• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.3331-3335
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• 2014

We examine the potential use of disordered mesoporous carbon as a functional additive for confining dissolved Li-polysulfides and improving the cycling performance of Li-S batteries. To promote a better understanding of the correlation between the total pore volume of disordered mesoporous carbon and the cycling performance of Li-S batteries, a series of disordered mesoporous carbons with different total pore volumes are successfully synthesized using a commercial silica template. Based on the electrochemical and structural analyses, we suggest that the total pore volume of disordered mesoporous carbon is a predominant factor in determining its capability for either the absorption or adsorption of Li-polysulfides, which is primarily responsible for enhancing the cycling performance. The addition of disordered mesoporous carbon is also effective in enhancing the homogeneous distribution of active sulfur in the cathode, thereby affecting the cycling performance.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.3835-3839
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• 2013

A new synthesis route for Pt nanoparticles by direct electrochemical reduction of a solid-state Pt ion precursor ($K_2PtCl_6$) is demonstrated. Solid $K_2PtCl_6$-supported polyethyleneimine (PEI) coatings on the surface of glassy carbon electrode were prepared by simple mixing of solid $K_2PtCl_6$ into a 1.0% PEI solution. The potential cycling or a constant potential in a PBS (pH 7.4) medium were applied to reduce the solid $K_2PtCl_6$ precursor. The reduction of Pt(IV) began at around -0.2 V and the reduction potential was ca. -0.4 V. A steady state current was achieved after 10 potential cycling scans, indicating that continuous formation of Pt nanoparticles by electrochemical reduction occurred for up to 10 cycles. After applying the reduction potential of -0.6 V for 300 s, Pt nanoparticles with diameters ranging from $0.02-0.5{\mu}m$ were observed, with an even distribution over the entire glassy carbon electrode surface. Characteristics of the Pt nanoparticles, including their performance in electrochemical reduction of $H_2O_2$ are examined. A distinct reduction peak observed at about -0.20 V was due to the electrocatalytic reduction of $H_2O_2$ by Pt nanoparticles. From the calibration plot, the linear range for $H_2O_2$ detection was 0.1-2.0 mM and the detection limit for $H_2O_2$ was found to be 0.05 mM.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.21 no.3 s.54
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• pp.255-266
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• 2006

Soil organic matter (OM) is well documented for its capacity to retain persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and thus is important in dictating the environmental partitioning of POPs between media such as air, water, and soil. Black carbon (BC) is a small component of OM and exhibitt a 10$\sim$100 times greater sorption capacity of POPs than humified OM. Furthermore, due to the inherent long environmental life time of BC, a result of its resistance to physical and biological degradation, POPs can continue to accumulate in BC over a long period of time. The unique properties of BC have been of particular interest over the last 30 years and have resulted in broad research being conducted into its effects of POP cycling in atmospheric, oceanographic and soil matrices. The results of such studies have proved valuable In providing new research initiatives into the role of BC in the cycling of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) as well as giving further insight into the long range atmospheric transport (LRAT) potential and subsequent risk assessment criteria for persistent organic pollutants (POPs). In this report, we introduce a novel study examining the relationships between BC and OM with respect to their POP sorption capacity and discuss the role of BC in influencing the environmental regulation of organic pollutants.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.231-242
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• 2023

Li₂O-based cathodes utilizing oxide-peroxide conversion are innovative next-generation cathodes that have the potential to surpass the capacity of current commercial cathodes. However, these cathodes are exposed to severe cathode-electrolyte side reactions owing to the formation of highly reactive superoxides (O^x-, 1 ≤ x < 2) from O^2- ions in the Li₂O structure during charging. Succinonitrile (SN) has been used as a stabilizer at the cathode/electrolyte interface to mitigate cathode-electrolyte side reactions. SN forms a protective layer through decomposition during cycling, potentially reducing unwanted side reactions at the interface. In this study, a composite of Li₂O and Ni-embedded reduced graphene oxide (LNGO) was used as the Li₂O-based cathode. The addition of SN effectively thinned the interfacial layer formed during cycling. The presence of a N-derived layer resulting from the decomposition of SN was observed after cycling, potentially suppressing the formation of undesirable reaction products and the growth of the interfacial layer. The cell with the SN additive exhibited an enhanced electrochemical performance, including increased usable capacity and improved cyclic performance. The results confirm that incorporating the SN additive effectively stabilizes the cathode-electrolyte interface in Li₂O-based cathodes.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.179-185
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• 2013

