• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.461-466
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• 2010

In this study the feasibility of simultaneous electricity generation and treatment of swine farm wastewater using microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was examined. Two single-chamber MFCs containing an anode filled with different ratio of graphite felt and stainless-steel cross strip was used in all tests. The proportion of stainless-steel cross strip to graphite felt in the anode of control microbial fuel cell (CMFC) was higher than that of swine microbial fuel cell (SMFC) to reduce construction costs. SMFCs produced a stable current of 18 mA by swine wastewater with chemical oxygen demand (COD) of $3.167{\pm}80\;mg/L$ after enriched. The maximum power density and current density of SMFCs were $680\;mW/m^3$ and $3,770\;mA/m^3$, respectively. In the CMFC, power density and current density was lower than that of SMFC. CODs decreased by the SMFC and CMFC from $3.167{\pm}80$ to $865{\pm}21$ and $930{\pm}14\;mg/L$, achieving 72.7% and 70.6% COD removal, respectively. The suspended solid (SS) of both fuel cells was also reduced over 99% ($4,533{\pm}67$ to $24.0{\pm}6.0\;mg/L$). The concentration of nutritive salts, ${NH_4}^+$, ${NO_3}^-$, and ${PO_4}^{3-}$, dropped by 65.4%, 57.5%, and 73.7% by the SMFC, respectively. These results were similar with those of CMFC. These results show that the microbial fuel cells using electrode with mix stainless-steel cross strip and graphite felt can treat the swine wastewater simultaneously with an electricity generation from swine wastewater.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.224-231
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• 2000

The exfoliation of graphite (layer) was progressed due to the irreversible insertion of PC molecules between graphene layers, when propylene carbonate (PC) solvent was used as the organic solvents. The problem could be mitigated by the replacement of PC by ethylene carbonate (EC). But, the freezing point of EC-based electrolyte increased due to the high freezing point of $EC(36.2^{\circ}C)$. Therefore, EC+PC mixed electrolyte is expected as a good organic electrolyte for lithium ion battery. The EC-based organic electrolyte containing PC within pertinent quantity can be expected to have high molar conductivity and reduced exfoliation of graphite layer. The dielectric constant and molar conductivity of $LiPF_6/PC+EC+DEC$ electrolyte was investigated with a variation in the PC content. The electrochemical properties of carbon electrode in the electrolyte were also investigated. Molar conductivity and dielectric constant increased linearly by increasing the PC volume fraction in the electrolyte. The results of charge-discharge test for carbon/electrolyte/Li cell indicated that the initial irreversible specific capacity(IIC) of MCMB-6-28s and MPCF3000 decreased by the addition of $0.83 vol\%$ of PC, but increased with PC content over than $0.83 vol\%$. In the case of MPCF3000 and PCG100 having less than $10 vol\%$ PC, IIC was lower than 50 mAh/g. The discharge specific capacities varied with carbon material, but did not vary with PC content in the electrolyte.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.223-231
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• 2021

In order to address many issues associated with large volume changes of silicon, which has very low electrical conductivity but offers about 10 times higher theoretical capacity than graphite (Gr), a silicon nanoparticles/hollow carbon (SiNP/HC) composite having bimodal-mesopores was prepared using silica nanoparticles as a template. A control SiNP/C composite without a hollow structure was also prepared for comparison. The physico-chemical and electrochemical properties of SiNP/HC were analyzed by X-ray diffractometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, nitrogen adsorption/desorption measurements for surface area and pore size distribution, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, galvanostatic cycling, and cyclic voltammetry tests to compare them with those of the SiNP/C composite. The SiNP/HC composite showed significantly better cycle life and efficiency than the SiNP/C, with minimal increase in electrode thickness after long cycles. A hybrid composite, SiNP/HC@Gr, prepared by physical mixing of the SiNP/HC and Gr at a 50:50 weight ratio, exhibited even better cycle life and efficiency than the SiNP/HC at low capacity. Thus, silicon/carbon composites designed to have hollow spaces capable of accommodating volume expansion were found to be highly effective for long cycle life of silicon-based composites. However, further study is required to improve the low initial coulombic efficiency of SiNP/HC and SiNP/HC@Gr, which is possibly because of their high surface area causing excessive electrolyte decomposition for the formation of solid-electrolyte-interface layers.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.89-95
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• 2021

