• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.32-41
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• 2022

Various steps in the electrode production process, such as slurry mixing, slurry coating, drying, and calendaring, directly affect the quality and, consequently, mechanical properties and electrochemical performance of electrodes. Herein, a new method of slurry coating is developed: Double-coated electrode. Contrary to single-coated electrode, the cathode is prepared by double coating, wherein each coat is of half the total loading mass of the single-coated electrode. Each coat is dried and calendared. It is found that the double-coated electrode possesses more uniform pore distribution and higher electrode density and allows lesser extent of particle segregation than the single-coated electrode. Consequently, the double-coated electrode exhibits higher adhesion strength (74.7 N m^-1) than the single-coated electrode (57.8 N m^-1). Moreover, the double-coated electrode exhibits lower electric resistance (0.152 Ω cm^-2) than the single-coated electrode (0.177 Ω cm^-2). Compared to the single-coated electrode, the double-coated electrode displays higher electrochemical performance by exhibiting better rate capability, especially at higher C rates, and higher long-term cycling performance. Despite its simplicity, the proposed method allows effective electrode preparation by facilitating high electrochemical performance and is applicable for the large-scale production of high-energy-density electrodes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.109-115
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• 2022

The demand for metal 3D printing technology is increasing in various industries. The materials commonly used for metal 3D printing include aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, and stainless steel. In particular, for applications in the aviation and defense industry, aluminum alloy 3D printing parts are being produced. To improve the corrosion resistance in the 3D printed aluminum alloy outputs, a post-treatment process, such as chromate coating, should be applied. However, powdered materials, such as AlSi7Mg and AlSi10Mg, used for 3D printing, have a high silicon content; therefore, a suitable pretreatment is required for chromate coating. In the desmut step of the pretreatment process, the chromate coating can be formed only when a smut composed of silicon compounds or oxides is effectively removed. In this study, suitable desmut solutions for 3D printed AlSi7Mg and AlSi10Mg materials with high silicon contents were presented, and the chromate coating properties were studied accordingly. The smut removal effect was confirmed using an aqueous desmut solution composed of sulfuric, nitric, and hydrofluoric acids. Thus, a chromate coating was successfully formed. The surfaces of the aluminum alloys after desmut and chromate coating were analyzed using SEM and EDS.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.61-68
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• 2023

Ti and Ti alloys are used in the automobile and aerospace industries due to their high specific strength and excellent corrosion resistance. However their application is limited due to poor formability at room temperature and high unit cost. In order to overcome these issues, dissimilarly jointed materials, such as cladding materials, are widely investigated to utilize them in each industrial field because of an enhanced plasticity and relatively low cost. Among various dissimilar bonding processes, the rolled cladding process is widely used in Ti alloys, but has a disadvantage of low bonding strength. Although this problem can be solved through post-heat treatment, the mechanical properties at the bonded interface are deteriorated due to residual stress generated during post-heat treatment. Therefore, in this study, the microstructure change and residual stress trends at the interfaces of Ti/Al cladding materials were studied with increasing post-heat treatment temperature. As a result, compared to the as-rolled specimens, no difference in microstructure was observed in the specimens after postheat treatment at 300, 400, and 500℃. However, a new intermetallic compound layer was formed between Ti and Al when post-heat treatment was performed at a temperature of 600℃ or higher. Then, it was also confirmed that compressive residual stress with a large deviation was formed in Ti due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficient and modulus of elasticity between Ti Grade II and Al 1050.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.3-3
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• 2001

Recently TiN, TiAlN, CrN hardcoatings have adapted many industrial application such as die, mold and cutting tools because of good wear resistant and thermal stability. However, in terms of high speed process, general hard coatings have been limited by oxidation and thermal hardness drop. Especially in the case of PCB drill, high speed cutting and without lubricant process condition have not adapted these coatings until now. Therefore more recently, superhard nanocomposite coating which have superhard and good thermal stability have developed. In previous works, WC-TiAlN new nanocomposite film was investigated by cathodic arc ion plating system. Control of AI concentration, WC-TiAlN multi layer composite coating with controlled microstructure was carried out and provides additional enhancement of mechanical properties as well as oxidation resistance at elevated temperature. It is noted that microhardness ofWC-TiA1N multi layer composite coating increased up to 50 Gpa and got thermal stability about $900^{\circ}C$. In this study WC-TiAlN nanocomposite coating was deposited on PCB drill for enhancement of life time. The parameter was A1 concentration and plasma cleaning time for edge sharpness maintaining. The characteristic of WC-TiAlN film formation and wear behaviors are discussed with data from AlES, XRD, EDS and SEM analysis. Through field test, enhancement of life time for PCB drill was measured.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.468-476
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• 2022

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) has a low thermal conductivity, high thermal expansion coefficient, and excellent mechanical properties; thus, it is used as a thermal barrier coating material for gas turbines. However, during long-time exposure of YSZ to temperatures of 1200℃ or higher, a phase transformation accompanied by a volume change occurs, causing the YSZ coating layer to peel off. To solve this problem, YSZ has been doped with trivalent and tetravalent oxides to obtain coating materials with low thermal conductivity and suppressed phase transformation of zirconia. In this study, YSZ is doped with trivalent oxides, Nd₂O₃, Yb₂O₃, Al₂O₃, and tetravalent oxide, TiO₂, and the thermal conductivity of the obtained materials is analyzed according to the composition; furthermore, the relative density change, microstructure change, and m-phase formation behavior are analyzed during long-time heat treatment at high temperatures.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.496-513
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• 2022

