• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.55 no.4
• /
• pp.399-406
• /
• 2022

In line with the megatrend of 2050 carbon neutrality, the amount of critical minerals used in clean-energy technology is expected to increase fourfold and sixfold, respectively, according to the Paris Agreement-based scenario as well as the 2050 carbon-neutrality scenario. And, in the case of Korea, in terms of the battery supply chain used for secondary batteries, the midstream that manufactures battery materials and battery cell packs shows strength, but the upstream that provides and processes raw materials is experiencing difficulties. The Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources has established a strategy to secure lithium, nickel, and cobalt and is conducting surveys to respond to the upstream risk of these types of battery raw materials. In the case of lithium, exploration has been carried out in Uljin, Gyeongsangbuk-do since 2020, and by the end of 2021, the survey area was selected for precision exploration by synthesizing all exploration data and building a 3D model. Potential resources will be assessed in 2022. In the case of nickel, the prospective site will be selected by the end of 2022 through a preliminary survey targeting 10 nickel sulfide deposits that have been prospected in the past. In the case of cobalt, Boguk cobalt is known only in South Korea, but there is only a record that cobalt was produced as a minor constituent of hydrothermal deposit. According to the literature, a cobalt ore body was found in the contact area between serpentinite and granite, and a protocol for cobalt exploration in Korea will be established.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.639-646
• /
• 2022

Energy harvesting technologies that can convert wasted various energy into usable electrical energy have been widely investigated to overcome the limitation of batteries for the powering of IoT sensors and small electronic devices. Hybrid energy harvesting is known as a technology that enhances the output power of single energy harvesting device by housing two or more various energy harvesting mechanisms. In this study, we introduce a hybrid MME (Magneto-Mechano-Electric) generator coupled with the triboelectric effect. Through FEA modeling, four triboelectric materials, including PI (Polyimide), PFA(Teflon), Cu, and Al, were selected and compared with the expected triboelectric potentials. The effect of surface morphology was investigated as well. Among various combination of triboelectric materials and surface morphologies, PFA-Al combination with the surface morphology having nano-scale square projections showed highest output potential under triboelectrification. It is also experimentally confirmed that output voltage and power of the hybrid MME generator with triboelectric material combinations.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.211-221
• /
• 2023

This study presents a comprehensive study on the synthesis and characterization of PVI-PGMA/LiTFSI polymeric membrane electrolytes and CxNy-C flexible electrodes for energy storage applications. The dual-functional PVI-PGMA copolymer exhibited excellent ionic conductivity, with the PVI-PGMA73/LiTFSI200 membrane electrolyte achieving the highest conductivity of 1.0 × 10^-3 S cm^-1. The electrochemical performance of the CxNy-C electrodes was systematically investigated, with C3N2-C demonstrating superior performance, achieving the highest specific capacitance of 958 F g^-1 and lowest charge transfer resistance (R_ct) due to its highly interconnected hybrid structure comprising nanowires and polyhedrons, along with binary Co/Ni oxides, which provided abundant redox-active sites and facilitated ion diffusion. The presence of a graphitic carbon shell further contributed to the enhanced electrochemical stability during charge-discharge cycles. These results highlight the potential of PVI-PGMA/LiTFSI polymeric membrane electrolytes and CxNy-C electrodes for advanced energy storage devices, such as supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries, paving the way for further advancements in sustainable and high-performance energy storage technologies.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.324-331
• /
• 2023

Lithium (Li) is a key resource driving the rapid growth of the electric vehicle industry globally, with demand and prices continually on the rise. To address the limited reserves of major lithium sources such as rock and brine, research is underway on seawater Li extraction using electrodialysis and Li-ion selective membranes. Lithium lanthanum titanate (LLTO), an oxide solid electrolyte for all-solid-state batteries, is a promising Li-ion selective membrane. An important factor in enhancing its performance is employing the powder synthesis process. In this study, the LLTO powder is prepared using two synthesis methods: sol-gel reaction (SGR) and solid-state reaction (SSR). Additionally, the powder size and uniformity are compared, which are indices related to membrane performance. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy are employed for determining characterization, with crystallite size analysis through the full width at half maximum parameter for the powders prepared using the two synthetic methods. The findings reveal that the powder SGR-synthesized powder exhibits smaller and more uniform characteristics (0.68 times smaller crystal size) than its SSR counterpart. This discovery lays the groundwork for optimizing the powder manufacturing process of LLTO membranes, making them more suitable for various applications, including manufacturing high-performance membranes or mass production of membranes.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.90-94
• /
• 2023

Carbon fiber(CF) with excellent thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity is attracting attention as an alternative material because metal heating elements have problems such as high heat loss and fire risk. However, since CF is oxidized and disconnected at about 200℃ or higher, the application of heating elements is limited, and CF heating elements in the form of vacuum tubes are currently used in some commercial heaters. In this work, polyimide(PI) with high heat resistance was coated on the surface of carbon fiber by electrophoretic deposition to prevent oxidation of CF in the atmosphere without using a vacuum tube, and the coating thickness and heat resistance were investigated according to the applied voltage. The heater made by connecting the PI-coated CF heating elements in series showed stable heating characteristics up to 292℃, which was similar to the heating temperature result of the heat transfer simulation. The PI layer coated by the electrophoretic deposition method is effective in preventing oxidation of CF at 200℃ or higher and is expected to be applicable to various heating components such as secondary batteries, aerospace, and electric vehicles that require heat stability.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
• /
• v.56 no.3
• /
• pp.192-200
• /
• 2023

