• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.50 no.6
• /
• pp.1043-1048
• /
• 2012

In this study, activated carbons (ACs) were modified as electrode materials for an electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) by controlling oxygen- and nitrogen-containing functional groups. The morphological and chemical properties of ACs were analyzed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, automatic elemental analyzer (EA) and Boehm titration. Also, charge/discharge tests were performed to investigate the EDLC performance. Oxygen- and nitrogen-containing functional groups were introduced on the surface of ACs through acid and urea treatments, respectively. ACs with nitrogen-containing functional groups showed 2 mA increase of gravimetric discharge capacity and quick achievement of maximum charge/discharge performance. However, ACs with oxygen-containing functional groups showed low discharge capacity and its gradual decrease during further cyclic test, since the functional groups interrupted adsorption/desorption of charges in the electrolyte on the surface of ACs.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
• /
• v.54 no.4
• /
• pp.164-170
• /
• 2021

Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) have emerged as large-scale energy storage systems (ESS) due to their advantages such as low cross-contamination, long life, and flexible design. However, Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in the negative half-cell causes a harmful influence on the performance of the VRFB by consuming current. Moreover, HER hinders V²⁺/V³⁺ redox reaction between electrode and electrolyte by forming a bubble. To address the HER problem, carbon nanotube/graphite felt electrode (CNT/GF) with oxygen functional groups was synthesized through the hydrothermal method in the H₂SO₄ + HNO₃ (3:1) mixed acid solution. These oxygen functional groups on the CNT/GF succeed in suppressing the HER and improving charge transfer for V²⁺/V³⁺ redox reaction. As a result, the oxygen functional group applied electrode exhibited a low overpotential of 0.395 V for V²⁺/V³⁺ redox reaction. Hence, this work could offer a new strategy to design and synthesize effective electrodes for HER suppression and improving the energy density of VRFB.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2011.05a
• /
• pp.214.1-214.1
• /
• 2011

In this work, the electrochemical properties of the surface treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) are investigated for supercapacitors. Nitrogen- and oxygen functional groups containing MWNTs are prepared by nitrogen precursors and acidic treatment, respectively. The surface properties of the MWNTs are confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Zeta-potential measurements. The electrochemical properties of the MWNTs are investigated by cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectra, and charge-discharge cycling performance in 1 M $H_2SO_4$ at room temperature. As a result, these functionalized MWNTs lead to an increase in the specific capacitance as compared with the pristine MWNTs. It proposes that the pyridinic and pyridinic-N-oxides nitrogen species influence on the specific capacitance due to their positive charges, and thus an improved electron transfer at high current loads, since they are the most important functional groups affecting capacitive behaviors.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.1596-1600
• /
• 2010

Surface functionalization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) was carried out by means of acid treatment. The presence of oxygen functional groups on the surface of acid-treated MWNTs was confirmed with the aid of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray spectroscopy. In addition, carboxylic groups generally formed on the surface of acid-treated MWNTs, and the dispersion was increased by the duration of the acid treatment. The zeta-potential indicated the surface charge transfer and the dispersion of MWMTs. Morphological characteristics of acid-treated MWNTs were also observed using a transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman analysis, which was revealed the significantly unchanged morphologies of MWNTs by acid treatment. The hydrogen adsorption capacity of the MWNTs was evaluated by means of adsorption isotherms at 77 K/1 atm. The hydrogen storage capacity was dependent upon the acid treatment conditions and the formation of oxygen functional groups on the MWNT surfaces. The latter have an important effect on the hydrogen storage capacity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2015.08a
• /
• pp.222.1-222.1
• /
• 2015

Recently, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have attracted great attention due to various properties including cost-effectiveness of synthesis, low toxicity, and high photostability. Nevertheless, the origins of photoluminescence (PL) from GQDs are unclear because of extrinsic states of the impurities, disorder structures, and oxygen-functional groups. Therefore, to utilize GQDs in various applications, their optical properties generated from the extrinsic states should be understood. In this work, we have focused on the effect of oxygen-functional groups in PL of the GQDs. The GQDs with nanoscale and single layer are synthesized by employing graphite nanoparticles (GNPs) with 4 nm. The series of GQDs with different amount of oxygen-functional groups were prepared by the chain of chemical oxidation and reduction process. The fabrication of a series of graphene oxide QDs (GOQDs) with different amounts of oxygen-contents is first reported by a direct oxidation route of GNPs. In addition, for preparing a series of reduced GOQDs (rGOQDs), we employed the conventional chemical reduction to GOQDs solution and controlled the amount of reduction agents. The GOQDs and rGOQDs showed irreversible PL properties even though both routes have similar amount of oxyen-functional groups. In the case of a series of GOQDs, the PL spectrum was clearly redshifted into blue and green-yellowish color. On the other hand, the PL spectrum of rGOQDs did not change significantly. By various optical measurement such as the PL excitation, UV-vis absorbance, and time-resolved PL, we could verify that their PL mechanisms of GOQDs and rGOQDs are closely associated with different atomic structures formed by chemical oxidation and reduction. Our study provides an important insights for understanding the optical properties of GQDs affected by oxygen-functional groups. [1]

