• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.667-673
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• 2009

The electrocatalytic characteristics of oxygen reduction reaction of the $PtxM_{(1-x)}$ (M = Co, Cu, Ni) supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) have been evaluated in a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC). The $Pt_xM_{(1-x)}$/MWNTs catalysts with a Pt : M atomic ratio of about 3 : 1 were synthesized and applied to the cathode of PEMFC. The crystalline structure and morphology images of the $Pt_xM_{(1-x)}$ particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. The results showed that the crystalline structure of the Pt alloy particles in Pt/MWNTs and $Pt_xM_{(1-x)}$/MWNTs catalysts are seen as FCC, and synthesized $Pt_xM_{(1-x)}$ crystals have lattice parameters smaller than the pure Pt crystal. According to the electrochemical surface area (ESA) calculated with cyclic voltammetry analysis, $Pt_{0.77}Co_{0.23}$/MWNTs catalyst has higher ESA than the other catalysts. The evaluation of a unit cell test using Pt/MWNTs or $Pt_xM_{(1-x)}$/MWNTs as the cathode catalysts demonstrated higher cell performance than did a commercial Pt/C catalyst. Among the MWNTs-supported Pt and $Pt_xM_{(1-x)}$ (M = Co, Cu, Ni) catalysts, the $Pt_{0.77}Co_{0.23}$/MWNTs shows the highest performance with the cathode catalyst of PEMFC because they had the largest ESA.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.436-442
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• 2014

$LaCoO_3$ powders synthesized by Pechini process were pulverized by planetary ball-milling to decrease particle size and characterized as a catalyst in alkaline solution for oxygen reduction and evolution reaction (ORR & OER). The changes of physical properties, such as particle size distribution, surface area and electric conductivity, were analyzed as a function of ball-milling time. Also, the variations of the crystal structure and surface morphology of ball-milled powders were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The electrochemically catalytic activities of the intrinsic $LaCoO_3$ powders decreased with increasing ball-milling time, but their electrochemical performance as an electrode improved by the increase of the surface area of the powder.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.322-331
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• 2017

Hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) was studied over $Ni_4Cr$ nanofibers(NFs) prepared by electrospinning method and oxidation/reduction heat treatment for alkaline water electrolysis. The physicochemical and electrochemical properties such as average diameter, lattice parameter, HER activity of synthesized $Ni_4Cr$ NFs could be modified by proper electrospinning process condition and reduction temperature. It was shown that $Ni_4Cr$ NFs had average diameter from 151 to 273 nm. Also, it exhibited the overpotential between 0.419 V and 0.526 V at $1mA/cm^2$ and Tafel slope of -334.75 mV to -444.55 mV per decade in 1 M KOH solution. These results indicate that $Ni_4Cr$ NFs with reduction heat treatment at $600^{\circ}C$ show thinnest diameter and highest HER activity among the other catalysts.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.633-639
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• 2018

In anion exchange membrane fuel cells, Pd nanoparticles are extensively studied as promising non-Pt catalysts due to their electronic structure similar to Pt. In this study, to fabricate Pd nanoparticles well dispersed on carbon support materials, we propose a synthetic strategy using mixed organic ligands with different chemical structures and functions. Simultaneously to control the Pd particle size and dispersion, a ligand mixture composed of oleylamine(OA) and trioctylphosphine(TOP) is utilized during thermal decomposition of Pd precursors. In the ligand mixture, OA serves mainly as a reducing agent rather than a stabilizer since TOP, which has a bulky structure, more strongly interacts with the Pd metal surface as a stabilizer compared to OA. The specific roles of OA and TOP in the Pd nanoparticle synthesis are studied according to the mixture composition, and the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) activity and durability of highly-dispersed Pd nanocatalysts with different particles sizes are investigated. The results of this study confirm that the Pd nanocatalyst with large particles has high durability compared to the nanocatalyst with small Pd nanoparticles during the accelerated degradation tests although they initially indicated similar ORR performance.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.646-652
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• 2018

During a long-term operation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells(PEMFCs), the fuel cell performance may degrade due to severe agglomeration and dissolution of metal nanoparticles in the cathode. To enhance the electrochemical durability of metal catalysts and to prevent the particle agglomeration in PEMFC operation, this paper proposes a hybrid catalyst structure composed of PtCo alloy nanoparticles encapsulated by porous carbon layers. In the hybrid catalyst structure, the dissolution and migration of PtCo nanoparticles can be effectively prevented by protective carbon shells. In addition, $O_2$ can properly penetrate the porous carbon layers and react on the active Pt surface, which ensures high catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction. Although the hybrid catalyst has a much smaller active surface area due to the carbon encapsulation compared to a commercial Pt catalyst without a carbon layer, it has a much higher specific activity and significantly improved durability than the Pt catalyst. Therefore, it is expected that the designed hybrid catalyst concept will provide an interesting strategy for development of high-performance fuel cell catalysts.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.556-564
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• 2014

