• Membrane Journal
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.38-45
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• 2020

Although Lithium metal battery (LMB) has a very large theoretical capacity, it has a critical problem such as formation of dendrite which causes short circuit and short cycle life of the LMB. In this study, PDMS/GO composite with evenly dispersed graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets in poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) was synthesized and coated into a thin film, resulting in the effect that can physically suppress the formation of dendrite. However, PDMS has low ion conductivity, so that we attained improved ion conductivity of PDMS/GO thin film by etching technic using 5wt% hydrofluoric acid (HF), to facilitate the movement of lithium (Li) ions by forming the channel of Li ions. The morphology of the PDMS/GO thin film was observed to confirm using SEM. When the PDMS/GO thin film was utilized to lithium metal battery system, the columbic efficiency was maintained at 87.4% on average until the 100^th cycles. In addition, voltage profiles indicated reduced overpotential in comparison to the electrode without thin film.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• 제23권4호
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• pp.97-104
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• 2020

One of the main challenges of electrochemical water splitting technology is to develop a high performance, low cost oxygen-evolving electrode capable of substituting a noble metal catalyst, Ir or Ru based catalyst. In this work, CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles with sub-44 nmsize of a inverse spinel structure for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) were synthesized by the injection of KNO₃ and NaOH solution to a preheated CoSO₄ and Fe(NO₃)₃ solution. The synthesis time of CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles was controlled to control particle and crystallite size. When the synthesis time was 6 h, CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles had high conductivity and electrochemical surface area. The overpotential at current denstiy of 10 mA/㎠ and Tafel slope of CoFe₂O₄ (6h) were 395 mV and 52 mV/dec, respectively. In addition, the catalyst showed excellent durability for 18 hours at 10 mA/㎠.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 한국진공학회 2013년도 제45회 하계 정기학술대회 초록집
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• pp.91-91
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• 2013

Imagine a world where we could biomanufacture hybrid nanomaterials having atomic-scale resolution over functionality and architecture. Toward this vision, a fundamental challenge in materials science is how to design and synthesize protein-like material that can be fully self-assembled and exhibit information-specific process. In an ongoing effort to extend the fundamental understanding of protein structure to non-natural systems, we have designed a class of short peptides to fold like proteins and assemble into defined nanostructures. In this talk, I will talk about new strategies to drive the self-assembled structures designing sequence of peptide. I will also discuss about the specific interaction between proteins and inorganics that can be used for the development of new hybrid solar energy devices. Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen is one of the promising pathways for solar to energy convertsion and storage system. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has been regarded as a major bottleneck in the overall water splitting process due to the slow transfer rate of four electrons and the high activation energy barrier for O-O bond formation. In nature, there is a water oxidation complex (WOC) in photosystem II (PSII) comprised of the earthabundant elements Mn and Ca. The WOC in photosystem II, in the form of a cubical CaMn4O5 cluster, efficiently catalyzes water oxidation under neutral conditions with extremely low overpotential (~160 mV) and a high TOF number. The cluster is stabilized by a surrounding redox-active peptide ligand, and undergo successive changes in oxidation state by PCET (proton-coupled electron transfer) reaction with the peptide ligand. It is fundamental challenge to achieve a level of structural complexity and functionality that rivals that seen in the cubane Mn4CaO5 cluster and surrounding peptide in nature. In this presentation, I will present a new strategy to mimic the natural photosystem. The approach is based on the atomically defined assembly based on the short redox-active peptide sequences. Additionally, I will show a newly identified manganese based compound that is very close to manganese clusters in photosystem II.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.92-96
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• 2019

