• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
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• v.13 no.spc2
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• pp.308-311
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• 2012

A wide range of possible hazards existing in thermal batteries are mainly caused by thermal runaway, which results in overheating or explosion in extreme case. Battery separators ensure the separation between two electrodes and the retention of ion-conductive electrolytes. Thermal runaways in thermal batteries can be significantly reduced by the adoption of these separators. The high operating temperature and the violent reactivity in thermal batteries, however, have limited the introduction of conventional separators. As a substitute for separators, MgO powders have been mostly used as a binder to hold molten salt electrolyte. During recent decades the fabrication technology of ceramic fiber, which has excellent mechanical strength and chemical stability, has undergone significant improvement. In this study we adopted wet-laid nonwoven paper making method instead of the electrospinning method which is costly and troublesome to produce in volume. Polymeric precursor can readily be coated on the surface of wet-laid ceramic paper, and be formed into ceramic film after heat treatment. The mechanical strength and the thermo-chemical stability as well as the wetting behaviors of ceramic separators with various molten salts were investigated to be applicable to thermal batteries. Due to their excellent chemical, mechanical, and electrical properties, wet-laid nonwoven separators made from ceramic fibers have revealed positive possibility as new separators for thermal batteries which operate at high temperature with no conspicuous sign of a short circuit and corrosion.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.44 no.3 s.298
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• pp.182-187
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• 2007

10 mol% $Gd_{2}O_{3}-CeO_{2}$ powder was sintered by microwave in a 2.45 GHz multimode cavity to develop a dense electrolyte layer for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs). Samples were sintered from $1100^{\circ}C$ upto $1500^{\circ}C$ by $50^{\circ}C$ difference and kept for 10 min and 30 min at the maximum temperature respectively. Theoretical density of the sample sintered at $1200^{\circ}C$ for 10 min was 95.4% and increased gradually upto 99% in the sample sintered at $1500^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. All of sintered samples showed very fine microstructures and the maximum average grain size of the sintered sample at $1500^{\circ}C$ for 30 min was $(0.87{\pm}0.42){\mu}m$. Ionic conductvity of the samples were measured by DC 4 probe method.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.118-122
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• 2003

The performance evaluation on Pt loading in the self-humidifying polymer electrolyte membrane for Polymer Electrolyte Mem-Brane Fuel Cell(PEMFC) was investigated by using single cell test and measurement of membrane resistance. The self-humidifying membrane comprised two membranes made of perfluorosulfonylfluroride copolymer resin and fine Pt particles tying between them, coated by sputtering. From the results of performance characteristics of self-humidifying membrane cell with different Pt loading, a single cell using self-humidifying membrane with 0.15 mg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ Pt loading showed better performance than that with the others over entire current density. Also, a single cell with 0.15 mg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ Pt loading had a lower resistance value than the other cells under externally nonhumidifying condition. It is indicated that the water produced in the membrane cell with 0.15 mg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ Pt loading showed a higher provision to maintain ionic conductivity of the membrane than the other cells. The optimum amount of Pt particles embedded in the membrane for self-humidifying PEMFC was determined to be about 0.15 mg/$\textrm{cm}^2$.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.42 no.12 s.283
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• pp.787-792
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• 2005

A symmetrical LSCF $(La_{0.6}Sr_{0.4}Co_{0.2}Fe_{0.8}O_{3-\delta})\;ScSZ(89ZrO_2-10Sc_2O_3-1CeO_2)/LSCF$ electrochemical cell with a GDC (Gadolinium-Doped Ceria, $90CeO_2-10Gd_2O_3$) interlayer that was inserted between the LSCF cathode and ScSZ electrolyte was fabricated, and the electrochemical performance of these cells was evaluated. The GDC interlayer was deposited on a ScSZ electrolyte using a screen-printing technique. The GDC interlayer prevented the unfavorable solid-state reactions at the LSCF/ScSZ interfaces. The LSCF cathode on the GDC interlayer had excellent electrocatalytic performance even at $650^{\circ}C$. The Area Specific Resistance (ASR) was strongly dependent on the thickness and heat-treatment temperature of the GDC interlayer. The impedance spectra showed that the cell with a $15\~27{\mu}m$ thick GDC interlayer heat-treated at $1200^{\circ}C$ had the lowest ASR.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.67-71
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• 2011

