• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.601-607
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• 2019

Ammonia would be formed in natural gas containing small amount of nitrogen reforming process in the process natural gas, which might damage the Pt catalyst and Prox catalyst. In the article, the effect of nitrogen contents on the formation of ammonia in the reforming process has been studied. In the experiments, Ru based and Ni based catalysts were used and the concentration of ammonia in the reformate gas at various gas hourly space velocity was measured. Experimental result shows that relatively higher ammonia concentration was measured with Ru based catalyst than with Ni based catalyst. It also shows that the concentration of ammonia increased rapidly after most of the methane converted into hydrogen. Based on the experimental results to reduce ammonia concentration it might be better to finish methane conversion at the exit position of the reforming reactor to minimize the contact time of catalyst and nitrogen with high concentration of hydrogen.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.223-228
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• 2006

Pore-size controlled porous carbons for the catalyst supports of the direct methanol fuel cell were prepared from the mesophase pitch by using the silica spheres with different sizes. Pitch solution in THF and spheres were mixed, carbonized and etched by 5 M NaOH to make porous carbon. Specific surface area of the porous carbons was $14.7{\sim}87.7m^2/g$ and average pore diameter was 50~550 nm which were dependent on the size of silica spheres. Aqueous reduction method was used to load 60 wt% PtRu on the prepared porous carbon supports. The electro-oxidation activity of the supported 60 wt% Pt-Ru catalysts was measured by cyclic voltammetry and unit cell test. For the 60 wt% Pt-Ru/porous carbon synthesized by 50 nm silica, current density value in the cyclic voltammetry test was $123mA/cm^2$ at 0.4 V and peak power density in the unit cell test were 105 and $162mW/cm^2$ under oxygen at 60 and $80^{\circ}C$, respectively.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.35-39
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• 2011

In this work, mesoporous carbons (CMK-3) were prepared by a conventional templating method using mesoporous silica (SBA-15) for using catalyst supports in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The CMK-3 were chemically activated to obtain high surface area and small pore diameter with different potassium hydroxide (KOH) amounts, i.e., 0, 1, 3, and 4 g as an activating agent. And then Pt-Ru was deposited onto activated CMK-3 (K-CMK-3) by a chemical reduction method. The characteristics of Pt-Ru catalysts deposited onto K-CMK-3 were determined by surface area and pore size analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and inductive coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The electrochemical properties of Pt-Ru/K-CMK-3 catalysts were also analyzed by cyclic voltammetry (CV). From the results, the K3g-CMK-3 carbon supports activated with 3 g KOH showed the highest specific surface areas. In addition, the K3g-CMK-3 led to uniform dispersion of Pt-Ru onto K-CMK-3, resulted in the enhancement of elelctro-catalystic activity of Pt-Ru catalysts.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.167-172
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• 2011

In this work, the effect of surface treatment on mesoporous carbons (MCs) supports was investigated by analyzing surface functional groups. MCs were prepared by a conventional templating method using mesoporous silica (SBA-15) for using catalyst supports in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). The MCs were treated with different phosphoric acid ($H_3PO_4$) concentrations i.e., 0, 1, 3, 4, and 5 M at 343 K for 6 h. And then Pt-Ru was deposited onto surface treated MCs (H-MCs) by chemical reduction method. The characteristics of Pt-Ru catalysts deposited onto H-MCs were determined by specific surface area and pore size analyzer, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron, transmission electron microscopy, and inductive coupled plasma-mass spectrometer. The electrochemical properties of Pt-Ru/H-MCs catalysts were also analyzed by cyclic voltammetry experiments. From the results of surface analysis, an oxygen functional group was introduced to the surface of carbon supports. From the results, the H4M-MCs carbon supports surface treated with 4 M $H_3PO_4$ led to uniform dispersion of Pt-Ru onto H4M-MCs, resulting in enhancing the electro-catalytic activity of Pt-Ru catalysts.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.33-34
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• 2009

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.141-146
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• 2008

