• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.278-282
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• 2014

Due to high ionic conductivity and favorable oxygen electrocatalysis, doped $Bi_2O_3$ systems are promising candidates as solid oxide fuel cell cathode materials. Recently, several researchers reported reasonably low cathode polarization resistance by adding electronically conducting materials such as (La,Sr)$MnO_3$ (LSM) or Ag to doped $Bi_2O_3$ compositions. Despite extensive research efforts toward maximizing cathode performance, however, the inherent catalytic activity and electrochemical reaction pathways of these promising materials remain largely unknown. Here, we prepare a symmetrical structure with identically sized $Y_{0.5}Bi_{1.5}O_3$/LSM composite electrodes on both sides of a YSZ electrolyte substrate. AC impedance spectroscopy (ACIS) measurements of electrochemical cells with varied cathode compositions reveal the important role of bismuth oxide phase for oxygen electrocatalysis. These observations aid in directing future research into the reaction pathways and the site-specific electrocatalytic activity as well as giving improved guidance for optimizing SOFC cathode structures with doped $Bi_2O_3$ compositions.

• Nano
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.1850136.1-1850136.12
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• 2018

Three-dimensional (3D) mixed phases NiSe nanoparticles growing on the nickel foam were synthesized via a simple one-step hydrothermal method. A series of experiments were carried out to control the morphology by adjusting the amount of selenium in the synthetic reaction. Meanwhile, the as-prepared novel column-acicular structure NiSe exist three advantages including ideal electrical conductivity, high specific capacity and high cycling stability. It delivered a high capacitance of $10.8F\;cm^{-2}$ at a current density- of $5mA\;cm^{-2}$. An electrochemical capacitor device operating at 1.6 V was then constructed using NiSe/NF and activated carbon (AC) as positive and negative electrodes. Moreover, the device showed high energy density of $31W\;h\;kg^{-1}$ at a power density of $0.81kW\;kg^{-1}$, as well as good cycling stability (77% retention after 1500 cycles).

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.243-249
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• 2006

Porous polymer gel electrolytes (PGEs) based on poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (P(VdF-co-HFP)) as a polymer matrix and polyvinylpyrolidone (PVP) as a pore-forming agent were prepared and electrochemical properties were investigated for an electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) in order to increase a permeability of an electrolyte into the PGE. Propylene carbonate (PC) and ethylene carbonate (EC) as plasticizers, and tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate ($TEABF_4$) as a supporting salt for the PGE were used. EDLC unit cells were assembled with the PGE and electrode comprising BP-20 and MSP-20 as activated carbon powders, Super P as a conducting agent, and P(VdF-co-HFP)/PVP as a mixed binder. Ion conductivity of PGEs increased with an increased PVP content and was the best at 7 wt% PVP, whereas electrochemical characteristics such as AC-ESR of unit cell were better in 3 wt%. And electrochemical characteristics of the unit cell with PGE were the best at a 33 : 33 weight ratio of PC to EC. Specific capacitance of a mixed plasticizer system of PE and EC was higher than that of pure PC. Ion conductivity of PGEs with a film thickness of $20{\mu}m$ was higher, but electrochemical characteristics of unit cells were higher for a $50{\mu}m$ membrane thickness. Also, the unit cell has shown the highest capacitance of 31.41 F/g and more stable electrochemical performance when PGE and electrode were hot pressed. Consequently, the optimum composition ratio of PGE for EDLCs was 23 : 66 : 11 wt% such as P(VdF-co-HFP) : PVP = 20 : 3 wt% and PC : EC = 44 : 22 wt%. In this case, $3.17{\times}10^{-3}S/cm$ of ion conductivity was achieved at the $50{\mu}m$ thickness of PGE for EDLCs. And the electrochemical characteristics of unit cells were $2.69{\Omega}$ of DC-ESR, 28 F/g of specific capacitance, and 100% of coulombic efficiency.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1998

