• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.590-596
• /
• 2021

The widespread use of TiC-based cermets as cutting tools, thin-film, ultracapacitors, nozzles, and bearings is primarily due to exhibit combination of excellent mechanical properties such as low density, high hardness, and stiffness. The TiC cermets were synthesized by high energy ball milling, which includes binder metal (Ni), carbides (WC and Mo2C), wherein the present study focus on the relationship between the core-rim structure, phase constitution, and mechanical properties. Here, using in situ TEM, we clearly observed the behavior of adjacent core-rim formation from the solid-phase reaction with grain refinement of the TiC phase control of both the milling time and lattice formation. Also, we proposed that mechanically alloyed core-rim structure can affect oxidation resistance of TiC-Mo2C-WC-Ni cermets strongly related to activation energy attributed to TiC particle size. The mechanical properties of TiC-Mo2C-WC-Ni cermets suggest the hardening effect is not considered only grain refinement, but rather is solid solution strengthening and particle-dispersion hardening. The present study paves the relation to the formation behavior of both TiC hard phase and core-rim structure due to the mechanical powder synthesis of novel TiC-based cermets.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.29 no.10
• /
• pp.943-949
• /
• 2020

In this work, we prepared a heterojunction anode with a surface layer of SnO₂-Sb-Ni (SSN) on a Ti/IrO₂ electrode by thermal decomposition to improve the electrochemical activity of the Ti/IrO₂ electrode. The Ti/IrO₂-SSN electrode showed significantly improved electrochemical activity compared with Ti/IrO₂. For the 0.1 M NaCl and 0.1 M Na₂SO₄ electrolytes, the onset potential of the Ti/IrO₂-SSN electrode shifted in the positive direction by 0.1 V_SCE and 0.4 V_SCE, respectively. In 2.0-2.5 V voltages, the concentration in Ti/IrO₂-SSN was 2.59-214.6 mg/L Cl₂, and Ti/IrO₂ was 0.55-49.21 mg/L Cl₂. Moreover, the generation of the reactive chlorine species and degradation of Eosin-Y increased by 3.79-7.60 times and 1.06-2.15 times compared with that of Ti/IrO₂. Among these voltages, the generation of the reactive chlorine species and degradation of Eosin-Y were the most improved at 2.25 V. Accordingly, in the Ti/IrO₂-SSN electrode, it can be assumed that the competitive reaction between chlorine ion oxidation and water oxidation is minimized at an applied voltage of 2.25V.

• Journal of Korean Vacuum Science & Technology
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.63-77
• /
• 1998

The oxidation of NiAl(110) was investigated in the temperature regime between 300K and 1300 K using LEED (low energy electron diffraction), TPD (temperature programmed desorption) and HREELS (high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy). The adsorption of N2O and O2 up to reconstructions. Stepwise annealing of the oxygen-saturated sample from 600 K to 1300K in UHV (ultra-high vacuum,) results in firstly the onset of randomly oriented then finally fairly well-ordered. 5 ${\AA}$ Al2O3 film with quasi-hexagonal periodicity. Ordered thicker oxide films of 18-30 ${\AA}$ seem to be grown on this interfacial oxide layer by direct oxidation of sample at elevated temperature between 1150 and 1300 K because of the LEED pattern consisting of new broad hexagonal spots and the previous 5 ${\AA}$ spots. Although the periodicity of surface oxygen arrays shows no significant change from an hexagonal close-packing, the O-O distance changes from ∼3.0 ${\AA}$ film to ∼2.9 ${\AA}$ for thicker oxides. with the appearance of Auger parameter, for the 5${\AA}$ film can be described better as an interfacial oxide layer. The observation of three symmetric phonon peaks can be also a supporting evidence for this phase assignment since thicker oxide films on the Same Ni2Al3(110) show somewhat different phonon structure much closer to that of the ${\gamma}$-Al2O3. The adsorption/desorption of methanol further proves the preparation of less-defective and/or oxygen-terminated Al2O3 films showing ordered phase transitions with the change of oxide thickness between 5 ${\AA}$ to 30 ${\AA}$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2013.08a
• /
• pp.77.2-77.2
• /
• 2013

In this talk, I will briefly review recent results of my group related to application of atomic layer deposition (ALD) for fabricating environmental catalysts and organic solar cells. ALD was used for preparing thin films of TiO2 and NiO on mesporous silica with a mean pore size of 15 nm. Upon depositing TiO2 thin films of TiO2 using ALD, the mesoporous structure of the silica substrate was preserved to some extent. We show that efficiency for removing toluene by adsorption and catalytic oxidation is dependent of mean thickness of TiO2 deposited on silica, i.e., fine tuning of the thickness of thin film using ALD can be beneficial for preparing high-performing adsorbents and oxidation catalysts of volatile organic compound. NiO/silica system prepared by ALD was used for catalysts of chemical conversion of CO2. Here, NiO nanoparticles are well dispersed on silica and confiend in the pore, showing high catalytic activity and stability at 800oC for CO2 reforming of methane reaction. We also used ALD for surface modulation of buffer layers of organic solar cell. TiO2 and ZnO thin films were deposited on wet-chemically prepared ZnO ripple structures, and thin films with mean thickness of ~2 nm showed highest power conversion efficiency of organic solar cell. Moreover, performance of ALD-prepared organic solar cells were shown to be more stable than those without ALD. Thin films of oxides deposited on ZnO ripple buffer layer could heal defect sites of ZnO, which can act as recombination center of electrons and holes.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.28 no.8
• /
• pp.466-473
• /
• 2018

