• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.161-171
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• 1997

$AB_2$ type Zr-based Laves phase alloys have been studied for potential application as negative electrode in Ni/MH batteries. However, They have a serious disadvantage of poor activation behavior in KOH solution. In this work, a new method of alloy design method was tried for improving Zr-based alloy activation. this method has focused on phase controlling to make multi-phase microstructure. In the case of multi-phase Zr-V-Mn-Ni shows good performance in activation, but activation mechanism has not been known. So, we were in search of elucidating this mechanism, Using morphological and electrochemical analysis, we could find that surface morphology and electocatalytic activity of the alloy change during immersion in KOH solution. V-rich second phases are selectively corroded and dissolved and then become Ni-rich phases. Resulting from these surface reaction in KOH solution, self-hydrogen charging occurs through Ni-rich phase. However, the alloy has poor cyclic durability because of such a corrosion mechanism. Therefore, finally we developed durable alloys by substitution of other alloying element.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.1341-1345
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• 2011

A novel ruthenium(II) complex, [$RuCl_2(DMSO)_2$(PhenTPy)] has been synthesized by the condensation of $RuCl_2(DMSO)_4$ with (1-(1,10-phenanthrolinyl)-2,5-di(2-thienyl)-1H-pyrrole)[PhenTPy] in $CHCl_3$ solution. The [$RuCl_2(DMSO)_2$(PhenTPy)] complex modified electrode was fabricated through the electropolymerization of the monomer in a 0.1 M tetrabutylammonium perchlorate (TBAP)/$CH_2Cl_2$ solution, to take advantage of the electronic communication between metal ion center by the conjugated backbone. The UV-visible spectroscopy (UV), mass spectrometry (MS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV) were employed to characterize the [$RuCl_2(DMSO)_2$(PhenTPy)] complex and its polymer (poly-Ru(II)Phen complex). The poly-Ru(II)Phen complex modified electrode exhibited an electrocatalytic activity to the oxidation of acetaminophen and the catalytic property was used for the analysis of acetaminophen at the concentration range between 0.09 and 0.01 mM in a phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.0).

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.2271-2278
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• 2007

Electron transfer of a redox protein at a bare gold electrode is too slow to observe the redox peaks. A novel Nafion-riboflavin functional membrane was constructed during this study and electron transfer of cytochrome c, superoxide dismutase, and hemoglobin were carried out on the functional membrane-modified gold electrode with good stability and repeatability. The immobilized protein-modified electrodes showed quasireversible electrochemical redox behaviors with formal potentials of 0.150, 0.175, and 0.202 V versus Ag/AgCl for the cytochrome c, superoxide dismutase and hemoglobin, respectively. Whole experiment was carried out in the 50 mM MOPS buffer solution with pH 6.0 at 25 oC. For the immobilized protein, the cathodic transfer coefficients were 0.67, 0.68 and 0.67 and electron transfer-rate constants were evaluated to be 2.25, 2.23 and 2.5 s?1, respectively. Hydrogen peroxide concentration was measured by the peroxidase activity of hemoglobin and our experiment revealed that the enzyme was fully functional while immobilized on the Nafion-riboflavin membrane.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.3671-3676
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• 2013

A series of carbon nanotube, $C_{60}$, and graphene modified $TiO_2$ nanocomposites were prepared by hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction, $N_2$ adsorption, UV-Vis spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and Electrochemical impedance spectra were used to characterize the prepared composite materials The results reveal that incorporating $TiO_2$ with carbon materials can extend the adsorption edge of all the $TiO_2$-carbon nanocomposites to the visible light region. The photocatalytic activities were tested in the degradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) under visible light. No obvious difference in essence was observed in structural and optical properties among three series of carbon modified $TiO_2$ nanocomposites. Three series of carbon materials modified $TiO_2$ composites follow the analogous tentative reaction mechanism for TCP degradation. GR modified $TiO_2$ nanocomposite exhibits the strongest interaction and the most effective interfacial charge transfer among three carbon materials, thus shows the highest electron-hole separation rate, leading to the highest photocatalytic activity and stability.