For the purpose of finding new cathode materials for medium-temperature $(700\~800^{\circ}C)$ solid oxide fuel cells, $Gd_{0.8}Ca_{0.2}Co_{1-x}Fe_xO_3,\;(x=0.0\~0.5)$ are prepared, and their thermal stability and conductivity characteristics are investigated. Also, the cathodic activities are measured after the cathode layer being attached on CGO (cerium-gadolinium oxide) electrolyte disk. The X-ray analyses indicate that the materials prepared by calcining the citrate-gels at $800^{\circ}C$ have the orthorhombic perovskite structure without discernible impurities. The thermal stability of the undoped Co perovskite is so poor that it is decomposed to the individual binary oxide even at $1300^{\circ}C$. But the partially Fe-doped cobaltates exhibit a better thermal stability to retain their structural integrity up to $1400^{\circ}C$. The observation whereby both the undoped and Fe-doped cobaltates melt at ca. $1300^{\circ}C$ leads us to perform the electrode adhesion at <$1300^{\circ}C$. The cathodic activity of $Gd_{0.8}Ca_{0.2}Co_{1-x}Fe_xO_3,\;(x=0.0\~0.5)$, electrodes is superior to $La_{0.9}Sr_{0.1}MnO_3$, among the samples of $x=0.0\~0.5$, the x=0.2 cathode shows the best activity for the oxygen reduction reaction. It is likely that the Fe-doping provides a better thermal stability to the materials but in turn imparts an inferior cathodic activity, such that the optimum trade-off is made at x=0.2 between the two factors. The total electrical conductivity and ion conductivity of $Gd_{0.8}Ca_{0.2}Co_{1-x}Fe_xO_3$, are measured to be 51 S/cm and $6.0\times10^{-4}S/cm\;at\;800^{\circ}C$, respectively. The conductivity values illustrate that the materials are a mixed conductor and the reaction sites can be expanded to the overall electrode surface, thereby providing a better cathodic activity than $La_{0.9}Sr_{0.1}MnO_3$.

• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.95-98
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• 1998

We have developed new type of superconducting-superionic conducting nanohybrids, $Ag_xI_wBi_2Sr_2Ca_{n-1}Cu_nO_y$ (n=1 and 2) by applying the chimie douce reaction to the superconducting Bi-based cuprates. These nanohybrids can be achieved by the stepwise intercalation whereby the $Ag^+$ ion is thermally diffused into the pre-intercalated iodine sublattice of $IBi_2Sr_2Ca_{n-1}Cu_nO_y$. According to the X-ray diffraction analysis, the Ag-I intercalates are found to have an unique heterostructure in which the superionic conducting Ag-I layer and the superconducting $IBi_2Sr_2Ca_{n-1}Cu_nO_y$ layer are regularly interstratified with a remarkable basal increment of ~7.3$\AA$. The systematic XAS studies demonstrate that the intercalation of Ag-I accompanies the charge transfer between host and guest, giving rise to a change in hole concentration of $CuO_2$ layer and to a slight $T_c$ change. The Ag K-edge EXAFS result reveals that the intercalated Ag-I has a $\beta$-AgI-like local structure with distorted tetrahedral symmetry, suggesting a mobile environment for the intercalated $Ag^+$ ion. In fact, from ac impedance analyses, we have found that the Ag-I intercalates possess a fast ionic conductivity ($\sigma_i=10^{-1.4}\sim 10^{-2.6}\Omega^{-1}\textrm{cm}^{-1}\;at\;270^{\circ}C$ with an uniform activation energy ($\DeltaE_a=0.22\pm 0.02$ eV). More interesting finding is that these intercalates exhibit high electronic conducting as well as ionic ones ($t_i$=0.02~0.60) due to their interstratified structure consisting of superionic conducting and superconducting layers. In this respect, these new intercalates are expected to be useful as an electrode material in various electrochemical devices.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.59-67
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• 1998

This study was conducted to investigate the changes of soil chemical properties and uptake of salts by the plants(Raphanus and Lactuca) according to the application of the food waste compost(FWC), which was produced on a large scale at a pilot plant. Generally, FWC has a high electrical conductivity(EC) and contains much salts, such as Na, K, Ca, and Mg, and because of these when FWC are applied to soils there is a possibility of salt ac-cumulation in soils and growth inhibition on plants. The FWC were applied at the rates of 0, 20, 40, 80, and 160 Mg/ha in the 1/5,000a pots on the basis of dry weight, and the plants were cultivated for 60 days. And then, changes of pH and EC in soils and uptake of salts by the plants were investigated. The results obtained are summarized as follows; 1. After the cultivation of the Raphanus and Lactuca, pH increased and EC decreased in the soils. 2. Uptake rates of Na and K were slightly increased with the application of the FWC. In uptake rate of Ca, Raphanus and Lactuca was decreased, increased, respectively. In Raphanus, uptake rate of Mg was highest with the application of the FWC at 40 Mg/ha, and in Lactuca, continuously increased with application of the FWC.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.729-734
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• 2002