Nickel oxide(NiO) thin films, nanorods, and carbon nanotube(CNT)/NiO core-shell nanorod structures are fabricated by sputtering Nickel at different deposition time on alumina substrates or single wall carbon nanotube templates followed by oxidation treatments at different temperatures, 400 and $700^{\circ}C$. Structural analyses are carried out by scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. NiO thinfilm, nanorod and CNT/NiO core-shell nanorod structurals of the gas sensor structures are tested for detection of $H_2S$ gas. The NiO structures exhibit the highest response at $200^{\circ}C$ and high selectivity to $H_2S$ among other gases of NO, $NH_3$, $H_2$, CO, etc. The nanorod structures have a higher sensing performance than the thin films and carbon nanotube/NiO core-shell structures. The gold catalyst deposited on NiO nanorods further improve the sensing performance, particularly the recovery kinetics.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.82-89
• /
• 2006

The redox behaviors of anode-supported flat tube for solid oxide fuel cell has been studied. The mass change of the extruded NiO/YSZ anode flat tube during redox cycling was examined by thermogravimetric analysis(TGA). The result of TGA was shown a rapidly mass change in the range of $455\;-\;670^{\circ}C$ and the reoxidation of the NiO/YSZ anode was almost completed at $750^{\circ}C$. The starting temperature of reoxidation and the maximum temperature of oxidation rate decreased with increasing the reoxidation cycle, which is attributed to the increased porosity caused by volume change. Bending strengths of the NiO/YSZ anode after redox cycling were 96 - 80 MPa and the bending strength decreased slightly with increasing the redox cycle. On the other hand, the bending strength of the NiO/YSZ anode with electrolyte showed 130 MPa after first redox cycling but decreased rapidly with increasing the redox cycle. From the results of the bending test and the microstructure observation, we conclude that the crack initiation of the electrolyte-coated NiO/YSZ anode was induced easily at interface of electrolyte/anode tube and propagated cross the electrolyte.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.62-68
• /
• 2006

High temperature electrolysis is a promising technology to produce massively hydrogen using renewable and nuclear energy. Solid oxide fuel cell materials are candidates as the components of steam electrolysers. However, the polarization characteristics of the typical electrode materials during the electrolysis have not been intensively investigated. In this study, NiO electrode was deposited on YSZ electrolyte by spin coat process and firing at $1300^{\circ}C$. Pt electrode was applied on the other side of the electrolyte to compare the polarization characteristics with those by NiO during electrolysis. The $H_2$ evolution rate was also monitored by measuring the electromotive force of Lambda probe and calculated by thermodynamic consideration. At low current density, Pt showed lower cathodic polarization and thus higher current efficiency than Ni, but the oxidation of Ni into NiO caused the increase of anodic resistance with increasing current density. High overpotential induced high power consumption to produce hydrogen by electrolysis.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.24-34
• /
• 2003

For gaseous fuel combustion with inherent $CO_2$ capture and low NOx emission, chemical-looping combustion may yield great advantages for the savings of energy to $CO_2$ separation and suppressing the effect on environment, In chemical-looping combustor, fuel is oxidized by metal oxide medium in a reduction reactor. Reduced particles are transported to oxidation reactor and oxidized by air and recycled to reduction reactor. The fuel and the air are never mixed, and the gases from reduction reactor, $CO_2$ and $H_2O$, leave the system as separate stream. The $H_2O$ can be easily separated by condensation and pure $CO_2$ is obtained without any loss of energy for separation. In this study, five oxygen carrier particles such as NiO/bentonite, NiO/YSZ, $(NiO+Fe_2O_3)VYSZ$, $NiO/NiAl_2O_4$, and $Co_{\chi}O_y/CoAl_2O_4$ were examined &om the viewpoints of reaction kinetics, oxygen transfer capacity, and carbon deposition characteristics. Among five oxygen particles, NiO/YSZ particle is superior in reaction rate, oxygen carrier capacity, and carbon deposition to other particles. However, at high temperature ($>900^{\circ}C$), NiO/bentonite particle also shows enough reactivity and oxygen carrier capacity to be applied in a practical system.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.394-402
• /
• 2008

The Effects of Cu or Ni additives co-added with Ce/Zr mixed oxides to Fe-based oxide mediums were investigated for the purpose of the replacement of Rh, a precious metal additive, in terms of hydrogen storage(reduction by hydrogen) and release(water splitting). From the results of temperature programmed reduction(TPR), initial reduction rate of iron oxide in the mediums was greatly increased with the addition of Cu, similar to that of Rh. For isothermal redox reaction of 10 cycles, the total amounts of hydrogen evolved in water splitting steps for the mediums added with Cu or Ni were highly maintained at ca. 7 mmol/g-material, even though the oxidation rates were slightly lower than that for the medium added with Rh. This result suggests that the replacement of Rh to Cu or Ni is possible as a co-additive for Fe-based oxide mediums.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
• /
• v.50 no.5
• /
• pp.322-331
• /
• 2017

Hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) was studied over $Ni_4Cr$ nanofibers(NFs) prepared by electrospinning method and oxidation/reduction heat treatment for alkaline water electrolysis. The physicochemical and electrochemical properties such as average diameter, lattice parameter, HER activity of synthesized $Ni_4Cr$ NFs could be modified by proper electrospinning process condition and reduction temperature. It was shown that $Ni_4Cr$ NFs had average diameter from 151 to 273 nm. Also, it exhibited the overpotential between 0.419 V and 0.526 V at $1mA/cm^2$ and Tafel slope of -334.75 mV to -444.55 mV per decade in 1 M KOH solution. These results indicate that $Ni_4Cr$ NFs with reduction heat treatment at $600^{\circ}C$ show thinnest diameter and highest HER activity among the other catalysts.