Research on the production of lithium hydroxide (LiOH) has been actively conducted in response to the increasing demand for high nickel-based positive electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Herein we studied the conversion of lithium oxide (Li2O) through thermal decomposition of lithium carbonate for the production of lithium hydroxide from lithium carbonate (Li2CO3). The reaction mechanism of lithium carbonate with alumina, quartz and graphite crucible during heat treatment was confirmed. When graphite crucible was used, complete lithium oxide powder was obtained. Based on the TG analysis results, reagent-grade lithium carbonate was heat-treated at 700℃, 900℃ and 1100℃ for various time and atmosphere conditions. XRD analysis showed the produced lithium oxide showed high crystallinity at 1100℃ for 1 hour in a nitrogen atmosphere. In addition, several reagent-grade lithium oxides were reacted at 100℃ to convert to lithium hydroxide. XRD analysis confirmed that lithium hydroxide (LiOH) and lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LiOH·H2O) were produced.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.315-319
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• 2015

A high-throughput electrorefiner has been developed for commercialization use by enhancing the uranium recovery from the reduced metal which is produced from the oxide reduction process. It is necessary to scrap and effectively collect uranium dendrites from the surface of the solid cathode for high yield. When a steel electrode is used as the cathode in the electrorefining process, uranium is deposited and regularly stuck to the steel cathode during electrorefining. The sticking coefficient of a steel cathode is very high. In order to decrease the sticking coefficient of the steel cathode effectively, vibration mode was applied to the electrode in this study. Uranium dendrites were scraped and fell apart from the steel cathode by a vibration force. The vibrational scraping of the steel cathode was compared to the self-scraping of the graphite cathode. Effects of the applied current density and the vibration stroke on the scraping of the uranium dendrites were also investigated.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.69-78
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• 2019

Lithium metal anode with the highest theoretical capacity to replace graphite anodes are being reviewed. However, the dendrite growth during repeated oxidation/reduction reaction on lithium metal surface, which results in poor cycle performance and safety issue has hindered its successful implementation. In our previous work, we solved this problem by using surface modification technique whereby a surface pattern on lithium metal anode is introduced. Although the micro-patterned Lithium metal electrode is beneficial to control Li metal deposition efficiently, it is difficult to control the mossy-like Li granulation at high current density ($>2.0mA\;cm^{-2}$). In this study, we introduce vinylene carbonate (VC) electrolyte additive on micro patterned lithium metal anode to suppress the lithium dendrite growth. Owing to the synergetic effect of micro-patterned lithium metal anode and VC electrolyte additive, lithium dendrite at a high current density is dense. As a result, we confirmed that the cycle performance was further improved about 6 times as compared with the reference electrode.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.283-291
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• 2011

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) use the bipolar plate of various materials between electrolyte and contact electrode for the stable hydrogen ion exchange activation. The bipolar plate of various materials has representatively graphite and stainless steel. Specially, stainless steels have advantage for low cost and high product rate. In this study, SUS 316 was effectively coated with 600 nm thick F-doped tin oxide (SnOx:F) by electron cyclotron resonance-metal organic chemical vapor deposition and investigated in simulated fuel cell bipolar plates. The results showed that an F-doped tin oxide (SnOx:F) coating enhanced the corrosion resistance of the alloys in fuel cell bipolar plates, though the substrate steel has a significant influence on the behavior of the coating. Coating SUS 316 for fuel cell bipolar plates steel further improved the already excellent corrosion resistance of this material. After coating, the increased ICR values of the coated steels compared to those of the fresh steels. The SnOx:F coating seems to add an additional resistance to the native air-formed film on these stainless steels.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.214-218
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• 2011