In this study, the polyaniline films of emeraldine base(EB) and lucoemeraldine base(LEB) form chemically doping with poly(sodium-4 styrenesulfonate, PSS) were prepared by casting the mixed solution of chloroform and m-cresol on ITO(indium tin oxide) electrode. By analyzing UV-vis spectra of the mixed solutions, the effects of the secondary doping by m-cresol were obtained. And the conductivity of polyaniline film was increased with increasing m-cresol content. The results suggest that the improvement of conductivity obtained by secondary doping results primarily from interaction of polyaniline and m-cresol. As the results of analyzing cyclic voltammograms, it was known that the redox peak currents of polyaniline electrode prepared from LEB were larger and more reversible than those of polyaniline electrodes prepared from EB. The charge transfer resistances($R_{ct}$) of polyaniline electrodes were reduced with increasing m-cresol content, and LEB/PSS electrodes were smaller than EB/PSS electrodes. This result agrees to the analysis of the redox peak current of cyclic voltammograms. The solution resistance and the capacity of electrical double layer almost unchanged in all prepared polyaniline electrodes. It was confirmed that solution resistance was independent of frequency factor in AC impedance spectra. Also the polyaniline film doping with PSS was revealed pseudo n-type characteristics of conducting polymer.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.61-65
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• 2012

A $Li_2O-2SiO_2$ ($LS_2$) glass was investigated as a lithium-ion conducting oxide glass, which is applicable to a fast ionic conductor even at low temperature due to its high mechanical strength and chemical stability. The $Li_2O-2SiO_2$ glass is likely to be broken into small pieces when quenched; thus, it is difficult to fabricate a specifically sized sample. The production of properly sized glass samples is necessary for device applications. In this study, we applied spark plasma sintering (SPS) to fabricate $LS_2$ glass samples which have a particular size as well as high transparency. The sintered samples, $15mm\phi{\times}2mmT$ in size, ($LS_2$-s) were produced by SPS between $480^{\circ}C$ and $500^{\circ}C$ at 45MPa for 3~5mim, after which the thermal and dielectric properties of the $LS_2$-s samples were compared with those of quenched glass ($LS_2$-q) samples. Thermal behavior, crystalline structure, and electrical conductivity of both samples were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and an impedance/gain-phase analyzer, respectively. The results showed that the $LS_2$-s had an amorphous structure, like the $LS_2$-q sample, and that both samples took on the lithium disilicate structure after the heat treatment at $800^{\circ}C$. We observed similar dielectric peaks in both of the samples between room temperature and $700^{\circ}C$. The DC activation energies of the $LS_2$-q and $LS_2$-s samples were $0.48{\pm}0.05eV$ and $0.66{\pm}0.04eV$, while the AC activation energies were $0.48{\pm}0.05eV$ and $0.68{\pm}0.04eV$, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.171.2-171.2
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• 2016

The 2-dimensiona electron gas (2DEG) layers have opened tremendous interests in the heterooxide interfaces formed between two insulating materials, especially between LaAlO3 and $SrTiO_3$. The 2DEG layers exhibit extremely high mobility and carrier concentrations along with metallic transport phenomena unlike the constituent oxide materials, i.e., $LaAlO_3$ and $SrTiO_3$. The current work inserted artificially the interfacial layer, $Sr_xCa_{1-x}TiO_3$ between $LaAlO_3$ and $SrTiO_3$, with the aim to controlling the 2-dimensional transports. The insertion of the additional materials affect significantly their corresponding electrical transports. Such features have been probed using DC and AC-based characterizations. In particular, impedance spectroscopy was employed as an AC-based characterization tool. Frequency-dependent impedance spectroscopy have been widely applied to a number of electroceramic materials, such as varistors, MLCCs, solid electrolytes, etc. Impedance spectroscopy provides powerful information on the materials system: i) the simultaneous measurement of conductivity and dielectric constants, ii) systematic identification of electrical origins among bulk-, grain boundary-, and electrode-based responses, and iii) the numerical estimation on the uniformity of the electrical origins. Impedance spectroscopy was applied to the $LaAlO_3/Sr_xCa_{1-x}TiO_3/SrTiO_3$ system, in order to understand the 2-dimensional transports in terms of the interfacial design concepts. The 2-dimensional conduction behavior system is analyzed with special emphasis on the underlying mechanisms. Such approach is discussed towards rational optimization of the 2-dimensional nanoelectronic devices.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.259-266
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• 2010

Porous poly(propylene) supported gel polymer electrolytes (GPE) were synthesized by thermal polymerization of DEGDMA [Di(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate] in electrolyte solutions (1 M solution of $LiPF_6$ in EC/DEC 1 : 1 mixture) at $70^{\circ}C$. AC impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry were used to evaluate its ionic conductivity and electrochemical stability window of the GPE membranes. Lithium ion battery (LIB) cells were also fabricated with $LiNi_{0.8}Co_{0.2}O_2$/graphite and GPE membranes via thermal polymerization process. Through the thermal polymerization, self sustaining GPE membranes with sufficient ionic conductivities (over $10^{-3}\;S/cm$) and electrochemical stabilities. The LIB cell with 5% monomer showed the best rate-capability and cycleability.