• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.103-112
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• 2022

A gold amalgam voltammetric microelectrode (GAVM) system was developed for the quantification of dissolved biogeochemical species, such as O₂, Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺, and HS^- in sediment porewater. Commercially available Ag/AgCl and platinum electrodes were used as the reference and counter electrode, respectively, and a gold amalgam microelectrode was fabricated in the laboratory using 150-um diameter gold wire and a borosilicate capillary tube with a 1.6-mm diameter. A portable potentiostat (Metrohm, DropSens) was used for the application of voltage sweeping and to acquire the electric current. For sediment profiling, a commercially available actuator was customized and modified. The analysis method used in the system used the most widely used analysis method among the electrochemical analysis currently used The GAVM system was successively calibrated with the species and applied to estuarine sediments. The porewater analysis showed that the oxygen concentration was decreased to zero at a depth of 0.6 mm, and maximum Mn²⁺ and Fe²⁺ concentrations of 50 uM and 20 uM were detected at 2 and 3-cm depths, respectively. Maximum HS^- concentrations of 10 uM were detected at 4 cm in the deeper sediments. The GAVM system was successfully developed and applied to the sediment and can be used to better understand biogeochemical reactions.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.25-38
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• 2020

Photoelectrochemical water splitting has been considered as the most promising technology for generating hydrogen energy. Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) compounds have currently attracted tremendous attention due to their outstanding ability towards the catalytic water-splitting hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we report the synthesis method of various transition metal dichalcogenide including MoS₂, MoSe₂, WS₂, and WSe₂ nanosheets as excellent catalysts for solar-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen evolution. Photocathodes were fabricated by growing the nanosheets directly onto Si nanowire (NW) arrays, with a thickness of 20 nm. The metal ion layers were formed by soaking the metal chloride ethanol solution and subsequent sulfurization or selenization produced the transition metal chalcogenide. They all exhibit excellent PEC performance in 0.5 M H₂SO₄; the photocurrent reaches to 20 mA cm^-2 (at 0 V vs. RHE) and the onset potential is 0.2 V under AM1.5 condition. The quantum efficiency of hydrogen generation is avg. 90%. The stability of MoS₂ and MoSe₂ is 90% for 3h, which is higher than that (80%) of WS₂ and WSe₂. Detailed structure analysis using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for before/after HER reveals that the Si-WS₂ and Si-WSe₂ experience more oxidation of Si NWs than Si-MoS₂ and Si-MoSe₂. This can be explained by the less protection of Si NW surface by their flake shape morphology. The high catalytic activity of TMDs should be the main cause of this enhanced PEC performance, promising efficient water-splitting Si-based PEC cells.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.128-137
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• 2019

A lithium is the lightest metal on the earth. It has some attractive characteristics as a negative electrode material such as a low reduction potential (-3.04 V vs. SHE) and a high theoretical capacity ($3,860mAh\;g^{-1}$). Therefore, it has been studied as a next generation anode material for high energy lithium batteries. The thin lithium electrode is required to maximize the efficiency and energy density of the battery, but the physical roll-press method has a limitation in manufacturing thin lithium. In this study, thin lithium electrode was fabricated by electrodeposition under various conditions such as compositions of electrolytes and the current density. Deposited lithium showed strong relationship between process condition and its characteristics. The concentration of electrolyte affects to the shape of deposited lithium particle. As the concentration increases, the shape of particle changes from a sharp edged long one to a rounded lump. The former shape is favorable for suppressing dendrite formation and the elec-trode shows good stripping efficiency of 92.68% (3M LiFSI in DME, $0.4mA\;cm^{-2}$). The shape of deposited particle also affected by the applied current density. When the amount of current applied gets larger the shape changes to the sharp edged long one like the case of the low concentration electrolyte. The combination of salts and solvents, 1.5M LiFSI + 1.5M LiTFSI in DME : DOL [1 : 1 vol%] (Du-Co), was applied to the electrolyte for the lithium deposition. The lithium electrode obtained from this electrolyte composition shows the best stripping efficiency (97.26%) and the stable reversibility. This is presumed to be due to the stability of the surface film induced by the Li-F component and the DOL effect of providing film flexibility.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2015