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.40 no.9
• /
• pp.819-826
• /
• 2003

This article is concerned with the overview of activated carbons as electrode materials in electric double-layer capacitors. Firstly, this article introduced various types of activated carbons with their precursors and manufacturing conditions which can be divided into two main steps of the carbonization and activation processes. Secondly, the present article gave the detailed discussion about the porous structures and examined previous works on the electrochemical behaviors of activated carbons in relation to their porous structures, along with our recent works. Finally, this article characterized the surface oxygen functional groups and presented their influence on the electrochemical properties of activated carbons by reviewing our recent results.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2011.05a
• /
• pp.94.2-94.2
• /
• 2011

In this work, multi-functional groups, i.e., nitrogen and oxygen, contained microporous carbons (MF-MCs) were prepared by the one step carbonization of the poly(vinylidene chloride-co-acrylonitrile-co-methyl methacryalte) (PVDC-AN-MMA) without activation. The electrochemical performance of MF-MCs was investigated as a function of carbonization temperature. It was found that MF-MCs had a high specific surface area over $800m^2/g$ without additional activation, resulting from the micropore's formation by the release of chlorine groups. In addition, although functional groups decreased, specific surface area was increased with increasing carbonization temperature, leading to the enhanced electrochemical performance. The pore size of the carbon distributed mainly in small micropore of 1.5 to 2 nm, which was idal for aqueous electrolyte. Indeed, the unique microstructure features, i.e. high specific surface area and optimized pore size provided high energy storage capability of MF-MCs. These results indicated that the microporous features of MF-MCs lead to feasible electron transfer during charge/discharge duration and the presence of nitrogen and oxygen groups on the MF-MCs electrode led to a pseudocapacitive reaction.

• Carbon letters
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.112-115
• /
• 2011

The scope of this work investigates the relationship between the amount of oxygen-functional groups and hydrogen adsorption capacity with different concentrations of phosphoric acid. The amount of oxygen-functional groups of activated carbons (ACs) is characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The effects of chemical treatments on the pore structures of ACs are investigated by $N_2$/77 K adsorption isotherms. The hydrogen adsorption capacity is measured by $H_2$ isothermal adsorption at 298 K and 100 bar. In the results, the specific surface area and pore volume slightly decreased with the chemical treatments due to the pore collapsing behaviors, but the hydrogen storage capacity was increased by the oxygen-functional group characteristics of AC surfaces, resulting from enhanced electron acceptor-donor interaction at interfaces.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.100-104
• /
• 2023

In this study, a device was fabricated to check the possibility of a memory device by controlling the oxygen functional groups in graphene oxide formed with a 45-second exposure time. We discovered that graphene oxide can be formed using the ultraviolet (UV) light treatment method with different exposure times. Moreover, Raman spectroscopy measurement revealed that the oxygen functional groups can be moved by controlling the voltage. We further studied the change in the local graphene oxide region, which was found to be related to the modulation of the electrical properties of the device. Therefore, the fabricated graphene oxide device can be used as a wettability switching membrane and graphene-based ion transport device.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.160-166
• /
• 2019

In this study, oxygen functional groups were introduced on activated carbon fibers (ACFs) by oxygen plasma treatment to improve the adsorption performance on an acetic acid which is a sick house syndrome induced gas. The active species was generated more as the flow rate of the oxygen gas increased during the plasma treatment. For this reason, the specific surface area (SSA) of the ACFs decreased with much more physical and chemical etching. In particular, the SSA of the sample (A-O60) injected with an oxygen gas flow rate of 60 sccm was reduced to about $1.198m^2/g$, which was about 6.95% lower than that of the untreated samples. On the other hand, the oxygen content introduced into the surface of ACFs increased up to 35.87%. Also, the adsorption performance on the acetic acid gas of the oxygen plasma-treated ACFs was improved by up to 43% compared to that of using the untreated ACFs. It is attributed to the formation of the hydrogen bonding due to the dipole moments between acetic acid molecules and oxygen functional groups such as O=C-O introduced by the oxygen plasma treatment.