• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.585-592
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• 2011

The enhancement of the cold-start capability of polymer electrolyte fuel cells is of great importance in terms of the durability and reliability of fuel-cell vehicles. In this study, vanadium oxide films deposited onto the flat surface of metallic bipolar plates were synthesized to investigate the feasibility of their use as an efficient self-heating source to expedite the temperature rise during startup at subzero temperatures. Samples were prepared through the dip-coating technique using the hydrolytic sol-gel route, and the chemical compositions and microstructures of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy. In addition, the electrical resistance hysteresis loop of the films was measured over a temperature range from -20 to $80^{\circ}C$ using a four-terminal technique. Experimentally, it was found that the thermal energy (Joule heating) resulting from self-heating of the films was sufficient to provide the substantial amount of energy required for thawing at subzero temperatures.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.386-393
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• 2002

Fabricatio of the potassium-titanate fiber with K2O${\cdot}nTiO_2$ composition and coating of electrically conductive Sb-doped $SnO_2$ (ATO: Antimony Tin Oxide) layer on the fiber on the fiber were the fiber were the aims of this work. The fiber fabricated by slow-cooling technique showed the mean length of $15{\mu}m$ and mean diameter of $0.5{\mu}m$. Three different coating methods i.e, sol-gel, co-precipitation and urea technique, were attempted to coat the conductive ATO layer on the potassium-titanate fiber. The influences of coating method, concentrations of ATO(5∼70wt%) and Sb (0∼20wt%), temperature in the range of $450\;to\;800^{\circ}C$, number of washing (3∼4 times) on the resistivity of the ATO coated fiber were examined in details. The fiber coated ATO by coprecipitation exhibited lower resistivity of 103${\Omega}{\cdot}$cm at the 30 wt% of ATO, and showed nearly constant low value of $60{\Omega}{\cdot}cm\;to\;90{\Omega}{\cdot}$cm at the higher concentration of ATO.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.40 no.8
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• pp.777-783
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• 2003

The mechanical properties of B$_4$C/Al composites normally depend on the species and quantity of reaction products between B$_4$C and Al and then the control of reaction products is necessary to make desirable composites for lightweight advanced or armor materials. TiB$_2$ is chemically inert with aluminum and has a lower contact angle (85$^{\circ}$ at 100$0^{\circ}C$) to liquid aluminum than B$_4$C. Thus, TiB$_2$ coating on B$_4$C may lower infiltration temperature of aluminum when the B$_4$C/Al composites is fabricated by infiltration process. In this study, the effects of TiB$_2$ on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the B$_4$C/Al composites have been investigated. TiB$_2$ coated B$_4$C powder was prepared using the sol-gel technique. It was found that the B$_4$C surface is homogeneously covered with TiB$_2$ having a particles size of 20-50 nm. While the B$_4$C/Al composites prepared by infiltration after TiB$_2$ coating had 17 wt% of unreacted Al, on the other hand, the B$_4$C/Al composites without coating included 14 wt% of Al. As a result, the composites infiltrated after the coating showed higher fracture toughness and lower hardness. This strongly suggests that TiB$_2$ not only lowers the infiltration temperature, but also inhibits the reaction between B$_4$C and Al.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.46-50
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• 2004

Compounds of $Y_{3-x}Ce_{x}Fe{5}O_{12}$(x=0.0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3) were prepared using the sol-gel method. The XRD measurements show that these samples have only a single phase of the garnet structure regardless of the amount of Ce substitution. The lattice constants of x = 0.0 and x = 0.3 were found to be a$_0$ = 12.3758 ${\pm}$0.0005 ${\AA}$ and 12.4062 ${\pm}$0.0005 ${\AA}$, respectively. The lattice constant increases linearly with increasing Ce concentration. The saturation magnetization was not changed flirty, with increasing Ce concentration, but coercivity decreased form 18.3 Oe to 5.8 Oe as x increased form x = 0.0 to x = 0.1. Mossbauer spectra of $Y_{3-x}Ce_{x}Fe{5}O_{12}$ were measured at various absorber temperatures from 13 K to Neel temperature. The Mossbauer spectra were fitted by least-squares technique with two subpatterns of Fe sites in the structure and corresponding to the 16a and 24d site. The temperature dependence of the magnetic hyperfine field in $^{57}$/Fe nuclei at the tetrahedral 240 and octahedral 16a sites were analyzed based on the Neel theory of ferrirnagnetism. The result of the Debye temperatures indicated that the inter-atomic binding force for the 24d site was larger than that for the 16a site.