• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.51-59
• /
• 2019

This study focused on the synthesis of the nickel hydroxide using ammonium sulfate in leaching solution from waste nickel-cadmium batteries. The effect of pH, temperature and the input amount of ammonium sulfate in leaching solution was investigated. The ammonium nickel sulfate with high purity was obtained in acidic leaching solution and the solution temperature of $60^{\circ}C$. The suitable molar ratio of the input amount of ammonium sulfate to nickel in solution is 2:1. The impurity about 1.4 at.% of Cd was included in the nickel hydroxide precipitates when ammonium nickel sulfate was used. At the process using sodium sulfide which precipitates the cadmium in solution, nickel and iron compounds were precipitated together.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.33 no.5
• /
• pp.196-201
• /
• 2023

In order to improve the efficiency of the water splitting system for hydrogen energy production, the high overvoltage in the electrochemical reaction caused by the catalyst in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) must be reduced. Among them, transition metal-based compounds (hydroxide, sulfide, etc.) are attracting attention as catalyst materials to replace currently used precious metals such as platinum. In this study, Ni foam, an inexpensive metal porous material, was used as a support and β-Ni(OH)₂ microcrystals were synthesized through a hydrothermal synthesis process. In addition, changes in the crystal morphology, crystal structure, and water splitting characteristics of β-Ni(OH)₂ microcrystals synthesized by doping Fe to improve electrochemical properties were observed, and applicability as a catalyst in a commercial water electrolysis system was examined.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2012.05a
• /
• pp.65-65
• /
• 2012

Copper zinc tin sulfide ($Cu_2ZnSnS_4$, CZTS) is a very promising material as a low cost absorber alternative to other chalcopyrite-type semiconductors based on Ga or In because of the abundant and economical elements. In addition, CZTS has a band-gap energy of 1.4~1.5eV and large absorption coefficient over ${\sim}10^4cm^{-1}$, which is similar to those of $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$(CIGS) regarded as one of the most successful absorber materials for high efficient solar cell. Most previous works on the fabrication of CZTS thin films were based on the vacuum deposition such as thermal evaporation and RF magnetron sputtering. Although the vacuum deposition has been widely adopted, it is quite expensive and complicated. In this regard, the solution processes such as sol-gel method, nanocrystal dispersion and hybrid slurry method have been developed for easy and cost-effective fabrication of CZTS film. Among these methods, the hybrid slurry method is favorable to make high crystalline and dense absorber layer. However, this method has the demerit using the toxic and explosive hydrazine solvent, which has severe limitation for common use. With these considerations, it is highly desirable to develop a robust, easily scalable and relatively safe solution-based process for the fabrication of a high quality CZTS absorber layer. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of a high quality CZTS absorber layer with a thickness of 1.5~2.0 ${\mu}m$ and micrometer-scaled grains using two different non-vacuum approaches. The first solution-processing approach includes air-stable non-toxic solvent-based inks in which the commercially available precursor nanoparticles are dispersed in ethanol. Our readily achievable air-stable precursor ink, without the involvement of complex particle synthesis, high toxic solvents, or organic additives, facilitates a convenient method to fabricate a high quality CZTS absorber layer with uniform surface composition and across the film depth when annealed at $530^{\circ}C$. The conversion efficiency and fill factor for the non-toxic ink based solar cells are 5.14% and 52.8%, respectively. The other method is based on the nanocrystal dispersions that are a key ingredient in the deposition of thermally annealed absorber layers. We report a facile synthetic method to produce phase-pure CZTS nanocrystals capped with less toxic and more easily removable ligands. The resulting CZTS nanoparticle dispersion enables us to fabricate uniform, crack-free absorber layer onto Mo-coated soda-lime glass at $500^{\circ}C$, which exhibits a robust and reproducible photovoltaic response. Our simple and less-toxic approach for the fabrication of CZTS layer, reported here, will be the first step in realizing the low-cost solution-processed CZTS solar cell with high efficiency.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.40 no.9
• /
• pp.615-622
• /
• 1996

(Benzotriazol-1-yl)arenesulfonylalkanes, 2a, 2b, 3a and 3b, were prepared by lithiation of 1-(benzotriazol-1-yl)arenesulfonylmethanes followed by reaction with alkyl iodides. Very bulky molecules such as 1,1-di(benzotriazol-1-yl)-1-aryl-1-thiophenoxymethanes 5, 1,1-di(benzotriazol-1-yl)-1-thiophenoxymethane 9a and 1,1-di(benzotriazol-1-yl)-1,1-dithiophenoxymethane 9b were synthesized. 1,1-Di(benzotriazol-1-yl)-1-benzenesulfoxymethane 10a and 1,1-di(benzotriazol-1-yl)-1-benzenesulfonylmethane 10b were also synthesized by the oxidation of compound 9a, while oxidation of sulfide group on compound 5 and 9b by m-CPBA were not successful. On the other hand, pyrolysis and hydrolysis of 3-(benzotriazol-1-yl)-3-toluenesulfonylpentane 3b gave 3-toluenesulfonyl-2-pentene 11 and diethyl ketone 13a, respectively, which means there are both C-N and C-S bond cleavages.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.365-373
• /
• 2008

We have succeeded in synthesizing vertically aligned thin multi-walled carbon nanotubes (VA thin-MWCNTs) by a catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) method onto Fe/Al thin film deposited on a Si wafers using an optimum amount of hydrogen sulfide ($H_2S$) additive. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images revealed that the as-synthesized CNT arrays were vertically well-oriented perpendicular to the substrate with relatively uniform length. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations indicated that the as-grown CNTs were nearly catalyst-free thin-MWCNTs with small outer diameters of less than 10nm. The average wall number is about 5. We suggested a possible growth mechanism of the VA thin-MWCNT arrays. The VA thin-MWCNTs showed a low turn-on electric field of about $1.1\;V/{\mu}m$ at a current density of $0.1\;{\mu}A/cm^2$ and a high emission current density about $2.5\;mA/cm^2$ at a bias field of $2.7\;V/{\mu}m$. Moreover, the VA thin-MWCNTs presented better field emission stability without degradation over 20 hours (h) at the emission current density of about $1\;mA/cm^2$.