• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• 제11권3호
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• pp.220-237
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• 2020

Modern electrochemical energy devices involve generation and reduction of fuel gases through electrochemical reactions of water splitting, alcohol oxidation, oxygen reduction, etc. Initially, these processes were executed in the presence of noble metal-based catalyst that showed low overpotential and high current density. However, its high cost, unavailability, corrosion and related toxicity limited its application. The search for alternative with high stability, durability, and efficiency led scientists towards carbon nanoparticles supported catalysts which has high surface area, good electrical conductivity, tunable morphology, low cost, ease of synthesis and stability. Carbon nanoparticles are classified into two groups based on morphology, one and zero dimensional particles. Carbon nanoparticles at zero dimension, denoted as carbon dots, are less used carbon support compared to other forms. However, recently carbon dots with improved electronic properties have become popular as catalyst as well as catalyst support. This review focused on the recent advances in electrocatalytic activities of carbon dots. The mechanisms of common electrocatalytic reactions and the role of the catalysts are also discussed. The review also proposed future developments and other research directions to overcome current limitations.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• 제5권4호
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• pp.95-104
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• 2014

Electrochemical performance of Li-ion cells with $LiMn_2O_4$ cathodes and graphite anodes with carbonates electrolytes containing quaternary ammonium-based room temperature ionic liquids (ILs) is investigated. Eight different ILs based on tetraalkylammonium, pyrrolidinium or piperidinium cations paired with bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide or tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate anions are examined in combination with dimethyl carbonate as a main solvent and fluoroethylene carbonate as a solid electrolyte interface forming agent. It is shown that cycling properties of the cells are strongly affected by the content of ILs in the electrolyte mixtures and its increase corresponds to lower discharge capacity retention. Since viscosity and conductivity of ILs are of a great importance for the electrolytes formulation, some kind of combined parameter should be used for the assessment of IL applicability and calculated values of Walden products for neat ILs represent one of the possible options. Besides, positive effect of ILs on reduction of flammability and enhancement of thermal stability of electrolytes in contact with charged electrodes have been demonstrated by means of self-extinguishing time test and differential scanning calorimetry respectively.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.21-24
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• 2010

We present a novel electrochemical method to fabricate a single Pd nanowire based on direct current assisted dielectropheresis (DEP) process between two predefined metal electrodes. The electrochemical methods was investigated as functions of frequency and voltage for optimal growth conditions of Pd nanowire. The synthesized Pd nanowire have a good resistance of $1\;k{\Omega}$, diameters of several hundred nanometers on average and lengths of $8\;{\mu}m$. Finally, the single Pd nanowire was capable of detecting hydrogen in the concentration range from 100 to 2500 ppm with high sensitivity and response time, thus demonstrating its suitability for use as a hydrogen sensor.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2007년도 추계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.143-146
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• 2007

Birnessite-type manganese dioxide($MnO_2$) was coated uniformly onto carbon nanotubes (CNTs) through a spontaneous direct redox reaction between CNTs and permanganate ions($MnO_4\;^-$). The initial specific capacitance of the $MnO_2/CNT$ nanocomposite in an organic electrolyte at a large current density of 1 A/g was 250 F/g, which is equivalent to 139 mAh/g based on the total weight of the electrode material including the electroactive material, conducting agent and binder. The specific capacitance of the $MnO_2$ in the $MnO_2/CNT$ nanocomposite was as high as 580 F/g (320 mAh/g), indicating excellent electrochemical utilization of the $MnO_2$. The addition of CNTs as a conducting agent can improve the high rate capability of $MnO_2/CNT$ nanocomposite considerably. An analysis of the in-situ X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) showed an improvement in the structural and electrochemical reversibility of the $MnO_2/CNT$ nanocomposite by heat-treatment.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• 제39권8호
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• pp.838-842
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• 2015

The Li-air battery is a promising candidate for the most energy-dense electrochemical power source because it has 5 to 10 times greater energy storage capacity than that of Li-ion batteries. However, the Li-air cell performance falls short of the theoretical estimate, primarily because the discharge terminates well before the pore volume of the air electrode is completely filled with lithium oxides. Therefore, the structure of carbon used in the air electrode is a critical factor that affects the performance of Li-air batteries. In a previous study, we reported a new class of carbon nanomaterial, named carbon nanoballs (CNBs), consisting of highly mesoporous spheres. Structural characterization revealed that the synthesized CNBs have excellent a meso-macro hierarchical pore structure, with an average diameter greater than 10 nm and a total pore volume more than $1.00cm^3g^{-1}$. In this study, CNBs are applied in an actual Li-air battery to evaluate the electrochemical performance. The formation mechanism and electrochemical performance of the CNBs are discussed in detail.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• 제7권3호
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• pp.228-233
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• 2016

