• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.324-330
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• 2019

Petal-like nickel cobaltite ($NiCo_2O_4$)/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composites with different $rGO-to-NiCo_2O_4$ weight ratios were synthesized using a simple hydrothermal method and subsequent thermal treatment. In the $NiCo_2O_4/rGO$ composite, the $NiCo_2O_4$ 3-dimensional nanomaterials contributed to the improvement of electrochemical properties of the final composite material by preventing the restacking of the rGO sheet and securing ion movement passages. The composite structure was examined by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The FE-SEM and TEM images showed that petal-like $NiCo_2O_4$ was supported on the rGO surface. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used for the electrochemical analysis of composites. Among the prepared composites, $0.075g\;rGO/NiCo_2O_4$ composite showed the highest specific capacitance of $1,755Fg^{-1}$ at a current density of $2Ag^{-1}$. The cycle performance and rate capability of the composite material were higher than those of using the single $NiCo_2O_4$ material. These nano-structured composites could be regarded as valuable electrode materials for supercapacitors that require superior performance.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.272-278
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• 2021

In this study, high nickel layered LiNi_0.8Co_0.1Mn_0.1O₂ cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries were modified by yttrium doping and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) coating. The effects of yttrium doping and PEDOT:PSS coating on the structural and electrochemical properties of the LiNi_0.8Co_0.1Mn_0.1O₂ cathode material were investigated and compared. The substitution of nickel with an electrochemically inert yttrium was confirmed to be successful in stabilizing the layered structure framework. Moreover, coating the surfaces of the LiNi_0.8Co_0.1Mn_0.1O₂ particles with a conductive polymer, PEDOT:PSS, improved the capacity retention, thermal stability, and impedance of the cathode material by increasing its ionic and electric conductivities.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.57-65
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• 2020

It is crucial to investigate the thermal degradation of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) to understand the possible malfunction at high temperature. Herein, we investigated the effects of surface film formation on the thermal degradation of lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO₂, LCO) cathode that is one of representative cathode materials. Cycling test at 60℃ exhibited poorer cycleability compared with the cycling at 25℃. Cathodes after the initial 5 cycles at 60℃ (60-LCO) exhibited higher impedance compared to the cathode after initial 5 cycles at 25℃ (25-LCO), resulting in the lower rate capability upon subsequent cycling at 25℃, although the capacity values were similar at the lowest C-rate of 0.1C. In order to understand degradation of the LCO cathode at the high temperature, we analyzed the cathodes surface using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Among various peaks, intensity of lithium hydroxide (LiOH) increased substantially after the operation at 60℃, and the C-C signal that represents the conductive agent was distinctly lower on 60-LCO compared to 25-LCO. These results pointed to an excessive formation of cathode-electrolyte interphase including LiOH at 60℃, leading to the increase in the resistance and the resultant degradation in the electrochemical performances.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2006

In this paper, the influences of microstructural and surface morphological developments on the soft magnetic properties and giant magneto-impedance (GMI) effect of the $Fe_{73.5-x}Cr_{x}Si_{13.5}B_{9}Nb_{3}Au_1$ (x = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) alloys have been presented. It was found that the Cr addition slightly decreased the mean grain size of $\alpha-Fe(Si)$ grains. AFM results indicate a large variation of surface morphology of density and size of protrusions along the ribbon plane due to microstructural changes caused by thermal annealing with increasing Cr content. Ultrasoft magnetic properties of the nanocrystallized samples were noticeably enhanced by properly heat treatments at $T_a=540^{\circ}C$ such as an increase of the magnetic permeability and the decrease of coercivity, which is likely due to the formation of nanoscale $\alpha-Fe(Si)$ phase which reduced the magnetoelastic anisotropy of samples. Accordingly, the GMI effect was observed in the annealed samples. The correlation between the microstructure, surface morphology, and soft magnetic properties were explained by nucleation and growth model.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.961-968
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• 2012

In this study, we have investigated the effects of Mn and Co co-doping on defects, J-E curves and grain boundary characteristics of ZnO-$Bi_2O_3$ (ZB) varistor. Admittance spectra and dielectric functions show two bulk defects of $Zn_i^{{\cdot}{\cdot}}$ (0.17~0.18 eV) and $V_o^{\cdot}$ (0.30~0.33 eV). From J-E characteristics the nonlinear coefficient (${\alpha}$) and resistivity (${\rho}_{gb}$) of pre-breakdown region decreased as 30 to 24 and 5.1 to 0.08 $G{\Omega}cm$ with sintering temperature, respectively. The double Schottky barrier of grain boundaries in ZB(MCo) ($ZnO-Bi_2O_3-Mn_3O_4-Co_3O_4$) could be electrochemically single type. However, its thermal stability was slightly disturbed by ambient oxygen because the apparent activation energy of grain boundaries was changed from 0.64 eV at lower temperature to 1.06 eV at higher temperature. It was revealed that a co-doping of Mn and Co in ZB reduced the heterogeneity of the barrier in grain boundaries and stabilized the barrier against an ambient temperature (${\alpha}$-factor= 0.136).

