• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.61-67
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• 2018

As emerging the new electric devices, the commercial lithium ion batteries have faced with various challenges. In this regard, many efforts to solve challenges have been tried. In order to solve the above problems in terms of development of a new secondary battery, we successfully demonstrated the two electrocatalysts, such as MCWB and PPY hydrogel, PPY hydrogel and MCWB showed typical H3-type BET isotherm, indicating that micro- and mesopores existed. Especially, in terms of voltage efficiency at the first cycle, PPY hydrogel was higher than that of MCWB, but lower than that of PtC. More interestingly, the PPY hygrogel based seawater battery exhibited charge-discharge reversibility during 20 cycles, and the voltage efficiencies ranged from 70.32 % to 77.35 % in cyclic performance test.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.798-803
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• 2018

In order to use Si as an anode material for lithium-ion battery, the particle size was controlled to less than $0.5{\mu}m$ and carbon was coated on the surface with the thickness less than 10 nm. The carbon fiber was grown on the Si surface with 50~150 wt%, and the carbon coating was carried out once again. The Si composite material was mixed with dissimilar metals to increase the conductivity, and graphite was mixed to improve cyclic life characteristics. The physical and electrochemical characteristics of composite materials were measured with XRD, SEM, TEM and coin cell. The discharge capacity of Si/PC/CNF/PC was lower than that of Si/PC (Pyrolytic Carbon)/CNF (Carbon Nano Fiber). However, the cyclic life of Si/PC/CNF/PC was higher. Initial discharge capacity of 1512 mA h g-1 at 0.2 C rate and initial efficiency of 78% were shown. It also showed a capacity retention of 94% in 10 cycles.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.55-62
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• 2021

In Korea, a good recycled product (GR) certification system was introduced in 1997 to improve resource and energy use efficiency. However, in industry and society, recycled products are not used well because of the lack of awareness of recycled materials. In this study, the status of domestic and international quality standards for nickel materials was investigated, and the purity and electrochemical properties of nickel sulfate prepared from ore and nickel sulfate recovered from waste lithium-ion batteries were evaluated during the electroplating process. As a result of the test, it was found that there is no quality difference between recycled nickel sulfate and high-purity nickel sulfate reagents when used in the electroplating industry.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2023

As the use of lithium-ion secondary batteries is rapidly increasing due to the rapid growth of the electric vehicle market, the disposal and recycling of spent batteries after use has been raised as a serious problem. Since stored energy must be removed in order to recycle the spent batteries, an effective discharging process is required. In this study, graphite and NCM622 were used as active materials to manufacture coin-type half cells and full cells, and the electrochemical behavior occurring during overdischarge was analyzed. When the positive and negative electrodes are overdischarged respectively using a half-cell, a conversion reaction in which transition metal oxide is reduced to metal occurs first in the positive electrode, and a side reaction in which Cu, the current collector, is corroded following decomposition of the SEI film occurs in the negative electrode. In addition, a side reaction during overdischarge is difficult to occur because a large polarization at the initial stage is required. When the full cell is overdischarged, the cell reaches 0 V and the overdischarge ends with almost no side reaction due to this large polarization. However, if the full cell whose capacity is degraded due to the cycle is overdischarged, corrosion of the Cu current collector occurs in the negative electrode. Therefore, cycled cell requires an appropriate treatment process because its electrochemical behavior during overdischarge is different from that of a fresh cell.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.80-86
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• 2016

High Ni content layered oxide materials for the positive electrode in lithium-ion batteries have high specific capacity. However, their poor electrochemical and thermal stability at elevated temperature restrict the practical use. A small amount of $Al_2O_3$ was added to the mixture of transition metal hydroxide and lithium hydroxide. The $LiNi_{0.6}Co_{0.2}Mn_{0.2}O_2$ was simultaneously doped and coated with $Al_2O_3$ during heat-treatment. Electrochemical characteristics of modified $LiNi_{0.6}Co_{0.2}Mn_{0.2}O_2$ were evaluated by the galvanostatic cycling and the LSTA(linear sweep thermmametry) at the constant voltage conditions. The nano-sized $Al_2O_3$ added materials show better cycle performance at elevated temperature than that of micro-sized $Al_2O_3$. As the added amount of nano-$Al_2O_3$ increased, the thermal stability of electrode also enhanced, but the use of 2.5 mol% Al showed the best high temperature performance.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.105-112
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• 2020