To synthesize a high-performance photocatalyst, N doped $TiO_2$ nanotubes deposited with Ag nanoparticles were synthesized, and surface characteristics, electrochemical behaviors, and photocatalytic activity were investigated. The $TiO_2$ nanotubular photocatalyst was fabricated by anodization; the Ag nanoparticles on the $TiO_2$ nanotubes were synthesized by a reduction reaction in $AgNO_3$ solution under UV irradiation. The XPS results of the N doped $TiO_2$ nanotubes showed that the incorporated nitrogen ions were located in interstitial sites of the $TiO_2$ crystal structure. The N doped titania nanotubes exhibited a high dye degradation rate, which is effectively attributable to the increase of visible light absorption due to interstitial nitrogen ions in the crystalline $TiO_2$ structure. Moreover, the precipitated Ag particles on the titania nanotubes led to a decrease in the rate of electron-hole recombination; the photocurrent of this electrode was higher than that of the pure titania electrode. From electrochemical and dye degradation results, the photocurrent and photocatalytic efficiency were found to have been significantly affected by N doping and the deposition of Ag particles.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.100-104
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• 2008

Titanium sheet metal substrates used in thin film batteries were wet etched and their surface area was increased in order to increase the discharge capacity and power density of the batteries. To obtain a homogeneous etching pattern, we used a conventional photolithographic process. Homogeneous hemisphere-shaped wells with a diameter of approximately $40\;{\mu}m$ were formed on the surface of the Ti substrate using a photo-etching process with a $20\;{\mu}m{\times}20\;{\mu}m$ square patterned photo mask. All-solid-state thin film cells composed of a Li/Lithium phosphorous oxynitride (Lipon)/$LiCoO_2$ system were fabricated onto the wet etched substrate using a physical vapor deposition method and their performances were compared with those of the cells on a bare substrate. It was found that the discharge capacity of the cells fabricated on wet etched Ti substrate increased by ca. 25% compared to that of the cell fabricated on bare one. High discharge rate was also able to be obtained through the reduction in the internal resistance. However, the cells fabricated on the wet etched substrate exhibited a higher degradation rate with charge-discharge cycling due to the nonuniform step coverage of the thin films, while the cells on the bare substrate demonstrated a good cycling performance.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.85-89
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• 2000

For replacing Li metal at Lithium ion Battery(LIB) system, we used carbon powder material which prepared by Pyrolysis of Phenol resin as starting material. It became amorphous carbon by Pyrolysis through it's self condensation by thermal treatment. Amorphous carbon can be doped with Li intercalation and deintercalation because it has wide interlayer. However, it has a problem with structural destroy due to weak carbon-carbon bond. So, we used $ZnCl_2$ as the pore-forming agent. This inorganic salt was used together with the resin serves not only as the pore-forming agent to form open pores, which grow into a three-dimensional network structure in the cured material, but also as the microstructure-controlling agent to form a loose structure doped with bulky dopants. We used SEM in order to find to difference of structure, and can calculate the distance of interlayer by XRD analysis. CV test showed oxidation and reduction.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.416-423
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• 2019

A novel non-enzymatic oxalic acid (OA) sensor based on the platinum/carbon black-nickel-reduced graphene oxide (Pt/CBNi-rGO) nanocomposite is reported. The nanocomposites were prepared by the ethylene glycol reduction method. Their morphology and chemical composition were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results clearly demonstrated the formation of the Pt/CB-Ni-rGO nanocomposite. The electrocatalytic activity of the Pt/CB-Ni-rGO electrode was investigated by cyclic voltammetry. It was determined that the appropriate amount of Pt enhanced the catalytic activity of Pt for oxalic acid electro-oxidation. Moreover, the modified electrode was determined to be highly selective for oxalic acid without interference from compounds commonly found in urine including uric acid and ascorbic acid. The chronoamperometric signal gave a wide linearity range of 20 μM-60 mM and the detection limit (3σ) was found to be 2.35 μM. The proposed method showed high selectivity, stability, and good reproducibility and could be used with micro-volumes of sample for the detection of oxalic acid. Finally, the oxalic acid content in artificial and control urine samples were successfully determined by our proposed electrode.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.13-16
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• 2008

Solid oxide fuel cell(SOFC) is an electrochemical energy conversion system with high efficiency and low-emission of pollution. In order to reduce the operating temperature of SOFC system under $800^{\circ}C$, the thickness reduction of YSZ electrolyte to be as thin as possible, e.g., less than 10 ${\mu}m$ are considered with the microstructure control and optimum design of unit cell. Methods for reducing the thickness of YSZ electrolyte have been investigated in coin cell. Moreover, a large unit cell($8cm{\times}8cm$) for SOFC was fabricated using an anode-supported electrolyte assembly with a thinner electrolyte layer, which was prepared by a tape casting method with a co-sintering technique. we studied the design factors such as active layer, electrolyte thickness, cathode composition, etc,. by the coin type of unit cell ahead of the fabrication process of a large unit cell and also reviewed about the evaluation technique of a large size unit cell such as interconnect design, sealing materials and current collector and so forth. Electrochemical evaluations of the unit cells, including measurements such as power density and impedance, were performed and analyzed. Maximum power density and polarization impedance of coin cell were 0.34W/$cm^2$ and $0.45{\Omega}cm^2$ at $800^{\circ}C$, respectively. However, Maxium power density of a large unit cell($5cm{\times}5cm$) decreased to 0.21W/$cm^2$ at $800^{\circ}C$ due to the increase of ohmic resistance. However, It was found that the potential value of a large unit cell loaded by 0.22A/$cm^2$ showed 0.76V at 100hrs without the degradation of unit cell.