The behavior of surface film formation was greatly dependent on the speed of potential cycling. In $LiClO_4$ / EC + DEC, cyclic voltammetry results showed that the peaks originated from surface film formation on graphite electrode at the high charge-discharge rate was shifted to the lower potentials as the charge-discharge rate decrease. This indicates that surface films with different morphology and thickness were formed by different charge-discharge rate. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results indicated that the properties such as thickness and morphology of the surface film were greatly affected by the charge-discharge rate. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that the resistance of surface film was affected by the speed of potential cycling. In addition, the charge transfer resistance was also dependent on the charge-discharge rate indicating that the charge transfer reaction was affected by the nature of surface film. TEM and EIS results suggested that the chemical property as well as the physical property of the surface film was affected by the charge-discharge rate.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.329-333
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• 1994

A large number of grain boundaries were seen to crack in near-eutectic solder joints of leadless ceramic chip carriers (LLCC's) during thermal cycling at temperature ranges from -$35^{\circ}C$ to +$125^{\circ}C$ with lhr time period. One potential explanation for this type of cracking might be the presence of embrittling species on the boundary. Although there do not appear to be any instances reported in the literature of solders being embrittled by small amounts of contaminating species, the possibility of such an occurrence exists. The potential presence of impurities located at crack surfaces was inspected using Scanning Auger Microprobe(SAM) and it was found that intergranular cracking could be accomplished by the oxidation of the grain boundary. A physical model for fatigue crack growth was introduced, in which grain boundary separation took place under oxidation facilitated by sliding.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.171-179
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• 1999

The present research investigated the interaction among loading level, corrosion rate and flexural deflection of reinforced concrete beams. 10cm$\times$15cm$\times$110cm reinforced concrete beams were prepared and subjected to different levels of flexural loading, including 0%, 45% and 75% of the ultimate load. The beams with either a pre-load or a sustained load were also exposed to a laboratory environment with ponding and wetting/drying cycling at room temperature. Half cell potential and galvanized current measurements were taken to monitor corrosion process of reinforcing steel. After corrosion initiation, external current was applied to some of the beams to accelerate corrosion propagation. The beam deflections were recorded during the entire tests. The results indicate that loading level has significant effect on corrosion rate. The beams under a sustained load had much higher corrosion rate than the pre-loaded and then unloaded beams. Significant corrosion may result in an increase in beam deflection and affect serviceability of the structure. The present research may provide an insight into structural condition evaluation and service life predictions of reinforced concrete.

• Carbon letters
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.113-116
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• 2014

Due to their morphology, electrochemical stability, and function as a conducting carbon matrix, graphene nanosheets (GNS) have been studied for their potential roles in improving the performance of sulfur cathodes. In this study, a GNS/sulfur (GNS/S) composite was prepared using the infiltration method with organic solvent. The structure, morphology and crystallinity of the composites were examined using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The electrochemical properties were also characterized using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The CV data revealed that the GNS/S composites exhibited enhanced specific-current density and ~10% higher capacity, in comparison with the S-containing, activated-carbon samples. The composite electrode also showed better cycling performance for multiple charge/discharge cycles. The improvement in the capacity and cycling stability of the GNS/S composite electrode is probably related to the fact that the graphene in the composite improves conductivity and that the graphene is well dispersed in the composites.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1996.07c
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• pp.1685-1687
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• 1996

Recently, conducting polymer has been much attracted as novel materials because of its electronic behavior and functional application by doping process. In this paper, we electrochemically synthesized polyaniline films under potential sweep conditions, which exhibit high electric conductivity about 200 S/cm. Specific energy of 600 Wh/kg and Ah efficiency 98% were achieved during the charge/discharge cycling using liquid electrolyte system. On the other hand, consequences of the cycling were 260 Wh/kg and 95% Ah efficiency using polyethylene oxide(PEO) based solid-state electrolyte system.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.447-453
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• 2009

Cycling has been lately recommended as an alternative commuting mode because it is believed to be good for health and the environment. However, the exposure to environmental pollutants, such as fine particulates, could be a potential problem for cycling in urban environments. In this study, we compared commuters' $PM_{10}$ exposure using the different transportation modes of bicycle and bus. When a bicycle was used as a commuting mode, the additional $PM_{10}$ exposure due to transportation was about 3.5 times higher than that when using a bus. The difference of additional $PM_{10}$ exposures by cycling and bus was statistically significant (p<0.01). The $PM_{10}$ exposure during cycling was significantly correlated with atmospheric $PM_{10}$ concentration (r=0.98, p<0.01) and its correlation coefficient was higher than that of bus (r=0.55, p<0.05). The results of this study demonstrated that the main reasons of higher $PM_{10}$ exposure when using the bicycle as the mode of transport were its vicinity to road traffic and routes that were unavoidably close to road traffic. Bicycle commuting along the road side may not be good for health. Exclusive bicycle lanes away from road traffic are recommended.