The structures of reinforced concrete have been extensively increased with rapid development of industrial society. Futhermore, these reinforced concretes are easy to expose to severe corrosive environments such as seawater, contaminated water, acid rain and seashore etc.. Thus, corrosion problem of steel bar embedded in concrete is very important in terms of safety and economical point of view. In this study, specimens having six different coating thickness (W/C:0.5) were prepared and immersed in flowing seawater for five years to evaluate the effect of coating thickness and immersion time on corrosion property. The polarization characteristics of these embedded steel bars were investigated using electrochemical methods such as corrosion potential, anodic polarization curve, and impedance. At the 20-day immersion, the corrosion potentials exhibited increasingly nobler values with coating thickness. However, after 5-yr. immersion their values were shifted in the negative direction, and the relationship between corrosion potential and coating thickness was not shown. Although 5-yr. immersion lowered corrosion potential, 5-yr. immersion did not increase corrosion rate. In addition, after 5-yr. immersion, the thinner cover thickness, corrosion current density was decreased with thinning coating thickness. It is due to the fact that ease incorporation of water, dissolved oxygen and chloride ion into a steel surface caused corrosion and hence, leaded to the formation of corrosion product. The corrosion product plays the role as a corrosion barrier and increases polarization resistance. The corrosion probability evaluated depending on corrosion potential may not be a good method for predicting corrosion probability. Hence, the parameters including cover thickness and passed aged years as well as corrosion potential is suggested to be considered for better assessment of corrosion probability of reinforced steel exposed to partially or fully in marine environment for long years.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.1516-1522
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• 2014

A series of 20 wt % $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ and 3 wt % $Al_2O_3$ surface treatments were applied to $Li[Li_{0.2}Mn_{0.54}Co_{0.13}Ni_{0.13}]O_2$ substrates. The $Li[Li_{0.2}Mn_{0.54}Co_{0.13}Ni_{0.13}]O_2$ substrates were synthesized using a co-precipitation method. Sample (a) was left pristine and variations of the 20 wt % $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ and 3 wt % $Al_2O_3$ were applied to samples (b), (c) and (d). XRD was used to verify the space group of the samples as R$\bar{3}$m. Additional morphology and particle size data were obtained using SEM imagery. The $Al_2O_3$ coating layers of sample (b) and (d) were confirmed by TEM images and EDS mapping of the SEM images. 2032-type coin cells were fabricated in a glove box in order to investigate their electrochemical properties. The cells were charged and discharged at room temperature ($25^{\circ}C$) between 2.0V and 4.8V during the first cycle. The cells were then charged and discharged between 2.0V and 4.6V in subsequent cycles. Sample (d) exhibited lower irreversible capacity loss (ICL) in the first charge-discharge cycle as compared to sample (c). Sample (d) also had a higher discharge capacity of ~250 mAh/g during the first and second charge-discharge cycles when compared with sample (c). The rate capability of the $Al_2O_3$-coated sample (b) and (d) was lower when compared with sample (a) and (c). Sample (d), coated with $Al_2O_3$ after the surface treatment with $(NH_4)_2SO_4$, showed an improvement in cycle performance as well as an enhancement of discharge capacity. The thermal stability of sample (d) was higher than that of the sample (c) as the result of DSC.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.25-29
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• 2020

This study demonstrates direct-patternable amorphous TiO_x resistive switching (RS) device and the fabrication method using photochemical metal-organic deposition (PMOD). For making photosensitive stock solutions, Ti(IV) 2-ethylhexanoate was used as starting precursor. Photochemical reaction by UV exposure was observed and analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the reaction was completed within 10 minutes. Uniformly formed 20 nm thick amorphous TiO_x film was confirmed by atomic force microscopy. Amorphous TiO_x RS device, formed as 6 × 6 ㎛ square on 4 ㎛ width electrode, showed forming-less RS behavior in ±4 V and on/off ratio ≈ 20 at 0.1 V. This result shows PMOD process could be applied for low temperature processed ReRAM device and/or low cost, flexible memory device.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.417-417
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• 2016