Transition metal oxide is widely used as a water electrolysis catalyst to substitute for a noble metal catalyst such as $IrO_2$ and $RuO_2$. In this study, the sol-gel method is used to synthesize the $Cu_xCo_{3-x}O_4$ catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER),. The CuxCo3-xO4 is synthesized at various calcination temperatures from $250^{\circ}C$ to $400^{\circ}C$ for 4 h. The $Cu_xCo_{3-x}O_4$ synthesized at $300^{\circ}C$ has a perfect spinel structure without residues of the precursor and secondary phases, such as CuO. The particle size of $Cu_xCo_{3-x}O_4$ increases with an increase in calcination temperature. Amongst all the samples studied, $Cu_xCo_{3-x}O_4$, which is synthesized at 300?, has the highest activity for the OER. Its onset potential for the OER is 370 mV and the overpotential at $10mA/cm^2$ is 438 mV. The tafel slope of $Cu_xCo_{3-x}O_4$ synthesized at $300^{\circ}C$ has a low value of 58 mV/dec. These results are mainly explained by the increase in the available active surface area of the $Cu_xCo_{3-x}O_4$ catalyst.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• 제56권12호
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• pp.885-892
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• 2018

Molybdenum disulfide ($MoS_2$) based electrocatalysts have been proposed as substitutes for platinum group metal (PGM) based electrocatalyst to hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in water electrolysis. Here, we studied $MoS_2/CNFs$ hybrid catalyst prepared by electrospinning method with heat treatment for polymer electrolyte membrane(PEM) water electrolysis to improve the HER activity. The physicochemical and electrochemical properties such as average diameter, crystalline properties, electrocatalitic activity for HER of synthesized $MoS_2/CNFs$ were investigated by the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Raman Spectroscopy (Raman) and Linear Sweep Voltammetry (LSV). The as spun ATTM/PVP nanofibers were prepared by sol-gel and electrospinning method. Subsequently, the $MoS_2/CNFs$ was dereived from reduction heat treatment of ATTM at the ATTM/PVP nanofibers and carbonization heat treatment. Synthesized $MoS_2/CNFs$ electrocatalyst had an average diameter of $179{\pm}30nm$. We confirmed that the $MoS_2$ layers in $MoS_2/CNF$ electrocatalyst consist of 3~4 layers from the Raman results. In addition, We confirmed that the $MoS_2$ layers in $MoS_2/CNF$ catalyst consist of 7.47% octahedral 1T phase $MoS_2$, 63.77% trigonal prismatic 2H phase $MoS_2$ with 28.75% $MoO_3$ through the XRD, Raman and XPS results. It was shown that $MoS_2/CNFs$ had the overpotential of 0.278 V at $10mA/cm^2$ and tafel slope of 74.8 mV/dec in 0.5 M sulfuric acid ($H_2SO_4$) electrolyte.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• 제29권5호
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• pp.411-417
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• 2022

Environmental issues such as global warming due to fossil fuel use are now major worldwide concerns, and interest in renewable and clean energy is growing. Of the various types of renewable energy, green hydrogen energy has recently attracted attention because of its eco-friendly and high-energy density. Electrochemical water splitting is considered a pollution-free means of producing clean hydrogen and oxygen and in large quantities. The development of non-noble electrocatalysts with low cost and high performance in water splitting has also attracted considerable attention. In this study, we successfully synthesized a NiCo₂O₄/NF electrode for an oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline water splitting using a hydrothermal method, which was followed by post-heat treatment. The effects of heat treatment on the electrochemical performance of the electrodes were evaluated under different heat-treatment conditions. The optimized NCO/NF-300 electrode showed an overpotential of 416 mV at a high current density of 50 mA/cm² and a low Tafel slope (49.06 mV dec^-1). It also showed excellent stability (due to the large surface area) and the lowest charge transfer resistance (12.59 Ω). The results suggested that our noble-metal free electrodes have great potential for use in developing alkaline electrolysis systems.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.79-89
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• 2023

Development of efficient and stable electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) under acidic conditions is desirable goal for commercializing proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electroyzer. Herein, we report iridium-doped hydrogenated titanate (Ir-HTO) nanobelts as a promising catalyst with a low-Ir content for the acidic OER. Addition of low-Ir (~ 3.36 at%) into the single-crystalline HTO nanobelts with large exposed {100} facets significantly boost catalytic activity and stability for OER under acidic conditions. The Ir-HTO outperforms the commenrcial benchmark IrO₂ catalyst; an overpotential for delivering 10 mA cm^-2 current density was reduced to about 25% for the Ir-HTO. Moreover, the catalytic performance of Ir-HTO is positioned as the most efficient electrocatalyst for the acidic OER. An improved intrinsic catalytic activity and stability are also confirmed for the Ir-HTO through in-depth electrochemical characterizations. Therefore, our results suggest that low-Ir doped single-crystalline HTO nanobelts can be a promising catalyst for efficient and durable OER under acidic conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.55-64
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• 1989