• Carbon letters
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• v.28
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• pp.105-110
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• 2018

Owing to their scalability, flexible operation, and long cycle life, vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) have gained immense attention over the past few years. However, the VRFBs suffer from significant polarization, which decreases their cell efficiency. The activation polarization occurring during vanadium redox reactions greatly affects the overall performance of VRFBs. Therefore, it is imperative to develop electrodes with numerous catalytic sites and a long cycle life. In this study, we synthesized heteroatom-rich carbon-based freestanding papers (H-CFPs) by a facile dispersion and filtration process. The H-CFPs exhibited high specific surface area (${\sim}820m^2g^{-1}$) along with a number of redox-active heteroatoms (such as oxygen and nitrogen) and showed high catalytic activity for vanadium redox reactions. The H-CFP electrodes showed excellent electrochemical performance. They showed low anodic and cathodic peak potential separation (${\Delta}E_p$) values of ~120 mV (positive electrolyte) and ~124 mV (negative electrolyte) in cyclic voltammetry conducted at a scan rate of $5mV\;s^{-1}$. Hence, the H-CFP-based VRFBs showed significantly reduced polarization.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.817-821
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• 2016

Levodopa or L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) is the direct precursor of the neurotransmitter dopamine. L-DOPA is a well-known neuroprotective agent for the treatment of Parkinson's disease symptoms. L-DOPA was synthesized using the enzyme, tyrosinase, as a biocatalyst for the conversion of L-tyrosine to L-DOPA and an electrochemical method for reducing L-DOPAquinone, the product resulting from enzymatic synthesis, to L-DOPA. In this study, three electrode systems were used: A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) as working electrode, a platinum, and a Ag/AgCl electrode as auxiliary and reference electrodes, respectively. GCE has been modified using electropolymerization of pyrrole to facilitate the electron transfer process and immobilize tyrosinase. Optimum conditions for the electropolymerization modified electrode were a temperature of $30^{\circ}C$ and a pH of 7 producing L-DOPA concentration 0.315 mM. After 40 days, the relative activity of an enzyme for electropolymerization remained 38.6%, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2014

Here we report improved photo-catalytic effect of $Ag_2S$ under visible light using carbon nano-tubes (CNT) modified with $Ag_2S$ nanoparticles. The optical properties, structural properties and compositional analysis, as well as the photo-electrochemical properties of the prepared composites were investigated. It was found that the photocurrent density, and the photo-catalytic effect, was increased by modification of CNT in this way. Compared with the separate effects of $Ag_2S$ and CNT nanoparticles, the photocatalytic effect of CNT-modified-with-$Ag_2S$ composites, increased significantly due to a synergistic effect between the CNT and the $Ag_2S$ nanoparticles.

• 한국전기화학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.37-42
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• 2001

The electrooxidation of methanol was studied using Pt, PtNi(1.1 and 3:1), PtRuNi and PtRu(1:1) alloy nanoparticles in sulfuric acid solution for application to a direct methanol fuel cell. The PtNi and PtRuNi alloys showed excellent catalytic activities compared to those of pure Pt and PtRu. The role of Ni in the electrocatalytic activity was investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The XPS data confirm that the chemical states of Pt are exclusively metal as well as the presence of metallic Ni, NiO, $Ni(OH)_2$, NiOOH, metallic Ru, $RuO_2$, and $RuO_3$. Negative shifts of the binding energies of Pt for the PtNi alloy nanoparticles were determined by XPS measurements. This can be explained based by assuming that the enhanced activities of PtNi alloys for methanol electrooxidation were caused by the oxide states of Ni and by the change in the electronic structure of Pt component in the alloys.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.388-394
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• 2004

LiCoO$_2$ as the cathode activity material for lithium secondary battery was prepared from a homogeneously mixed powder of LiNO$_3$/Co by SHS process under argon gas. The characteristics of powder including electrochemical properties were investigated according to various reaction conditions. The reaction temperature/velocity and the size of LiCoO$_2$ were controlled by Li/Co molar ratio and a cooling rate of the specimen, respectively. The maximum discharge capacity was 145 mAh/g on 1.05 Li/Co molar ratio and the relatively stable cycling characteristic with 6.4% of capacity fading was obtained after 10th charging-discharging test.

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.35-37
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• 2014

PEC (photoelectrochemical) water splitting for $O_2/H_2$ production is one of the promising but difficult way to utilize solar energy. Among photocatalytic materials for PEC water oxidation, $BiVO_4$ (Eg = 2.4 eV) has been recently intensively studied since it has various advantageous properties. But its maximum efficiency has not been realized owing to kinetic factors - slow water oxidation at surface & insufficient stability. These problems can be simultaneously solved by application of oxygen evolution catalyst (OEC) such as $CoO_x$, Co-Pi, $IrO_x$ etc. Herein we report the first successful application of $NiFeO_x$ OEC on $BiVO_4$, showing good performance compared to other effective OEC applied on $BiVO_4$ under basic conditions. The enhanced activity of OEC loaded $BiVO_4$ has been supported by the surface charge separation efficiency and electrochemical impedance studies.