• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.592-598
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• 2011

Electrode of solid oxide fuel cell must have sufficient porosity to allow gas transport to the interface with electrolyte effectively but high porosity has a negative impact on structural stability in electrode support. Thus, the upper limit of porosity is based on consideration of mechanical strength of electrode. In this study, the effect of microstructure of Ni-YSZ anode supported SOFC on the mechanical and electrical property was investigated. LSCF composite cathode and 8YSZ electrolyte were used. The porosity of the anode was modified by the amount of graphite powder and added graphite contents were 24, 18, 12 vol%, respectively. The higher the porosity, the better the electrical performance, $P_{max}$. While the flexural strength decreased with increasing the amount of graphite. But the rate of increase in electrical performance and the rate of decrease in mechanical strength were not directly proportional to amount of graphite. The optimum graphite content incorporating both electrical and mechanical performance was 18 vol%.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.179-184
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• 2016

The interface between the surface of a cathode material and the electrolyte gives rise to surface reactions such as solid electrolyte interface (SEI) and chemical side reactions. These reactions lead to increased surface resistance and charge transfer resistance. It is consequently necessary to improve the electrochemical characteristics by suppressing these reactions. In order to suppress unnecessary surface reactions, we coated cathode material using polypropylene (PP). The PP coating layer effectively reduced the SEI film that is generated after a 4.3 V initial charging process. By mitigating the formation of the SEI film, the PP-coated Li[(Ni_0.6Co_0.1Mn_0.3)_0.36(Ni_0.80Co_0.15Al0.05)_0.64)]O₂(NCS) electrode provided enhanced transport of Li⁺ ions due to reduced SEI resistance (R_SEI) and charge transfer resistance (R_ct). The initial charge and discharge efficiency of the PP-coated NCS electrode was 96.2 % at a current density of 17 mA/g in a voltage range of 3.0 ~ 4.3 V, whereas the efficiency of the NCS electrode was only 94.7 %. The presence of the protective PP layer on the cathode improved the thermal stability by reducing the generated heat, and this was confirmed via DSC analysis by an increased exothermic peak.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.498-506
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• 2016

Electrochemical measurement using a LSCF6428 electrode was performed to estimate the oxygen potential gradient in the electrode layer and a long time stability test was performed by applied potential to learn the overpotential effect on the LSCF6428 electrode. By fitting the observed impedance spectra, it was obtained that the amount of faradic current decreased with distance from cathode/electrolyte interface. Oxygen potential gradient was estimated to occur within 1 um region from the cathode/electrolyte interface at an oxygen partial pressure of 10-1 bar. The segregation of cation rich phases in the LSCF6428 electrode suggests that kinetic decomposition took place. However, impedance response after applying the potential showed no changes in the electrode compared with before applying potential. The obtained results suggest that segregation of a secondary phase in a LSCF6428 cathode is not related to performance degradation for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs).

• Ceramist
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.381-392
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• 2019

Recently, demands for lithium-ion batteries (LIB) in various fields are increasing. In particular, understanding of the reaction mechanism occurring at the electrode-electrolyte surface/interface is significant for the development of advanced LIBs. Meanwhile, research and development of LIBs highly requires a new specific characterization approach. For example, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been utilized to the LIB research field for various purposes such as investigation of topography, electrochemical reactions, ion transport phenomena, and measurement of surface potential at high resolution. Advances in the AFM analysis have made it possible to inspect various material properties such as surface friction and Young's modulus. Therefore, this technique is expected to be a powerful method in the LIB research field. Here, we review and discuss ways to apply AFM to LIB studies.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.145-148
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• 2011

The thermal behavior of lithiated Si anodes has been investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In particular, the effect of Si particle size on the thermal stability of a fully lithiated Si electrode was investigated. For DSC measurements, a lithiated Si anode was heated in a hermetically sealed high-pressure pan with a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) binder and a 1 M $LiPF_6$ solution in an ethylene carbonate (EC)-diethyl carbonate (DEC) mixture. The thermal evolution around $140^{\circ}C$ increases with lithiation and with decreasing particle size; this phenomenon is attributed to the thermal decomposition of the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) film. Exothermic peaks, following a broad peak at around $140^{\circ}C$, shift to a lower temperature with a decrease in particle size, indicating that the thermal stability of the lithiated Si electrode strongly depends on the Si particle size.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.186-192
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• 2010

