• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.356-361
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• 2023

In order to improve the durability of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), it is important to accurately evaluate the durability of the polymer membrane in a short time. The test conditions for chemically accelerated durability evaluation of membranes are high voltage, high temperature, low humidity, and high gas pressure. It can be said that the protocol is developed by changing these conditions. However, the relative influence of each test condition on the degradation of the membrane has not been studied. In chemical accelerated degradation experiment of the membrane, the influence of 4 factors (conditions) was examined through the factor experiment method. The degree of degradation of the membrane after accelerated degradation was determined by measuring the hydrogen permeability and effluent fluoride ion concentration, and it was possible to determine the degradation order of the polymer membrane under 8 conditions by the difference in fluoride ion concentration. It was shown that the influence of the membrane degradation factor was in the order of voltage > temperature > oxygen pressure > humidity. It was confirmed that the degradation of the electrode catalyst had an effect on the chemical degradation of the membrane.

• Clean Technology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.159-174
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• 2024

The rapid increase in energy consumption based on fossil fuels is accelerating global warming. In particular, the road transportation sector has high carbon dioxide emissions, so transitioning towards electric vehicles is recommended. Thus, the importance of secondary batteries is increasing. Secondary batteries are reversible batteries that use energy and can be reused through a charging and discharging process. Currently, lithium-ion batteries are widely used. Secondary batteries place importance on six major factors: energy, output, lifespan, environmental friendliness, cost, and stability. Research is actively being conducted to satisfy all six factors by understanding the material characteristics of each component of the battery. As it is difficult to move away from lithium as a cathode material, researchers are investigating higher performance materials that mix materials such as cobalt, nickel, manganese, and aluminum with lithium and use graphite, silicon, and lithium metal to increase capacity. In the case of electrolytes, liquid electrolytes are still mainly used. However, solid electrolytes are being studied due to their stability, but additional research must be conducted to satisfy the energy and output factors. This review paper aims to provide an understanding of secondary batteries through an overview of secondary batteries, the materials and characteristics of their components, their technological trends, and their associated companies.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.513-521
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• 2009

The primary goal of this research was to develop an optimized analytical procedure for soil analysis based on ion-selective microelectrodes for agricultural purposes, which can perform on-site measurement of various ions in soil easily and rapidly. For the simple and rapid on-site diagnosis, an analysis of soil chemicals was performed employing a multicomponent-in-situ-extractant and an evaluation of ionselective microelectrodes were conducted through the regressive correlation method with a standard analytical approach widely employed in this area. Examination of sensor responses between various soil nutrient extractants revealed that 0.01M HCl and 1M LiCl provided the most ideal Nernstian response. However, 1M LiCl deteriorated the selective response for analytes due to high concentration (1M) of lithium cation. Thus, employing either 0.1M HCl as an extractant followed by 10 times dilution, or 0.01M HCl as an extractant without further dilution was chosen as the optimal extractant composition. A study of regressive correlation between results from ion-selective microelectrodes and those from the standard analytical procedure showed that analyses of $K^+$, $Na^+$, $Ca^{2+}$, and $NO_3{^-}$ showed the excellent consistency between two methods. However, the response for $NH_4{^+}$ suffered the severe interference from $K^+$. In addition, the selectivity for $Mg^{2+}$ over $Ca^{2+}$ was not sufficient enough since available ionophores developed so far do not provide such a high selectivity for $Mg^{2+}$. Therefore, as an agricultural on-site diagnostic instrument, the device in development requires further research on $NH_4{^+}$ analysis in the soil sample, development of $Mg^{2+}$-selective ionophore, and more detailed study focused on potassium, one of the most important plant nutrients.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.63-71
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• 2002

Three fabrication techniques for forming thin barrier layer with uniform thickness and large barrier height in magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) are discussed. First, the effect of immiscible element addition to Cu layer, a high conducting layer generally placed under the MTJ, is investigated in order to reduce the surface roughness of the bottom ferromagnetic layer, on which the barrier is formed. The Ag addition to the Cu layer successfully realizes the smooth surface of the ferromagnetic layer because of the suppression of the grain growth of Cu. Second, a new plasma source, characterized as low electron energy of 1 eV and high density of $10^{12}$ $cm^{-3}$, is introduced to the Al oxidation process in MTJ fabrication in order to reduce damages to the barrier layer by the ion-bombardment. The magnetotransport properties of the MTJs are investigated as a function of the annealing temperature. As a peculiar feature, the monotonous decrease of resistance area product (RA) is observed with increasing the annealing temperature. The decrease of the RA is due to the decrease of the effective barrier width. Third, the influence of the mixed inert gas species for plasma oxidization process of metallic Al layer on the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) was investigated. By the use of Kr-O$_2$ plasma for Al oxidation process, a 58.8 % of MR ratio was obtained at room temperature after annealing the junction at $300{^{\circ}C}$, while the achieved TMR ratio of the MTJ fabricated with usual Ar-$0_2$ plasma remained 48.4%. A faster oxidization rate of the Al layer by using Kr-O$_2$ plasma is a possible cause to prevent the over oxidization of Al layer and to realize a large magnetoresistance.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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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.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.625-632
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• 2012

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the cathode channel flooding effects at different stoichiometries in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells by using visualization techniques. The phenomena of liquid water formation and removal caused by current variations were also examined experimentally. Tests were conducted at cathode stoichiometries of 1.5 and 2.0, and the anode stoichiometry was fixed at 1.5. It is found that at an air-side stoichiometry of 2.0, liquid water begins to form and the flooding occurs faster than at an air-side stoichiometry of 1.5. Also, when the air-side stoichiometry of 1.5 is maintained, the dry-out phenomena is observed in the dry-out area 7.8 A following the field of flooding. Thus, a stoichiometry of 1.5 produced better performance in terms of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) durability and hydrogen ion conductivity than did a stoichiometry of 2.0, in which dry-out occurs beyond 8A.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.79-85
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• 2014