The electrochemical characteristics and performance of redox flow battery using the soluble lead has been evaluated. Cyclic voltammetry was performed on the materials to evaluate deposition and dissolution of lead and lead dioxide. In the negative region, a reduction peak is not observed, and on the reverse scan, on-set voltage is observed at -0.47 V(vs SCE). In the positive region, the distinct peak is observed on the forward and reverse scan. The charge/discharge experiments were carried out graphite electrode in the beaker cell. The charging(deposition) of lead occurs at around 0.5 V(vs SCE) and discharging(dissolution) of lead occur at around 0.25 V(vs SCE). The potential difference is about 0.25 V. The charging(deposition) of dioxide lead is at 1.77 V(vs SCE) and discharging(dissolution) is at around 0.95 V(vs SCE) during first cycle. On subsequent cycles, the charging of dioxide lead starts at below 1.5 V(vs SCE), after a period the voltage increase to 1.7 V(vs SCE). The voltage of discharging is stable at around 1.0 V(vs SCE).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.105-105
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• 2012

We have developed a photoemission-assisted plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PAPE-CVD) [1,2], in which photoelectrons emitting from the substrate surface irradiated with UV light ($h{\nu}$=7.2 eV) from a Xe excimer lamp are utilized as a trigger for generating DC discharge plasma as depicted in Fig. 1. As a result, photoemission-assisted plasma can appear just above the substrate surface with a limited interval between the substrate and the electrode (~10 mm), enabling us to suppress effectively the unintended deposition of soot on the chamber walls, to increase the deposition rate, and to decrease drastically the electric power consumption. In case of the deposition of DLC gate insulator films for the top-gate graphene channel FET, plasma discharge power is reduced down to as low as 0.01W, giving rise to decrease significantly the plasma-induced damage on the graphene channel [3]. In addition, DLC thickness can be precisely controlled in an atomic scale and dielectric constant is also changed from low ${\kappa}$ for the passivation layer to high ${\kappa}$ for the gate insulator. On the other hand, negative electron affinity (NEA) of a hydrogen-terminated diamond surface is attractive and of practical importance for PAPECVD, because the diamond surface under PAPE-CVD with H2-diluted (about 1%) CH4 gas is exposed to a lot of hydrogen radicals and therefore can perform as a high-efficiency electron emitter due to NEA. In fact, we observed a large change of discharge current between with and without hydrogen termination. It is noted that photoelectrons are emitted from the SiO2 (350 nm)/Si interface with 7.2-eV UV light, making it possible to grow few-layer graphene on the thick SiO2 surface with no transition layer of amorphous carbon by means of PAPE-CVD without any metal catalyst.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.35-42
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• 2016

A new nano-composite carbon ink for the development of disposable dopamine (DA) biosensors based on screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) is introduced. The method developed uses SPCEs coupled with a tyrosinase modified nano-composite carbon ink. The ink was prepared by an “in-house” procedure with reduced graphene oxide (rGO), Pt nanoparticles (PtNP), and carbon materials such as carbon black and graphite. The rGO-PtNP carbon composite ink was used to print the working electrodes of the SPCEs and the reference counter electrodes were printed by using a commercial Ag/AgCl ink. After the construction of nano-composite SPCEs, tyrosinase was immobilized onto the working electrodes by using a biocompatible matrix, chitosan. The composite of nano-materials was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the performance characteristics of the sensors were evaluated by using voltammetric and amperometric techniques. The cyclic voltammetry results indicated that the sensors prepared with the rGO-PtNP-carbon composite ink revealed a significant improvement in electro-catalytic activity to DA compared with the results obtained from bare or only PtNP embedded carbon inks. Optimum experimental parameters such as pH and operating potential were evaluated and calibration curves for dopamine were constructed with the results obtained from a series of amperometric detections at −0.1 V vs. Ag/AgCl. The limit of detection was found to be 14 nM in a linear range of 10 nM to 100 µM of DA, and the sensor’s sensitivity was calculated to be 0.4 µAµM⁻¹cm⁻².