The cathodic active material of $Li/SO_2Cl_2$ battery is $SO_2Cl_2$, which is the solvent of an electrolyte. It is referred to as a catholyte, a compound word of cathode and electrolyte. As the battery discharges, the catholyte burns out. And thus, the characteristics of the $SO_2Cl_2$ in the battery determine the capacity. In addition, the transition minimum voltage (TMV) and the voltage delay deviation of $Li/SO_2Cl_2$ battery are due to the passivation film formed by the reaction between an electrolyte and Li. Impurities in the electrolyte, such as moisture or heavy metal ions, will accelerate the growth of the passivation film. Therefore, a technology must be established to purify an electrolyte and to ensure the effectiveness of the purification method. In this research, $LiAlCl_4/SO_2Cl_2$ was manufactured using $AlCl_3$ and LiCl. Its concentration, the amount of moisture, and the metal amount were evaluated using an ionic conductivity meter, a colorimeter, and FT-IR.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.364-369
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• 2017

Ceramic powder, such as MgO, is added as a binder to prepare the green compacts of molten salts of an electrolyte for a thermal battery. Despite the addition of a binder, when the thickness of the electrolyte decreases to improve the battery performance, the problem with the unintentional short circuit between the anode and cathode still remains. To improve the current powder molding method, a new type of electrolyte separator with porous MgO preforms is prepared and characteristics of the thermal battery are evaluated. A Spherical PMMA polymer powder is added as a pore-forming agent in the MgO powder, and an organic binder is used to prepare slurry appropriate for tape casting. A porous MgO preform with $300{\mu}m$ thickness is prepared through a binder burnout and sintering process. The particle size of the starting MgO powder has an effect, not on the porosity of the porous MgO preform, but on the battery characteristics. The porosity of the porous MgO preforms is controlled from 60 to 75% using a pore-forming agent. The batteries prepared using various porosities of preforms show a performance equal to or higher than that of the pellet-shaped battery prepared by the conventional powder molding method.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.289-294
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• 2014

The stability of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack is strongly dependent on the magnitude and profile of the internal chemical potential of the solid electrolyte. If the internal partial pressure is too high, the electrolyte can be delaminated from the electrodes. The formation of high internal pressure is attributed to a negative cell voltage, and this phenomenon can occur in a bad cell (with higher resistance) in a stack. This fact implies that the internal chemical potential plays an important role in determining the lifetime of a stack. In the present work, we fabricate planar type anode-supported cells ($25cm^2$) with a bi-layer electrolyte (with locally increased electronic conduction at the anode side) to prevent high internal pressure, and we test the fabricated cells under a negative voltage condition. The results indicate that the addition of electronic conduction in the electrolyte can effectively depress internal pressure and improve the cell stability.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.53-56
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• 2004

Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) is considered as a candidate technology for applications in stationary, transportation as well as electronic power generation purposes. To develop a high performance direct methanol fuel cell(DMFC), a competent electrolyte membrane is needed. The electrolyte membrane should be durable and methanol crossover must be low. One of the approaches to increase the stability of generally used polymer electrolyte membranes such as Nafion against swelling or thermal degradation is to bond it with an inorganic material physically or chemically. In Noritake Company, we have developed a novel method of reinforcing the polymer electrolyte matrix with inorganic fibers. Methanol crossover values measured were significantly lower than the original polymer electrolyte membranes. These fiber reinforced electrolyte membranes (FREM) were used for DMFC study and stable power output values as high 160 mW/$\textrm{cm}^2$ were measured. The details of the characteristics of the membranes as well as I-V data of fuel cell stacks are detailed in the paper.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.467-472
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• 2015

Thermal batteries are primary power sources for military applications requiring high reliability, robustness and long storage life. Conventional electrodes for thermal batteries are prepared by compacting powder mixtures into pellets. Separator is composed of halide mixture, such as LiCl-KCl eutectic salt, blended with MgO to immobilize the molten salt. In order to increase the power density and energy density, the resistance of electrolyte should be reduced because the resistance of electrolyte is predominant in thermal batteries. In this study, wetting behaviors and impregnation weight of molten salts as well as the micro structures of ceramic felt were investigated to be applicable to thin electrolyte. Discharge performances of single cell with the ceramic separator impregnated by molten salt were evaluated also. Zirconia felt with high porosity and large pore outperformed alumina felt in wetting characteristics and molten salt impregnation as well as discharge performances. Based on the results of this study, ceramic felt separator impregnated with molten salt have revealed as an alternative of conventional thick MgO based separator with no conspicuous sign of thermal runaway by short circuit.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.694-700
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• 2008

Proton conducting oxides based on the $BaCe_{0.9}M_{0.1}O_{3-{\delta}}$ (M = La, AL) were tested for the alternative electrolyte materials of fuel cell. The power density for single cell of Air |Pt| $BaCe_{0.9}M_{0.1}O_{3-{\delta}}$ |Pt| $H_2(3%H_2O)$ system was maximum $0.04W/cm^2$ at $1000^{\circ}C$. In this system, proton transport number was proved to depend on the lattice parameters and the distortion of $CeO_6$ octahedral as a function of the ionic radii of acceptor ions. This proton conducting oxide system requires developing the new electrode materials for application.