Silicon (Si) has been investigated as promising negative-electrode (anode) materials because its theoretical specific capacity of 4200 mAh/g for $Li_{4.4}Si$ is far higher than that of carbonaceous anodes in current commercial products. However, in practice, the application of Si to Li-ion batteries is still quite challenging because Si suffers from severe volume expansion and contraction and lead to a continuous solid electrolyte interphase (SEI)-filming process by cracking of Si. This process consumes the limited $Li^+$ source, builds up thick and unstable SEI layer on the Si active materials, and will eventually disable the cell. Since unstable SEI reduces electrochemical performance and thermal stability of the Si anode, the surface chemistry of the anode should be modified by using a functional additive. It is found that lithium bis(oxalato)borate (LiBOB) as an additive effectively protected the Si anode surface, improved capacity retention when stored at $60^{\circ}C$, and alleviated exothermic thermal reactions of fully lithiated Si anode.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.343-344
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• 2012

It has been known since the mid 1960s that Ag can be photodissolved in chalcogenide glasses to form materials with interesting technological properties. In the 40 years since, this effect has been used in diverse applications such as the fabrication of relief images in optical elements, micro photolithographic schemes, and for direct imaging by photoinduced Ag surface deposition. ReRAM, also known as conductive bridging RAM (CBRAM), is a resistive switching memory based on non-volatile formation and dissolution of a conductive filament in a solid electrolyte. Especially, Ag-doped chalcogenide glasses and thin films have become attractive materials for fundamental research of their structure, properties, and preparation. Ag-doped chalcogenide glasses have been used in the formation of solid electrolyte which is the active medium in ReRAM devices. In this paper, we investigated the nature of thin films formed by the photo-dissolution of Ag into Ge-Se glasses for use in ReRAM devices. These devices rely on ion transport in the film so produced to create electrically programmable resistance states. [1-3] We have demonstrated functionalities of Ag doped chalcogenide glasses based on their capabilities as solid electrolytes. Formation of such amorphous systems by the introduction of Ag+ ions photo-induced diffusion in thin chalcogenide films is considered. The influence of Ag+ ions is regarded in terms of diffusion kinetics and Ag saturation is related to the composition of the hosting material. Saturated Ag+ ions have been used in the formation of conductive filaments at the solid electrolyte which is the active medium in ReRAM devices. Following fabrication, the cell displays a metal-insulator-metal structure. We measured the I-V characteristics of a cell, similar results were obtained with different via sizes, due to the filamentary nature of resistance switching in ReRAM cell. As the voltage is swept from 0 V to a positive top electrode voltage, the device switches from a high resistive to a low resistive, or set. The low conducting, or reset, state can be restored by means of a negative voltage sweep where the switch-off of the device usually occurs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.439-439
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• 2012

태양광 발전은 발전 셀의 특성상 태양광의 일사량, 태양과 셀 단면이 이루는 각도에 따라서 발전량의 차이를 가져온다. 실리콘 태양전지의 전면 texturing은 입사광의 반사율을 크게 감소시키고, 태양전지 내에서 빛의 통과길이를 증가시켜 태양전지 내의 흡수하는 빛의 양을 증가 시키는 역할을 한다. 따라서 전면 texturing은 단락전류를 증대시키는 효과를 가지고 온다. 일반적으로 texturing은 alkaline etching (WET) 공정과 reactive ion etching (RIE) 공정이 사용된다. 그리고 다결정 실리콘 태양전지의 경우에는 재료의 결정방향에 따라 식각이 되어지는 WET 공정의 경우 texturing 모양을 제어할 수 없어 효과적이지 못하는 결과를 가지고 온다. 본 연구에서는 Electroluminescence을 측정하여 RIE, WET 공정을 사용하여 만든 texturing 구조의 다결정 태양전지의 Microcrack 및 Defect, Electrode Failure, Hot spot등을 검출하였으며, ${\mu}$-PCD 측정 결과와 비교 분석하여 Micro carrier life time을 유추하여 계산하였다. 또한 반사율을 측정해본 결과 WET 공정 대비 RIE의 경우 단파장영역에서 반사율이 크게 감소하여, 상대적으로 높은 External quantum efficiency (EQE)가 측정되었다. 이는 Jsc를 증가시켜, 태양전지의 효율이 증가되는 결과를 얻을 수 있었다.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.265-273
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• 2017

Solid-state alkaline water electrolysis is a promising method for producing hydrogen using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. Despite active investigations of component development for anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE), understanding of the device performance remains insufficient for the commercialization of AEMWE. The study of assembled AEMWE devices is essential to validate the activity and stability of developed catalysts and electrolyte membranes, as well as the dependence of the performance on the device operating conditions. Herein, we review the development of catalysts and membranes reported by different AEMWE companies such as ACTA S.p.A. and Proton OnSite and device operating conditions that significantly affect the AEMWE performance. For example, $CuCoO_x$ and $LiCoO_2$ have been studied as oxygen evolution catalysts by Acta S.p.A and Proton OnSite, respectively. Anion exchange membranes based on polyethylene and polysulfone are also investigated for use as electrolyte membranes in AEMWE devices. In addition, operation factors, including temperature, electrolyte concentration and acidity, and solution feed methods, are reviewed in terms of their influence on the AEMWE performance. The reaction rate of water splitting generally increases with increase in operating temperature because of the facilitated kinetics and higher ion conductivity. The effect of solution feeding configuration on the AEMWE performance is explained, with a brief discussion on current AEMWE performance and device durability.