It is hard to employ the carbon materials or the lithium metal foil for the anode of lithium sulfur batteries because of the poor passivation in ether-based electrolytes and the formation of lithium dendrites, respectively. Herein, we investigated the electrochemical characteristics of lithium sulfur batteries with lithiated silicon anode in the liquid electrolytes based on ether solvents. The silicon anodes were lithiated by direct contact with lithium foil in a 1M lithium bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl) imide (LiTFSI) solution in 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME) and 1,3-dioxolane (DOL) at a volume ratio of 1:1. They were readily lithiated up to ~40% of their theoretical capacity with a 30 min contact time. In particular, the carbon mesh reported in our previous work was employed in order to maximize the performance by capturing the dissolved polysulfide in sulfur cathode. The reversible specific capacity of the lithiated silicon-sulfur batteries with carbon mesh was 1,129 mAh/g during the first cycle, and was maintained at 297 mAh/g even after 50 cycles at 0.2 C, without any problems of poor passivation or lithium dendrite formation.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• 제30권6호
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• pp.549-555
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• 2019

Electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) using Pt nanoparticles or bimetal on carabon was studied. Currently, the best catalyst is platinum, which is a limited resource and expensive to commercialize. In this paper, we investigated the cheaper and more active electrocatalysts by making Pt nanoparticles and adding 3D transition metal such as copper. Electrocatalysts were obtained by chemical reduction based on ethylene glycol solutions. Elemental analysis and particle size were confirmed by XRD and TEM. The electrochemical surface area (ECSA) and activity of the catalyst were determined by electrochemical techniques such as cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry method. The commercialized Pt support on carbon (Pt/C, JM), synthesis Pt/C and synthesis Pt3Cu1 alloy nanoparticles supported on carbon were compared. We confirmed that the synthesized Pt3-Cu1/C has high electrochemical performance than commercial Pt/C. It is expected to develop an electrocatalyst with high activity at low price by increasing the oxygen reduction reaction rate of the fuel cell.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제47권7호
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• pp.849-858
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• 2015

This study set the pyroprocess facility at an engineering scale as a cost object, and presented the cost consumed during the unit processes of the pyroprocess. For the cost calculation, the activity based costing (ABC) method was used instead of the engineering cost estimation method, which calculates the cost based on the conceptual design of the pyroprocess facility. The calculation results demonstrate that the pyroprocess facility's unit process cost is $194/kgHM for pretreatment, $298/kgHM for electrochemical reduction, $226/kgHM for electrorefining, and $299/kgHM for electrowinning. An analysis demonstrated that the share of each unit process cost among the total pyroprocess cost is as follows: 19% for pretreatment, 29% for electrochemical reduction, 22% for electrorefining, and 30% for electrowinning. The total unit cost of the pyroprocess was calculated at $1,017/kgHM. In the end, electrochemical reduction and the electrowinning process took up most of the cost, and the individual costs for these two processes was found to be similar. This is because significant raw material cost is required for the electrochemical reduction process, which uses platinum as an anode electrode. In addition, significant raw material costs are required, such as for $Li_3PO_4$, which is used a lot during the salt purification process.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• 제30권5호
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• pp.418-427
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• 2019

Activated carbon was synthesized from bamboo charcoal by KOH activation at various temperatures for electrochemical double layer capacitor applications. The micro-structural and surface properties of all the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and N2 adsorption/desorption isotherm method. The electrochemical properties of the activated bamboo charcoal were examined by cyclic voltammetry in the potential window of -1.0 to 0.2 V in 6 M KOH electrolyte at different scan rates. An electrode made from the sample activated with 7.5 M KOH and heat treated at $750^{\circ}C$ for 3 h gave a maximum capacitance of 553 F/g at 1 mV/s and 450 F/g at 10mV/s.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.153-163
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• 2023

Two types of accelerated tests, Water Drop Test (WDT) and Temperature-Humidity-Bias Test (THBT), can be used to evaluate the susceptibility to electrochemical migration (ECM). In the WDT, liquid water is directly applied to a specimen, typically a patterned conductor like a printed circuit board. Time to failure in the WDT typically ranges from several seconds to several minutes. On the other hand, the THBT is conducted under elevated temperature and humidity conditions, allowing for assessment of design and life cycle factors on ECM. THBT is widely recognized as a more suitable method for reliability testing than WDT. In both test methods, localized corrosion can be observed on the anode. Composition of dendrites formed during the WDT is similar to that formed during THBT. However, there is a lack of correlation between the time to failure obtained from WDT and that obtained from THBT. In this study, we investigated the relationship between electrochemical parameters and time to failure obtained from both WDT and THBT. Differences in time to failure can be attributed to actual anode potential obtained in the two tests.