Transition metal oxide, which undergoes a conversion reaction in the negative electrode material for a lithium-ion batteries, has a high specific capacity, but still has several critical problems. In this study, manganese pyrophosphate (Mn₂P₂O₇), nickel pyrophosphate (Ni₂P₂O₇), and carbon composite materials with pyrophosphates as novel negative electrode materials instead of transition metal oxide, are synthesized through simple solid-state reaction. The initial reversible capacity of Mn₂P₂O₇ and Ni₂P₂O₇ are 333 and 340 mAh g^-1, and when the composite materials are composed with carbon, the reversible capacity increases to 433 and 387 mAh g^-1, respectively. The initial Coulombic efficiency is also improved by about 10%. The Mn₂P₂O₇ and carbon composite material has the highest initial capacity and efficiency, and has the best cycle performance. Mn₂P₂O₇ containing polyanion, has a lower specific capacity due to the large mass of polyanion compared to MnO (manganese oxide). However, since Mn₂P₂O₇ shows a voltage curve with a slope, the charging (lithiation) voltage increases from 0.51 to 0.57 V (vs. Li/Li⁺), and the discharge (delithiation) voltage decreases from 1.15 to 1.01 V (vs. Li/Li⁺). Therefore, the voltage efficiency of the cell is improved because the voltage difference between charging and discharging is greatly reduced from 0.64 to 0.44 V, and the operating voltage of the full cell increases because the negative electrode potential is lowered during the discharging process.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.67-74
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• 2017

Layered Ni-rich NCM cathode materials $Li[Ni_xCo_{(1-x)/2}Mn_{(1-x)/2}]O_2$ ($x{\geq}0.6$) have advantages of high energy density and cost competitive over $LiCoO_2$. The discharge capacity of NCM increases proportionally to the Ni contents. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to realize the stable electrochemical performance due to cation mixing. In this study, synthesis conditions for the layered Ni-rich NCMs are investigated to achieve deliver the ones having good electrochemical performances. Synthesis parameters are atmosphere, lithium source, synthesis time, synthesis temperature and Li/M (M=transition metal) ratio. The degree of cation mixing gets worse as the Ni content is increased from $Li[Ni_{0.6}Co_{0.2}Mn_{0.2}]O_2$ (NCM6) to $Li[Ni_{0.8}Co_{0.1}Mn_{0.1}]O_2$ (NCM8). It is confirmed that higher level of cation mixing affects negatively on the electrochemical performance of NCMs. Optimum synthesis conditions are explored for NCMx (x=6, 7, 8) in order to reduce the cation mixing. Under optimized conditions for three representative NCMx, a high initial discharge capacity and a good cycle life are obtained for $180mAh{\cdot}g^{-1}$, 96.2% (50 cycle) in NCM6, $187mAh{\cdot}g^{-1}$, 94.7% (50 cycle) in NCM7, and $201mAh{\cdot}g^{-1}$, 92.7% (50 cycle) in NCM8, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.99-105
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• 2014

$LiCoO_2$ thin film have received attention as cathodes of thin-film microbatteries. In this study, $LiCoO_2$ thin films were synthesized on Au substrates by sol-gel spin coating method and electrochemical properties were investigated under annealing temperature and time. The phycochemical properties of $LiCoO_2$ thin film were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scaning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The electrochemical properties were characterized using galvanostatic charging/discharging cycling tests. From X-ray diffraction, as-grown films annealed at $550^{\circ}C$ and $750^{\circ}C$ are presumed to be spinel structure and a single phase of the layered-rock-salt, respectively. The RMS roughness and grain size of the films which annealed at $750^{\circ}C$ has similar values for annealing time 10 and 30 min, while for annealing time 120 min surface roughness, grain size increase and pore appearance were observed. The first discharge capacity of $LiCoO_2$ thin films annealed at $750^{\circ}C$ for 10, 30 and 120 min is about 54.5, 56.8 and $51.87{\mu}Ah/cm^2{\mu}m$, respectively. Corresponding capacity retention at 50th cycle is 97.25, 76.69, 77.19%.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.681-682
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• 2013