Reduction and equilibrium of vanadium-DTPA (DTPA = diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, $H_5A$) complexes at mercury electrodes are studied in 0.5M $NaClO_4$ aqueous solution at 3.2 < pH < 10.5 and 25$^{\circ}$C. At 3.2 < pH < 5.9, the reduction reaction is $V{\cdot}A^{2-}+H^-+e^-=V{\cdot}HA^{2-}$, while at 5.9 < pH < 10.5 it is $V{\cdot}A^{2-}+H^-+e^-=V{\cdot}A^{3-}$. The stability constants of $V{\cdot}HA^{2-}$ and $V{\cdot}A^{3-}$ are found to be $6.46{\times}10^{9}$ and $3.09{\times}10^{14}$, respectively. V(IV)-DTPA undergoes stepwise complexation as $VO^{2+}+H_2A^{3-}=VO{\cdot}HA^{2+}H^{+}$ and $VO{\cdot}HA^{2-}=VO{\cdot}A^{3+}+H$, where acidity constant of $VO{\cdot}HA^{2-}$- is pKa = 7.15. Stability constants of $VO{\cdot}HA^{2-}$ and $VO{\cdot}A^{3-}$ are found to be $1.41{\times}10^{14}$ and $3.80{\times}10^{17}$, respectively. It is detected that $VO^{2+}-DATA$ is reduced irreversibly to $VO^{2-}$ with the transfer coefficient of $\alpha$ = 0.43. At more cathodic overpotential, the reduction is stepwise as V(IV)${\to}$V(III)${\to}$V(II). The first one corresponds to $VO{\cdot}HA^{2-}+e^{-}{\to}VO{\cdot}HA{3+}$ at 3.2 < pH < 7.2 and $VO{\cdot}A^{3-}+e^{-}{\to}VO{\cdot}A^{4-}$ at 7.2 < pH < 10.5. The second is identical to that of V(III). Diffusion coefficients of $VO{\cdot}HA^{2-}$ and $VO{\cdot}A^{3-}$ are found to be $(9.0{\pm}0.3){\times}10^{-6}cm^2/s$ and $(5.9{\pm}0.4){\times}10^{-6}cm^2/ses$, respectively.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• 제60권4호
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• pp.588-593
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• 2022

Terephthalaldehyde (TPA) is introduced as a cross liker to enhance electron transfer of hemin-based cathodic catalyst consisting of polyethyleneimine (PEI), carbon nanotube (CNT) for hydrogen peroxide reduction reaction (HPRR). In the cyclic voltammetry (CV) test with 10 mM H₂O₂ in phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.4), the current density for HPRR of the suggested catalyst (CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/TPA) shows 0.2813 mA cm^-2 (at 0.2 V vs. Ag/AgCl), which is 2.43 and 1.87 times of non-cross-linked (CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI) and conventional cross liker (glutaraldehyde, GA) used catalyst (CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/GA), respectively. In the case of onset potential for HPRR, that of CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/TPA is observed at 0.544 V, while those of CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI and CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/GA are 0.511 and 0.471 V, respectively. These results indicate that TPA plays a role in facilitating electron transfer between the electrodes and substrates due to the π-conjugated cross-linking bonds, whereas conventional GA cross-linker increases the overpotential by interrupting electron and mass transfer. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results also display the same tendency. The charge transfer resistance (R_ct) of CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/TPA decreases about 6.2% from that of CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI, while CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/GA shows the highest R_ct. The polarization curve using each catalyst also supports the superiority of TPA cross liker. The maximum power density of CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/TPA (36.34±1.41 μWcm^-2) is significantly higher than those of CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI (27.87±0.95 μWcm^-2) and CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/GA (25.57±1.32 μWcm^-2), demonstrating again that the cathode using TPA has the best performance in HPRR.