency was increased by removing hydrogen atoms through EPA treatment using a neutral Mg-H complex that causes high resistance and low conductivity. A neutral Mg-H complex is decomposed into Mg^- and H⁺ depending on the key parameters of solution, voltage, and time. The improved hole carrier concentration was confirmed by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) analysis. This mechanism eventually improved the internal quantum efficiency (IQE), the light extraction efficiency, the leakage current value in the reverse current region, and junction temperature, resulting in better UV-C LED lifetime. For systematic analysis, SIMS, Etamax IQE system, integrating sphere, and current-voltage measurement system were used, and the results were compared with the existing N₂-annealing method.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.309-315
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• 2024

Silicon and carbon composite (SiC) is considered one of the most promising anode materials for the commercialization of Si-based anodes, as it could simultaneously satisfy the high theoretical capacity of Si and the high electronic conductivity of carbon. However, SiC active material undergoes repeated volumetric changes during charge/discharge processes, leading to continuous electrolyte decomposition and capacity fading, which is still considered an issue that needs to be addressed. To solve this issue, we suggest a 4,4'-Methylenebis(cyclohexyl isocyanate) (H₁₂MDI)-based waterborne polyurethane binder (HPUD), which forms a 3D network structure through thermal cross-linking reaction. The cross-linked HPUD (denoted as CHPU) was prepared using an epoxy ring-opening reaction of the cross-linker, triglycidyl isocyanurate (TGIC), via simple thermal treatment during the SiC anode drying process. The SiC anode with the CHPU binder, which exhibited superior mechanical and adhesion properties, not only demonstrated excellent rate and cycling performance but also alleviated the volume expansion of the SiC anode. This work implies that eco-friendly binders with cross-linked structures could be utilized for various Si-based anodes.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.97-104
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• 2024

The electrodes of commercialized lithium secondary batteries are manufactured through a wet coating process, and the drying process (DC) is a very important factor as to electrode production speed and process cost. In this study, silicon anodes were manufactured under high-temperature (180 ℃) and low-temperature (50 ℃) DC to investigate the quality and the electrochemical performance of Si-electrodes according to DC. High-temperature DC can quickly evaporate the solvent in the Si-electrode slurry, improving the electrode production rate. However, this also causes the electrode composite to peel off from the current collector. As a result, the Si-electrode's adhesion weakened, and the electrode coating's quality deteriorated. In addition, the Si-electrode manufactured under high-temperature was found to have a thicker composite material than the Si-electrode manufactured under low-temperature. Si-electrodes manufactured under high-temperature had higher sheet resistance and lower electrical conductivity than those manufactured under low-temperature. Consequently, the Si-electrode manufactured under low-temperature showed 152.5% superior cycle performance compared to the Si-electrode manufactured under high-temperature. (Discharge capacities of Si-electrodes manufactured under high-temperature and low-temperature DC were 844 and 1287 mAh g^-1, respectively, after 300 cycles). Establishing the DC of Si-electrodes can easily provide new perspectives to improve the quality and stability of Si-electrodes.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2016

The objective of this study was to determine the acidification of precipitation in the Jeju area. Precipitation samples were collected from the Jeju area from 2009-2014, and the major ionic species were analyzed. In the regression analysis, through a comparison of ion balance, electric conductivity, and acid fraction, the correlation coefficients showed a good linear relationship within the range of 0.927~0.983. The volume-weighted means of the pH and electric conductivity were 4.9 and 22.7 µS/cm, respectively. The ionic strength of precipitation was 0.27±0.38 mM, indicating about 35.9 % of total precipitation within the pure precipitation criteria. The volume-weighted mean concentrations (ìeq/L) of the ionic species in the precipitation were in the order of Na⁺ > Cl⁻ > nss-SO₄²⁻ > NO₃⁻ > NH₄⁺ > Mg²⁺ > H⁺ > nss-Ca²⁺ > PO₄³⁻ > K⁺ > HCOO⁻ > CH₃COO⁻ > NO₂⁻ > F⁻ > HCO₃⁻ > CH₃SO₃⁻ . The acidification contributions by sulfuric and nitric acids were 54.5 % and 36.5 %, respectively. Meanwhile the acidification contributions by formic and acetic acids were 4.8 % and 4.2 %, respectively. Thus, it was found that the acidification of the precipitation in the Jeju area was mainly due to the inorganic acids. The neutralization factors by NH₃ and CaCO₃ were also 33 % and 20 %, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.227-234
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• 1974

A survey on the vinyl house soils was conducted to investigate the salt accumulation status and it's effects on the deterioration of soil aggregates. The survey was made for the vinyl house soils in Suwon, Yesan, and Kimhae areas where vegetables are extensively grown under a vinyl house. Physical and chemical properties of the soils at the inside and outside of the vinyl house were compared to continuous vegetable cropping. Electrical conductivity of the soil solution (Y) in vinyl house was closely related to the number of cropping years (X), and the relations are given by the following regression equations: $Y=0.54X{\times}1.44$ ($r=0.580^*$) for loamy textured soils and $Y=0.58X{\times}2.61$ ($r=0.524^*$) for clayey textured soils. Electrical conductivity of the soils, where vegetable cropping in winter and rice in summer were rotated, was lower than that given by the regression equations. Analyses for extractable cations, the concentration of calcium, sodium and potassium was high in the inside vinyl house soils compared to the outside. Soil aggregates larger than 1mm in diameter were greatly deteriorated, while the content of the soil aggregates smaller than 0.5mm in diameter remained unchanged. Aggregate stability of the soil was negatively correlated to the accumulation rate of extractable sodium ($r=-0.681^{**}$), potassium ($r=-0.528^*$) and the amount of daily irrigated water (r=-0.477), while positively correlated to the content of organic matter ($r=-0.692^{**}$) and calcium (r=0.391).