Global environmental deterioration has become more serious year by year and thus scientific interests in the renewable energy as environmental technology and replacement of fossil fuels have grown exponentially. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell consisting of semiconductor photoelectrodes that can harvest light and use this energy directly to split water, also known as photoelectrolysis or solar water splitting, is a promising renewable energy technology to produce hydrogen for uses in the future hydrogen economy. A major advantage of PEC systems is that they involve relatively simple processes steps as compared to many other H2 production systems. Until now, a number of materials including TiO2, WO3, Fe2O3, and BiVO4 were exploited as the photoelectrode. However, the PEC performance of these single absorber materials is limited due to their large charge recombinations in bulk, interface and surface, leading low charge separation/transport efficiencies. Recently, coupling of two materials, e.g., BiVO4/WO3, Fe2O3/WO3 and CuWO4/WO3, to form a type II heterojunction has been demonstrated to be a viable means to improve the PEC performance by enhancing the charge separation and transport efficiencies. In this study, we have prepared a triple-layer heterojunction BiVO4/WO3/SnO2 photoelectrode that shows a comparable PEC performance with previously reported best-performing nanostructured BiVO4/WO3 heterojunction photoelectrode via a facile solution method. Interestingly, we found that the incorporation of SnO2 nanoparticles layer in between WO3 and FTO largely promotes electron transport and thus minimizes interfacial recombination. The impact of the SnO2 interfacial layer was investigated in detail by TEM, hall measurement and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. In addition, our planar-structured triple-layer photoelectrode shows a relatively high transmittance due to its low thickness (~300 nm), which benefits to couple with a solar cell to form a tandem PEC device. The overall PEC performance, especially the photocurrent onset potential (Vonset), were further improved by a reactive-ion etching (RIE) surface etching and electrocatalyst (CoOx) deposition.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.248-255
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• 2017

Many rivers and seas have been affected by environmental contamination. Therefore, city water supplies often require a high-degree purification treatment to provide safe drinking water. However, in order to achieve a high-degree purification treatment, a large amount of chlorine has to be added to sterilize city drinking water. The added chlorine reacts chemically with water and forms hypochlorous and chlorine ions. The hypochlorous ionizes with hypochlorous ions and hydrogen ions. As a result, the city water contains a large amount of chlorine ion. As such, when city water is used with domestic boilers, many kinds of heat exchangers, and the engines of vehicle and ships, there are often corrosion problems. In this study, alkali water was electrochemically made by electrolysis of city water, and corrosion properties between alkali and city water were investigated with an electrochemical method. Most of the chlorine ions are thought to not be contained in the alkali water because the alkali water is created in the cathodic chamber with an electrolysis process. In other words, the chlorine ion can be mostly removed by its migration from a cathodic chamber to an anodic chamber. Moreover, the alkali water also contains a large amount of hydroxide ion. The alkali water indicated relatively good corrosion resistance compared to the city water and the city water exhibited a local corrosion pattern due to the chlorine ion created by a high-degree purification treatment. In contrast, the alkali water showed a general corrosion pattern. Consequently, alkali water can be used with cooling water to inhibit local corrosion by chlorine ions in domestic boilers, various heat exchangers and the engine of ships and for structural steel in a marine structure.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1199-1205
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• 2017

Global energy consumption is rapidly increasing yearly due to drastic industrial advances, requiring the development of new energy storage devices. For this reason, supercapacitors with fast charge-discharge, long life cycle and high power density is getting attention, and have been considered as one of the potential energy storage systems. In this research, we developed a supercapacitor that consists of amorphous manganese oxide($MnO_2$) electrodes deposited onto carbon cloth substrates using the hydrothermal method. The Fe-doped amorphous $MnO_2$ samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDX), as well as scanning electron microscopy(SEM). The electrochemical analysis of the prepared samples were performed using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements in 1M $Na_2SO_4$ electrolyte. The test results demonstrate that the supercapacitor based on the Fe-doped amorphous $MnO_2$ electrodes has a specific capacitance as high as 163F/g at 1A/g current density, and good cycling stability of 87.34% capacitance retention up to 1000 cycles.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.157-162
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• 2014

In this research, we investigate electrical performance and electrochemical properties of carbon supported Pt (Pt/C) that is synthesized by polyol method. With the Polyol_Pt/C that is adopted for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) as cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), their catalytic activity and ORR performance and electrical performance are estimated and compared with commercial Pt/C(Johnson Mattey) catalyst. Their electrochemically active surface (EAS) area are measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV), respectively. On the other hand, regarding ORR activity and electrical performance of the catalysts, (i) linear sweeping voltammetry by rotating disk electrode and (ii) PEMFC single cell tests are used. The CV measurement demonstrate EAS of Polyol_Pt/C is compared with commercial JM_Pt/C. In case of Polyol_Pt/C, its half-wave potential, kinetic current density are excellent. Based on data obtained by half-cell test, when PEMFC single cell tests are carried out, current density measured at 0.6V and maximum power density of the PEMFC single cell employing Polyol_Pt/C are better than those employing commercial Pt/C. Conclusively, Polyol_Pt/C synthesized by modified polyol process shows better ORR catalytic activity and PEMFC performance than other catalysts.