Graphene, a two-dimensional material, has shown great potential in a variety of applications including microelectronics, optoelectronics, and graphene-based batteries due to its excellent electronic conductivity. However, the production of large-area, high-quality graphene remains a challenge. In this study, we investigated graphene growth on electrolytic copper foil using thermochemical vapor deposition (TCVD) to achieve a similar level of quality to the cold-rolled copper substrate at a lower cost. The combined effects of pre-annealing time, graphenized temperature, and partial pressure of hydrogen on graphene coverage and domain size were analyzed and correlated with the roughness and crystallographic texture of the copper substrate. Our results show that controlling the crystallographic texture of copper substrates through annealing is an effective way to improve graphene growth properties, which will potentially lead to more efficient and cost-effective graphene production. At a hydrogen partial pressure that is disadvantageous in graphene growth, electrolytic copper had an average size of 8.039 ㎛², whereas rolled copper had a size of 19.092 ㎛², which was a large difference of 42.1% compared to rolled copper. However, at the proper hydrogen partial pressure, electrolytic copper had an average size of 30.279 ㎛² and rolled copper had a size of 32.378 ㎛², showing a much smaller difference of 93.5% than before. This observation suggests this potentially leads the way for more efficient and cost-effective graphene production.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.21-32
• /
• 2023

Because the application of lithium has gradually increased for the production of lithium ion batteries (LIBs), more research studies about recycling using solvent extraction (SX) should focus on Li⁺ recovery from the waste solution obtained after the removal of the valuable metals nickel, cobalt and manganese (NCM). The raffinate obtained after the removal of NCM metal contains lithium ions and other impurities such as Na ions. In this study, we optimized a selective SX system using di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) as the extractant and tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) as a modifier in kerosene for the recovery of lithium from a waste solution containing lithium and a high concentration of sodium (Li⁺ = 0.5 ~ 1 wt%, Na⁺ = 3 ~6.5 wt%). The extraction of lithium was tested in different solvent compositions and the most effective extraction occurred in the solution composed of 20% D2EHPA + 20% TBP + and 60% kerosene. In this SX system with added NaOH for saponification, more than 95% lithium was selectively extracted in four extraction steps using an organic to aqueous ratio of 5:1 and an equilibrium pH of 4 ~ 4.5. Additionally, most of the Na⁺ (92% by weight) remained in the raffinate. The extracted lithium is stripped using 8 wt% HCl to yield pure lithium chloride with negligible Na content. The lithium chloride is subsequently treated with high purity ammonium bicarbonate to afford lithium carbonate powder. Finally the lithium carbonate is washed with an adequate amount of water to remove trace amounts of sodium resulting in highly pure lithium carbonate powder (purity > 99.2%).

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.553-560
• /
• 2023

The study is about domestic industries following the migration of hubs (innovation, manufacturing) to other countries and the hub-oriented US industries (batteries, semiconductors, electric vehicles). Additionally, the ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China may have also played a role in companies moving their operations to the United States. The result of such a move could potentially include job creation in the United States, as well as increased investment in the U.S. manufacturing sector. However, it is also possible that there could be negative consequences, such as higher prices for consumers or disruptions to supply chains during the relocation process. However, such IRA, Chips Act scenario would likely also have negative consequences (Inflation in the home country) for the countries whose industries moved to the US, as they would lose jobs, investment, and possibly face economic difficulties as a result. As the result of the empirical analysis of the export scale of Korea and the United States, changes in the movement of global supply hubs are related to factors such as geopolitical price increases and consumption declines. In order to respond to these changes, this paper emphasizes the need to prevent the result of de-advantage by moving the production area of the scale.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.77-84
• /
• 2023

In the agricultural sector, power sources are being developed that use alternative energy sources such as electric tractors and hydrogen tractors, away from internal combustion engine tractors. As parts such as engines and transmissions used in conventional internal combustion engine tractors are replaced with motors and batteries, the center of gravity changes, and thus the risk of rollover should be considered. The purpose of this study is to analyze the overturn angle of the main parts of the electric tractor through dynamic simulation to minimize the overturn accident and to derive the optimal arrangement of parts to improve stability. A total of nine dynamics simulations were conducted by designing three components of the PTO motor, drive motor and the battery pack, and three factors of the arrangement method. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that Type3 Level3, in which the drive motor and the PTO motor are located at the front and rear of the tractor, and two battery packs are located in the middle of the tractor, has a high rollover angle. As a result of this study, the stability increased as the center of gravity was placed backward and located below. Future research needs to be done to find the optimal location of parts considering their performance and placement efficiency.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.529-533
• /
• 2023

The fundamental electrochemical properties and adsorption capabilities of the carbonized product derived from coffee grounds, a prevalent form of lignocellulose abundantly generated in our daily lives, have been extensively investigated. The structure and morphology of the resultant carbonized product, obtained through a carbonization process conducted at a relatively low temperature of 600 ℃, were meticulously examined using a scanning electron microscope. Raman spectroscopy measurements yielded a relative crystallinity (D/G ratio) of the carbon product of 0.64. Electrical measurements revealed a linear ohmic relationship within the carbonized product. Furthermore, the viability of utilizing this carbonized material as an anode in lithium-ion batteries was evaluated through half-cell charge/discharge experiments, demonstrating an initial specific capacity of 520 mAh/g. Additionally, the adsorption performance of the carbon material towards a representative dye molecule was assessed via UV spectroscopy analyses. Supplementary experiments corroborated the material's ability to adsorb a distinct model molecule characterized by differing surface polarity, achieved through surface modification. This article presents pivotal findings that hold substantial implications for forthcoming research endeavors centered around the recycling of lignocellulose waste.