• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.99.2-99.2
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• 2011

Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) supported on glass are widely used as substrates in PEC studies for photovoltaic hydrogen generation applications However, high sheet resistane ($10{\sim}15{\Omega}/cm^2$) and fragileness of glass-supported TCO substrates are the obstacles to produce the large area PEC cells. Such internal sheet resistance is detrimental to efficient collection of photogenerated majority charge carriers at the photoactive material and electrolyte interface. Moreover, these TCO substrates are very expensive and consume about 40~60% cost of the devices. Hence, a low sheet resistance of the substrate is a key point in improving the performance of PEC devices. Metallic substrates coated with a photoactive material would be a good choice for efficient charge collection. Such metal substrates based photanodes are best candidate for large-scale phtoelectrochemical water splitting for hydrogen generation. In this study, we report the enhanced PEC performance of $WO_3$ film on metal(chemical etched, bare) substrate. It is proposed that interface between $WO_3$ and the metal substrate is responsible for efficient charge transfer and demonstrated significant improvement in the photoelectrochmical performance. X-ray diffration and FESEM suduies reveled that $WO_3$ films are monoclinic, porous, polycrystalline with average grain size of ~50nm. Photocurrent of $WO_3$ prepared on metal substrates was measured in 0.5M $H_2SO_4$ electroyte under simulated $100mW/cm^2$ illumination.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.119-125
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• 2000

To improve the photochemical energy conversion efficiency and the stability of CdS particulate film electrode which is used to produce hydrogen from the aqueous $H_2S$ solution photoelectrochemically, surface treatment of this film was carried out using $TiCl_4$ solution. CdS particles for preparation of the films were synthesized by precipitation reaction of $Cd({NO_3})_2{\cdot}9H_2O$ and $Na_2S{\cdot}4H_2O$. Then, the CdS sol was hydrothermally treated for 12hr in an autoclave with the variation of treatment temperature to control the crystalline phase of particles. CdS film electrode was thus prepared by annealing at $400^{\circ}C$ for 12hr of the wet-film cast at room temperature, and subsequently surface treated with $TiCl_4$ solution. The electrodes were characterized using XRD, SEM, and the photocurrent meter. The photocurrents of Cds film electrodes prepared with surface treatment were up to two times higher than the electrodes without surface treatment, indicating about $4.0mA/cm^2$. Hydrogen production rate in a continuous flow system using photoelectrochemical or photochemical cells prepared with surface treatment also increased in proportion to the increase of photocurrents.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.2-8
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• 2012

In this study, in order to develop renewable bio-based nanocomposites, multi-functional nanocomposites from soybean resins (AESO, MAESO) and nanoclay were prepared. Photoelectrodes for environmental friendly dye-sensitized solar cell using soybean resin were also prepared. Organo-modified nanoclay was directly dispersed in functionalized soybean resins after mixing with styrene as a comonomer and radical initiator was used to copolymerize the nanocomposites. The observed morphology was a mixture of intercalated/exfoliated structure and the physical properties were improved by adding nanoclay. A nanocomposite using MAESO, which added COOH functional group to the soybean resin, showed better dispersibility than AESO composites. Ultrasonic treatment of the nanocomposites also improved the physical properties. Nanoporous $TiO_2$ photoelectrode was also prepared using soybean resins as a binder, after acid-treatment of $TiO_2$ surface using nitric acid. Dye-sensitized solar cells were prepared after adsorbing dye molecules on it. The $TiO_2$ photoelectrode prepared using soybean binder had high current density because of increased surface area by improved dispersibility. The photoelectrochemical properties and conversion efficiency of the solar cell were significantly improved using the soybean binder.