• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.7
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• pp.454-459
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• 2009

In order to commercialize Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell (PEFC), the cathode catalyst such as Platinum supported Carbon (Pt/C) need to have a high activity of Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR). In this study, the 20% Pt/C was synthesized using the chemical reduction method while the crystallinity of Platinum (Pt) particles were controlled under heat treatment conditions. The activity of synthesized Pt catalysts was evaluated using electrochemical measurement. Compared with the $i_{ORR}$ at 0.8 V of 20% Pt/C heat-treated at $500^{\circ}C$ and the 20% Pt/C that were not heated and commercial 20% Pt/C, the $i_{ORR}$ at 0.8 V of 20% Pt/C heattreated at $500^{\circ}C$ was 9.5 and 1.7 times higher than those of the 20% Pt/C and commercial 20% Pt/C that were not heated. It was considered that the crystallinity and particle size affect the ORR activity of the Pt/C catalysts.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.45-49
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• 2008

For the commercialization of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), some serious problems such as the decrease of platinum use as catalysts and a larger overpotential of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at cathode must be solved. In this study, 20%Pt/C and 20%PtCo/C catalysts for the cathode of PEMFC were synthesized from the chemical reduction method and evaluated using an electrochemical measurement. The ORR activity of synthesized 20%Pt/C and 20%PtCo/C had higher than that of the 20%Pt/C on the market. The synthesized 20%PtCo/C with the cobalt concentration (Pt:Co atomic ratio) from 5 to 20% showed the highest ORR activity.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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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.

• 한국태양에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2012.03a
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• pp.406-409
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• 2012

Recently, enormous research efforts have been focused on the development of non-precious catalysts to replace Pt for electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and to reduce the cost of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In recent years, heteroatom (N, B, and P) doped carbon nanostructures have been received enormous importance as a non-precious electrode materials for oxygen reduction. Doping of foreign atom into carbon is able to modify electronic properties of carbon materials. In this study, nitrogen and boron doped carbon nanostructures were synthesized by using a facile and cost-effective thermal annealing route and prepared nanostructures were used as a non-precious electrocatalysts for the ORR in alkaline electrolyte. The nitrogen doped carbon nanocapsules (NCNCs) exhibited higher activity than that of a commercial Pt/C catalyst, excellent stability and resistance to methanol oxidation. The boron-doped carbon nanostructure (BC) prepared at $900^{\circ}C$ showed higher ORR activity than BCs prepared lower temperature (800, $700^{\circ}C$). The heteroatom doped carbon nanomaterials could be promising candidates as a metal-free catalysts for ORR in the PEMFCs.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.412-417
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• 2022

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) provide zero emission power sources for electric vehicles and portable electronic devices. Although significant progresses for the widespread application of electrochemical energy technology have been achieved, some drawbacks such as catalytic activity, durability, and high cost of catalysts still remain. Pt-based catalysts are regarded as the most efficient catalysts for sluggish kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, their prohibitive cost limits the commercialization of PEMFCs. Therefore, we proposed a NiCo@Au core shell structure as Pt-free ORR electrocatalyst in PEMFCs. NiCo alloy was synthesized as core to introduce ionization tendency and autoxidation reaction. Au as a shell was synthesized to prevent oxidation of core NiCo and increase catalytic activity for ORR. Herein, we report the synthesis, characterization, electrochemical properties, and PEMFCs performance of the novel NiCo@Au core-shell as a catalyst for ORR in PEMFCs application. Based on results of this study, possible mechanism for catalytic of autoxidation core@anti-oxidation shell in PEMFCs is suggested.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.207-219
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• 2024

Metal-N-C (MNC) catalysts have been anticipated as promising candidates for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) to achieve low-cost polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. The structure of the M-N_x moiety enabled a high catalytic activity that was not observed in previously reported transition metal nanoparticle-based catalysts. Despite progress in non-precious metal catalysts, the low density of active sites of MNCs, which resulted in lower single-cell performance than Pt/C, needs to be resolved for practical application. This review focused on the recent studies and methodologies aimed to overcome these limitations and develop an inexpensive catalyst with excellent activity and durability in an alkaline environment. It included the possibility of non-precious metals as active materials for ORR catalysts, starting from Co phthalocyanine as ORR catalyst and the development of methodologies (e.g., metal-coordinated N-containing polymers, metal-organic frameworks) to form active sites, M-N_x moieties. Thereafter, the motivation, procedures, and progress of the latest research on the design of catalyst morphology for improved mass transport ability and active site engineering that allowed the promoted ORR kinetics were discussed.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.49-52
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• 2014

Graphene nanosheets (GNS), nitrogen-doped graphene nanosheets (N-GNS), and sulfur-doped graphene nanosheets (S-GNS) were successfully synthesized, and their catalytic effects on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in $Li-O_2$ batteries were compared. The S-GNS electrode exhibited the highest ORR catalytic activity, resulting in enhanced discharge capacity and power capability. We attributed the enhanced ORR catalytic activity to the increased defect sites on graphene.

• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.499-503
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• 2018

In this paper, cobalt embedded in nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon nanotubes (CoNSTs) were synthesized for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts. The CoNSTs were prepared through a facile heat treatment method without any templates. Different amounts of the metal salt were employed to examine the physicochemical and electrochemical properties of the CoNSTs. The CoNSTs showed the bamboo-like tube morphology with the encased Co nanoparticles in the tubes. Through the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis, the catalysts exhibited different chemical states of the nitrogen and sulfur species. As a result, the CoNST performed high activity toward the ORR in an acidic condition with the onset potential of 0.863 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode). It was clearly demonstrated from the electrochemical characterizations that the quality of the nitrogen and sulfur species significantly influences the ORR activity rather than the total amount of the dopants.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2018.06a
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• pp.62-62
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• 2018

Pt is still considered as one of the most active electrocatalysts for ORR in alkaline fuel cells. However, the high cost and scarcity of Pt hamper the widespread commercialization of fuel cells. As a strong candidate for the replacement of Pt catalyst, silver (Ag) has been extensively studied due to its high activity, abundance, and low cost. Ag is more stable than Pt in the pH range of 8~14 as the equilibrium potential of Ag/Ag+ being ${\approx}200mV$ higher than that of Pt/PtO. However, Ag is the overall catalytic activity of Ag for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) is still not comparable to Pt catalyst since the surface Ag atoms are approximately 10 times less active than Pt atoms. Therefore, further enhancement in the ORR activity of Ag catalysts is necessary to be competitive with current cutting-edge Pt-based catalysts. We demonstrate the architectural design of Ag catalysts, synthesized using plasma discharge in liquid phase, for enhanced ORR kinetics in alkaline media. An attractive feature of this work is that the plasma status controlled via electric-field could form the Ag nanowires or dendrites without any chemical agents. The plasma reactor was made of a Teflon vessel with an inner diameter of 80 mm and a height of 80 mm, where a pair of tungsten(W) electrodes with a diameter of 2 mm was placed horizontally. The stock solutions were made by dissolving the 5-mM AgNO3 in DI water. For the synthesis of Agnanowires, the electricfield of 3.6kVcm-1 in a 200-ml AgNO3 aqueous solution was applied across the electrodes using a bipolar pulsed power supply(Kurita, Seisakusyo Co. Ltd). The repetition rate and pulse width were fixed at 30kHz and 2.0 us, respectively. The plasma discharge was carried out for a fixed reaction time of 60 min. In case of Ag nanodendrites, the electric field of 32kVcm-1 in a 200-ml AgNO3 aqueous solution was applied and other conditions were identical to the plasma discharge in water in terms of electrode configuration, repetition rate and discharge time. Using SEM and STEM, morphology of Ag nanowires and dendrites were investigated. With 3.6 kV/cm, Ag nanowire was obtained, while Ag dendrite was constructed with 32 kV/cm. The average diameter and legth of Ag nanowireses were 50 nm and 3.5 um, and thoes values of Ag dendrites were 40 nm and 3.0 um. As a results of XPS analysis, the surface defects in the Ag nanowires facilitated O2 incorporation into the surface region via the interaction between the oxygen and the electron cloud of the adjacent Ag atoms. The catalytic activity of Ag for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) showed that the catalytic ORR activity of Ag nanowires are much better than Ag nanodendrites, and electron transfer number of Ag nanowires is similar to that of Pt (${\approx}4$).

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.12-18
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• 2012

The prohibitively high cost of Pt catalyst might be the biggest barrier for the commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) of which wide application is expected. Worldwide research efforts for the development of alternative to Pt oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst are made recently. One of the important considerations in the catalyst development is durability issue as well as economic aspect. From this point of view, platinum group metals (PGM) except Pt can be a candidate for replacing Pt catalyst because the material properties and the catalytic activity of PGM are expected to be similar to Pt. In contrast to Ir, Rh and Os to which not so much attention has been paid as an ORR catalyst, Pd that is most similar to Pt in terms of material properties and catalytic activity and Ru that is in the form of chalcogenide have been studied intensively. Activity comparison between non-Pt and Pt oxygen reduction catalysts by half cell test using RDE (rotating disk electrode) or PEMFC MEA (membrane electrode assembly) operation indicates that Pd-based catalysts show the most similar activity to Pt. In this paper we analyze the composition of PGM ORR catalyst in literature to promote the development of non-Pt ORR catalyst.