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.90-94
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• 2009

The development of low-k materials is essential for modern semiconductor processes to reduce the cross-talk, signal delay and capacitance between multiple layers. The effect of the $CH_4$ concentration on the formation of SiOC(-H) films and their dielectric characteristics were investigated. SiOC(-H) thin films were deposited on Si(100)/$SiO_2$/Ti/Pt substrates by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) with $SiH_4$, $CO_2$ and $CH_4$ gas mixtures. After the deposition, the SiOC(-H) thin films were annealed in an Ar atmosphere using rapid thermal annealing (RTA) for 30min. The electrical properties of the SiOC(-H) films were then measured using an impedance analyzer. The dielectric constant decreased as the $CH_4$ concentration of low-k SiOC(-H) thin film increased. The decrease in the dielectric constant was explained in terms of the decrease of the ionic polarization due to the increase of the relative carbon content. The spectrum via Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy showed a variety of bonding configurations, including Si-O-Si, H-Si-O, Si-$(CH_3)_2$, Si-$CH_3$ and $CH_x$ in the absorbance mode over the range from 650 to $4000\;cm^{-1}$. The results showed that dielectric properties with different $CH_4$ concentrations are closely related to the (Si-$CH_3$)/[(Si-$CH_3$)+(Si-O)] ratio.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.398-402
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• 2008

Recently, the development of superconducting fault current limiters (SFCLs) has been required as power demands increase in the power system. A distribution-level prototype resistive SFCL using coated conductor (CC) has been developed by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. and Yonsei University for the first time in the world. The ratings of the SFCL are 13.2kV/630A at normal operating condition. A novel non-inductive winding method is used in fabricating coils so there is almost zero impedance during normal operation. The distribution SFCL is cooled by sub-cooled liquid nitrogen $(LN_2)$ of 65K and 3 bar to enhance cryo-dielectric performance, critical current density, and thermal conductivity. In order to make reliable operation of an SFCL in real power systems, we monitored and controled its operation conditions by using supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) method. Thus, a monitoring system for the SFCL employing information technology (IT) is proposed and developed to be on the lookout for the operation conditions such as inside temperature, inside pressure, $LN_2$ level, voltage and current. Since operation temperature should be kept constant, bang-bang control for temperature feedback with a heater attached to the cold head of cryo-cooler is applied to the system. Short-circuit tests with prospective fault current of 10kA and AC dielectric withstand voltage tests up to 143kV for 1 minute were successfully performed at Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute. This paper deals with the development of a distribution level SFCL and its monitoring system for reliable operation.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.31-35
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• 2011

A Hybrid Fault Current Limiter(FCL) which has more advantages in fast response and thermal characteristics than a simple resistive FCL had been proposed by our group. The Hybrid FCL consists of a resistive FCL for the magnitude of the first peak of fault current, and a fast switch for detecting fault current and generating the repulsive force within a cycle in fault situation. In ideal case, the impedance of the fast switch wound with two other kinds of HTS tape is negligibly zero in normal operation. But, during the fault situation, each HTS tape has different quench characteristics because of asymmetric current distribution. And this phenomenon causes effective flux and this flux opens the switch through the repulsive force applied to a metal plate of the fast switch. The magnitude of the repulsive force affects the switching characteristics of the fast switch. It should be large enough to raise the metal plate up. Otherwise the arc re-out break which are caused by not enough repulsive force to raise the metal plate up can cause unintended operation of the fast switch. In this paper, the numerical calculation of the repulsive force applied to the metal plate of the fast switch in various combinations of HTS tapes was performed by using the short-circuit test and finite element method.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.2256-2261
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• 2015

In the power plant using high temperature fuel cells such as Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell(MCFC), and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell(SOFC), the generated electric power per area of power generation facilities is much higher than any other renewable energy sources. - High temperature fuel cell systems are capable of operating at MW rated power output. - It also has a feature that is short for length of the line for connecting the interior of the generation facilities. In normal condition, these points are advantages for voltage drops or power losses. However, in abnormal condition such as fault occurrence in electrical system, the fault currents are increased, because of the small impedance of the short length of power cable. Commonly, to minimize the thermal-mechanical stresses on the stack and increase the systems reliability, we divided the power plant configuration to several banks for parallel operation. However, when a fault occurs in the parallel operation system of power main transformer, the fault currents might exceed the interruption capacity of protective devices. In fact, although the internal voltage level of the fuel cell power plant is the voltage level of distribution systems, we should install the circuit breakers for transmission systems due to fault current. To resolve these problems, the SFCL has been studied as one of the noticeable devices. Therefore, we analyzed the effect of application of the SFCL on bus tie in a fuel cell power plants system using PSCAD/EMTDC.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.45-54
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• 2011

Cuff electrodes have a benefit for chronic electroneurogram(ENG) recording while minimizing nerve damage. However, the ENG signals are usually contaminated by electromyogram(EMG) activity from the surrounding muscle, the thermal noise generated within the source resistance, and the electric noise generated primarily at the first stage of the amplifier. This paper proposes a new cuff electrode to reduce the interference of EMG signals. An additional middle electrode was placed at the center of cuff electrode. As a result, the proposed cuff electrode achieved a higher signal-to-interference ratio compared to the conventional tripolar cuff. The cuff electrode was then assembled together with closure, headstage, and hermetic case including electronic circuits. This paper also presents a lownoise amplifier system to improve signal-to-noise ratio. The circuit was designed based on the noise analysis to minimize the electronic noise. The result shows that the total noise of the amplifier was below $1{\mu}V_{rms}$ for a cuff impedance of $1\;k{\Omega}$ and the common-mode rejection ratio was 115 dB at 1 kHz. In the current study, the performance of nerve cuff electrode system was evaluated by monitoring afferent nerve signals under mechanical stimuli in a rat animal model.