전기는 우리 주변의 에너지 형태 중에서 가장 편리하고 광범위하게 사용되고 있다. 이러한 전기는 전자제품, 전기자동차, 에너지 저장 플랜트 등 매우 많은 분야에서 저장되고 사용되고 있다. 특히 에너지 저장 용량의 확대는 휴대폰, 노트북 PC 등 휴대용 IT 기기의 성장에 결정적인 역할을 하였다. 가볍고 작으면서도 고용량의 전기 에너지 저장 장치가 없었다면, 통신이나 인터넷 그리고 오락 등 다양한 기능을 작은 휴대용 기기에 구현할 수 없었을 것이다. 그러나 시간이 흐를수록 기기의 요구 성능이 높아지고 소비자의 니즈가 더욱더 다양해지고 고도화될수록 단일 부품으로 가장 큰 부피를 차지하는 에너지 저장 장치의 용량과 디자인은 점점 중요해지고 있다. 이러한 에너지 저장 장치에서 가장 친숙한 형태는 2차 전지 계열이다. 납 축전지를 비롯하여, 니켈수소, 니켈카드뮴, electrochemical capacitor와 Li ion 계열 등이 대표적이다. 특히 Li ion 배터리는 모바일, 자동차 및 에너지 저장 그리드 등과 같은 다양한 분야에 가장 많이 적용되고있다. Li ion 배터리에 대하여 현재의 핵심적인 연구분야는 전극 재료(cathode, anode)와 electrolyte에 대한 것이다. Anode 전극 재료 중에서 가장 많이 사용되는 재료는 카본을 기반으로 하는 재료로 안정성에 대한 장점이 있지만 에너지 밀도가 낮다는 단점이 있다. 에너지 저장 용량 증가에 대한 필요성이 증가하기 때문에 현재 많이 사용되고 있는 에너지 밀도가 낮은 카본 재료를 대체하기 위해서 이론 용량이 높다고 알려진 실리콘과 같은 메탈이나 주석 산화물과 같은 천이 금속 산화물에 대하여 많은 연구가 진행되고 있다. 특히 현재까지 알려진 많은 재료 중에서 가장 큰 capacity (~4,000 mAh/g)를 가지고 있다고 알려진 실리콘이 카본의 대체 재료로 많은 연구가 진행되고 있다. 그러나, Li 과 반응을 하며 약 300~400%에 달하는 부피팽창이 발생하고, 이러한 부피 팽창 때문에 충 방전이 진행됨에 따라 current collector로부터 박리되는 현상을 보여 빠른 용량 감소를 보여주고 있다. 본 연구에서는 adhesion layer를 current collector와 실리콘 전극 재료 사이에 삽입하여 충 방전 시 부피팽창에 의한 미세구조의 변화와 electrochemical 특성에 대한 영향을 알아보았다. 실험에 사용한 anode 전극은 상용 Cu foil current collector에 RF/DC magnetron 스퍼터링을 통해 다양한 종류(Ti, Ta 등)의 adhesion layer과 200 nm 두께의 Si 박막을 증착하였다. 또한 Bio-logic Potentiostat/ Galvanostat VMP3 와 WanAtech automatic battery cycler 장비를 사용하여 0.2 C-rate로 half-cell 타입의 코인 셀로 조립한 전극에 대한 충 방전 실험을 진행하였다. Adhesion layer의 사용으로 인해 실리콘 박막과 Cu current collector 사이의 박리 현상을 줄여줄 수 있었고, 충 방전 시 Cu 원자의 실리콘 박막으로의 확산을 통한 brittle한 Cu-Si alloy 형성을 막아 줄 수 있어 큰 특성 향상을 확인할 수 있었다. 또한, 리튬과 실리콘의 반응을 통한 형태와 미세구조 변화를 SEM, TEM 등의 다양한 장비를 사용하여 확인하였고, 이를 통해 adhesion layer의 사용이 전극의 특성향상에 큰 영향을 끼쳤다는 것을 확인할 수 있었다.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.155-163
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• 2011

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have been attracted much attention since they have been expected to be used in various areas by virtue of their outstanding physical, electrical, and chemical properties. In order to make full use of their prominent electric conductivity in some areas such as electron emission sources, device interconnects, and electrodes in energy storage devices, direct growth of CNT with vertical alignment is definitely beneficial issue because they can maintain mechanical stability and high conductivity at the interface between substrates. Here, we report direct growth of vertically aligned CNT (VCNT) on Cu foils using thermal chemical vapor deposition and characterize the field emission property of the VCNT. The VCNT's height was controlled by changing the growth temperature, growth time, and catalytic layer thickness. Optimum growth condition was found to be $800^{\circ}C$ for 20 min with acetylene and hydrogen mixtures on Fe catalytic layer of 1 nm thick. The diameter of VCNT grown was smaller than that of usual multi walled CNT. Based on the result of field emission characterization, we concluded that the VCNT on Cu foils can be useful in various potential applications where high conductivity through the interface between CNT and substrate is required.