Electrocatalytic activities and stabilities of Pt supported on Sb-doped $SnO_2$ (ATO) were examined for ethanol oxidation reactions. Pt colloidal particles were deposited on ATO nanoparticles (Pt/ATO) and the prepared electrocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and cyclic voltammetry. Electrochemical activity of the Pt/ATO for ethanol electro-oxidation was compared to those of Pt supported on carbon (Pt/C) and commercial PtRu/C. The activitiy of the Pt/ATO was much higher than those of the Pt/C and commercial PtRu/C. The Pt/ATO exhibited much higher electrochemical stabilities than the Pt/C in 0.5M ${H_2}{SO_4}$ and in 0.5M ${H_2}{SO_4}$/1M ${C_2}{H_5}OH$. According to TEM, the growth rate of Pt particles was lower in the Pt/ATO than it was in the Pt/C. The ATO nanoparticle appears to be a promising support material that promotes electrochemical reactions and stabilizes catalyst particles in direct ethanol fuel cell.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.5-15
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• 1993

Hydrogen production in visible light with the following semiconductor systems, $CdS-WO_3$, $CdS-TiO_2$, have been investigated in the presence of redox catalyst (Pt, $RuO_2$). MeOH, EtOH, isopropanol, sulfide/sulfite mixture, lactic acid were used as sacrifical reagents. The optimal condition for $H_2$ evolution was found to be in qgueous lactic acid media for $CdS-WO_3/RuO_2$. The photochemical efficiency for this system was 1.05 % and the $H_2$ evolution rate was 26.5ml/min. at $6.07{\times}10^{-5}$ einstein/sec photon rate

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.146-152
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• 2016

A combined system with PEMFC and reformer is introduced and optimized for the real use of this kind of system in the future. The hydrogen source to operate the PEMFC system is methanol, which needs two parts of methanol reforming reaction and preferential oxidation (PROX) for the hydrogen fuel process in the combined operation PEMFC system. With the optimized methanol steam reforming condition, we tested PROX reactions in various operation temperature from 170 to 270 ℃ to investigate CO concentration data in the reformed gases. Using these different CO concentration, PEMFC performances are achieved at the combined system. Pt/C and Ru promoted Pt/C were catalysts were used for the anode to compare the stability in CO contained gases. The alloy catalyst of PtRu/C shows higher performance and better resistance to CO than the Pt/C at even high CO amount of 200 ppm, indicating a promotion not only to the activity but also to the CO tolerance. Furthermore, in a system point of view, there is a fluctuation in the PEMFC operation due to the unstable fuel supply. Therefore, we also modified the methanol reforming by a scaled up reactor and pressurization to produce steady operation of PEMFC. The optimized system with the methanol reformer and PEMFC shows a stable performance for a long time, which is providing a valuable data for the PEMFC commercialization.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 2010

Alloying degree is an important structural factor of PtRu catalysts for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC). In this work, carbon supported PtRu catalysts were synthesized by reduction method using anhydrous ethanol as a solvent and $NaBH_4$ as a reducing agent. Using anhydrous ethanol as a solvent resulted in high alloying degree and good dispersion. The morphological structure and crystallanity of synthesized catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM). CO stripping and methanol oxidation reaction were measured. Due to high alloying degree catalyst prepared in anhydrous ethanol, exhibited low onset potential for methanol oxidation and negative peak shift of CO oxidation than commercial sample. Consequently, samples, applying ethanol as a solvent, exhibited not only enhanced CO oxidation, but also increased methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) activity compared with commercial PtRu/C (40 wt%, E-tek) and 40 wt% PtRu/C prepared in water solution.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.67-95
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• 2024

Direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs) have gained much attention as promising energy conversion devices due to their ability to utilize alcohol as a fuel source. In this regard, Molybdenum-based electrocatalysts (Mo-ECs) have emerged as a substitution for expensive Pt and Ru-based co-catalyst electrode materials in DAFCs, owing to their unique electrochemical properties useful for alcohol oxidation. The catalytic activity of Mo-ECs displays an increase in alcohol oxidation current density by several folds to 1000-2000 mA mg_Pt^-1, compared to commercial Pt and PtRu catalysts of 10-100 mA mg_Pt^-1. In addition, the methanol oxidation peak and onset potential have been significantly reduced by 100-200 mV and 0.5-0.6 V, respectively. The performance of Mo-ECs in both acidic and alkaline media has shown the potential to significantly reduce the Pt loading. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the bifunctional mechanism involved in the oxidation of alcohols and factors affecting the electrocatalytic oxidation of alcohol, such as synthesis method, structural properties, and catalytic support materials. Furthermore, the challenges and prospects of Mo-ECs for DAFCs anode materials are discussed. This in-depth review serves as valuable insight toward enhancing the performance and efficiency of DAFC by employing Mo-ECs.