In this study, we sought to verify the applicability of anion exchange membrane water electrolysis system using FAA-3-50, Neosepta-ASE, Sustainion grade T, and Fujifilm type 10, which are commercial anion exchange membranes. The morphology of the commercial membranes and the elements on the surface were analyzed using SEM/EDX to confirm the distribution of functional groups included in the commercial membranes. In addition, mechanical strength and decomposition temperature were measured using UTM and TGA to check whether the driving conditions of the water electrolyte were satisfied. The ion exchange capacity and ion conductivity were measured to understand the performance of anion exchange membranes, and the alkaline resistance of each commercial membrane was checked and durability test was performed because they were driven in an alkaline environment. Finally, a membrane-electrode assembly was manufactured and a water electrolysis single cell test was performed to confirm cell performance at 60℃, 70℃, and 80℃. The long-term cell test was measured 20 cycles at other temperatures to compare water electrolysis performance.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.54-59
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• 2023

Silver nanowire-based transparent electrodes are very attractive as a next-generation flexible and transparent electrode that can replace ITO-based flexible electrodes because they have excellent conductivity, transmittance and mechanical flexibility. However, weak understanding of the silver nanowire solution for the fabrication of silver nanowire-based transparent electrodes often cause abnormal operation of the electrical device or peeling problem of the electrode films when applied to electronic devices. Here, we studied a Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose (HPMC) adhesion promoter, which is one of the additives for silver nanowire solution, to improve the understanding of silver nanowire solution. In detail, it is characterized how the HPMC changes the properties of silver nanowire solution and silver nanowire film, which is fabricated with silver nanowire solution including the HPMC adhesion promoter. As the characteristics of solution, polar surface tension and dispersive surface tension were measured. As the film characteristics, surface energy, surface morphology, silver nanowire density, and sheet resistance were analyzed.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2023

In order to broaden the range of application of light weight aluminum alloys, it is necessary to enhance the mechanical properties of the alloys and combine them with other materials, such as cast iron. In this study, the effects of adding small amounts of Cu and Zr to the Al-Si-Mg based alloy on tensile properties and corrosion characteristics were investigated, and the effect of the addition on the interfacial compounds layer with the cast iron was also analyzed. Although the tensile strength of the Al-Si-Mg alloy was not significantly affected by the additions of Cu and Zr, the corrosion resistance in 3.5 %NaCl solution was found to be somewhat lowered in this research. The influence of Cu and Zr addition on the type and thickness of the interfacial compounds layer formed during compound casting with cast iron was not significant, and the main interfacial compounds were identified to be Al₅FeSi and Al₈Fe₂Si phases, as in the case of the Al-Si-Mg alloys.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2023

The electromembrane process, which has advantages such as scalability, sustainability, and eco-friendliness, is used in renewable energy fields such as fuel cells and reverse electrodialysis power generation. Most of the research to visualize the internal flow in the electromembrane process has mainly been conducted on heterogeneous ion exchange membranes, because of the non-uniform swelling characteristics of the homogeneous membrane. In this study, we successfully visualize the electro-convective vortices near the Nafion homogeneous membrane in PDMS-based microfluidic devices. To reinforce the mechanical rigidity and minimize the non-uniform swelling characteristics of the homogeneous membrane, a newly developed swelling supporter was additionally adapted to the Nafion membrane. Thus, a clear image of electroconvective vortices near the Nafion membrane could be obtained and visualized. As a result, we observed that the heterogeneous membrane has relatively stronger electroconvective vortices compared to the Nafion homogeneous membranes. Regarding electrical response, the Nafion membrane has a higher limiting current and less overlimiting current compared to the heterogeneous membrane. Based on our visualization, it is assumed that the heterogeneous membrane has more activated electroconvective vortices, which lower electrical resistance in the overlimiting current regime. We anticipate that this work can contribute to the fundamental understanding of the ion transport characteristics depending on the homogeneity of ion exchange membranes.

• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
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• v.13 no.spc2
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• pp.328-331
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• 2012

With the recent development of super-precision optical instruments, camera modules for devices, such as portable terminals and digital camera lenses, are increasingly being used. Since an optical lens is usually produced by high-temperature compression molding methods using tungsten carbide (WC) alloy molding cores, it is necessary to develop and study technology for super-precision processing of molding cores and coatings for the core surface. In this study, Rhenium-Iridium (Re-Ir) thin films were deposited onto a WC molding core using a sputtering system. The Re-Ir thin films were prepared by a multi-target sputtering technique, using iridium, rhenium, and chromium as the sources. Argon and nitrogen were introduced through an inlet into the chamber to be the plasma and reactive gases. The Re-Ir thin films were prepared with targets having a composition ratio of 30 : 70, and the Re-Ir thin films were formed with a 240 nm thickness. Re-Ir thin films on WC molding core were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), and Ra (the arithmetical average surface roughness). Also, adhesion strength and coefficient friction of Re-Ir thin films were examined. The Re-Ir coating technique has received intensive attention in the coating processes field because of promising features, such as hardness, high elasticity, abrasion resistance and mechanical stability that result from the process. Re-Ir coating technique has also been applied widely in industrial and biomedical applications. In this study, WC molding core was manufactured, using high-performance precision machining and the effects of the Re-Ir coating on the surface roughness.