In situ electrochemical atomic force microscopy (ECAFM) observations of the surface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) was performed before and after cyclic voltammetry in lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) dissolved in 1-buthyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium (BDMI)-TFSI to understand the interfacial reactions between graphite and BDMI-based ionic liquids. The formation of blisters and the exfoliation of graphene layers by the intercalation of $BDMI^+$ cations within HOPG were observed instead of reversible lithium intercalation and de-intercalation. On the other hand, lithium ions are reversibly intercalated into the HOPG and de-intercalatied from the HOPG without intercalation of the $BDMI^+$ cations in the presence of 15 wt% of 4.90 mol/$kg^{-1}$ LiTFSI dissolved in propylene carbonate (PC). ECAFM results revealed that the concentrated PC-based solution is a very effective additive for preventing $BDMI^+$ intercalation through the formation of solid electrolyte interface (SEI).

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.227-230
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• 2007

In the Li ion battery fabrication process, an aging step has treated as a miner step because there is not so much data to define the relationship between the phenomena generated in aging process and the battery performances. However, the OCV(open circuit voltage) change in the aging process is shown by the electrochemical absorption of the electrolyte component to the both electrodes(anode or cathode) and the absorbed layer to the electrode affects to form the solid electrolyte interface(SEI) layer during the first charge process. In this report, the adsorbed materials are designed deliberately and are cleared to affect to the SEI layer formation.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.95-104
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• 2014

Electrochemical performance of Li-ion cells with $LiMn_2O_4$ cathodes and graphite anodes with carbonates electrolytes containing quaternary ammonium-based room temperature ionic liquids (ILs) is investigated. Eight different ILs based on tetraalkylammonium, pyrrolidinium or piperidinium cations paired with bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide or tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate anions are examined in combination with dimethyl carbonate as a main solvent and fluoroethylene carbonate as a solid electrolyte interface forming agent. It is shown that cycling properties of the cells are strongly affected by the content of ILs in the electrolyte mixtures and its increase corresponds to lower discharge capacity retention. Since viscosity and conductivity of ILs are of a great importance for the electrolytes formulation, some kind of combined parameter should be used for the assessment of IL applicability and calculated values of Walden products for neat ILs represent one of the possible options. Besides, positive effect of ILs on reduction of flammability and enhancement of thermal stability of electrolytes in contact with charged electrodes have been demonstrated by means of self-extinguishing time test and differential scanning calorimetry respectively.

• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 1997

The DC current variation of calcia doped zirconia single crystal was measured under various oxygen containing gases at high temperatures. The DC current was influenced by the gas species for oxygen activity establishment. Also, strong non-ohmic characteristics were observed in the $CO/CO_2/N_2$ gas mixtures. Based on the experimental data obtained by introducing the non-buffering gas $N_2$ into the $CO/CO_2$ mixtures, the processes occurring at the gas/solid interface during a defect relaxation process are discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.310.2-310.2
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• 2013

For enhancement of dye-sensitized solar cell performance, TiO2 blocking layer has been used to prevent recombination between electron and hole at the conducting oxide and electrolyte interface. In solid state dye-sensitized solar cells, it is necessary to fabricate pin-hole free TiO2 blocking layer. In this work, we deposited the TiO2 blocking layer on conducting oxide by atomic layer deposition and compared the efficiency. To compare the efficiency, we fabricate solid state dye-sensitized solar cell with using CuSCN as hole transport material. We see the efficiency improve with 40nm TiO2 blocking layer and the TiO2 blocking layer morphology was characterized by SEM. Also, we used this blocking layer in TiO2/Sb2S3/ CuSCN solar cell.