• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.332-339
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• 2021

Recently, due to concerns about the depletion of fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases, the importance of hydrogen energy technology, which is a clean energy source that does not emit greenhouse gases, is being emphasized. Water electrolysis technology is a green hydrogen technology that obtains hydrogen by electrolyzing water and is attracting attention as one of the ultimate clean future energy resources. In this study, the surface properties of the porous transport layer (PTL), one of the cell components of the proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE), were controlled using a sandpaper to reduce overvoltage and increase performance and stability. The surfaces of PTL were sanded using sandpapers of 400, 180, and 100 grit, and then all samples were finally treated with the sandpaper of 1000 grit. The prepared PTL was analyzed for the degree of hydrophilicity by measuring the water contact angle, and the surface shape was observed through SEM analysis. In order to analyze the electrochemical characteristics, I-V performance curves and impedance measurements were conducted.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.106-112
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• 2021

Catalyst poisoning by ionomers in membrane electrode assemblies of alkaline membrane fuel cells has been reported recently. We tried to improve the membrane electrode assembly's performance by controlling the solvent's ratio during electrode manufacturing. 4 Different mixing ratios of N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and ethylene glycol (EG) gave four different cathode electrodes with platinum and Fuma-Tech ionomers. The electrode with higher EG improved polarization performance by about 36% compared to the NMP-based commercial ionomer. The dependence of the ionomer's dispersibility on the solvent seems responsible for the difference, which means that the non-uniform distribution of ionomers improves the performance of the electrode. High-frequency resistance, internal resistance corrected polarization curve, Tafel slope, mass activity, and impedance spectroscopy characterized the electrode. We can find that the existence of poor solvent improves cathode electrode performance. It seems to be the result of reduced poisoning of the catalyst according to the particle size distribution of the ionomer.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.25-34
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• 2008

A new hybrid oedometer cell is designed and manufactured to investigate a behavior of soft soils by using elastic and electromagnetic waves during consolidation test. Bender elements, which generate and detect shear waves, are placed in the top cap and the bottom plate and mounted on the oedometer wall. Double wedge type electrical resistance probe, which measures local void ratio change, is positioned onto the top cap of the oedometer cell. The bender elements and the electrical resistance probe are anchored into a nylon set screw with epoxy resin. The nylon set screw with epoxy resin minimizes directly transmited elastic waves through the oedometer cell due to impedence mismatch and allows for easy replacement of defected bender elements and electrical resistance probe. Primary consolidation time can be estimated from the slope of electrical resistance versus log time curve and the evolution of shear wave velocity. The shear wave velocity can be used to assess inherent anisotropy when disturbance effects are minimized because particle alignment affects the shear wave velocity. The void ratios evaluated by the electrical resistance probe are similar to those by the settlement during consolidation. This study suggests that the shear wave velocity and the electrical resistance can provide complementary imformations to understand consolidation characteristics such as primary consolidation, anisotropy, and void ratio.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.521-528
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• 1988

Into the telecommunications industry, which had been monopolistic, a few advanced countries introduced competition through 70's and 80's. And this trend is going on worldwide. The introduction of competition into the industry is made mainly in the long distance, international and enhanced market. This liberalisation results from the fundamental change of the cost function. Suggesting that the cost comprises of that of the facility sector and that of the operation sector there exists the economies of scale in the facility sector in general. The major ground for the monopolistic industrial structure in the past was the natural monopoly depending on the economies of scale. But the rapid advance of the technology by a large margin. This decrease has resulted in the change of the cost function. That is while there exists the economies of scale in the smaller production scale, the average cost increases beyond a certain scale. This means that the natural monopoly collapsed, and that the competitive structure is more efficient than the monopolistic structure. But, because there exists economies of scale in the smaller scale, the desirable number of players, which could result in efficient industry structure depends on the market size. Such correlation between technological level market size and the degree of regulation is found in the case of U.S.A., Japan and U.K., where deregulation policy of the telecommunications market has already been carried out. In U.S.A., which has the largest market and the highest technological level the degree of regulation is lowest. Also in the order of Japan and U.K. the regulation is severer. Japan and U.K. are likely to liberalize still more, as the technology advances and the market grows. This article is just the beginning of the research, and this hypothesis requires more detailed research.