• Ceramist
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.184-199
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• 2020

The solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are the one of the most promising energy conversion devices which can directly convert chemical energy into electric power with high efficiency and low emission. The lowering operating temperature below 800 ℃ has been considered as the mostly considerable research and development for commercialization. The major issue is to maintain reasonably high performance of SOFCs at reduced temperatures due to increment of polarization resistance of electrodes and electrolyte. Thus, the alternative materials with high catalytic activities and fast oxygen ion conductivity are required. For recent advances in electrolyte materials and technology, newly designed, highly conductive electrolyte materials and structural engineering of them provide a new path for further reduction in ohmic polarization resistance from electrolytes. Here, a powerful strategy of the bilayer concept with various oxide electrolytes of SOFCs are briefly reviewed. These recent developments also highlight the need for electrolytes with greater conductivity to achieve a high performance, thus providing a useful guidance for the rational design of cell structures for SOFCs. Moreover, cell design, materials compatibility, processing methods, are discussed, along with their role in determining cell performance. Results from state-of-the-art SOFCs are presented, and future prospects are discussed.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.80-87
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• 2019

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted great attention as sustainable energy devices. The efficiency and long-term stability of DSSCs are greatly influenced by electrode materials and electrolytes. In this review, we focused on the electrolytes of DSSCs. Polymer electrolyte membranes have been proposed as an alternative to conventional liquid electrolytes in DSSCs. Conventional liquid electrolytes can exhibit a high efficiency, but due to some problems such as poor long-term stability of device and leakage of liquid, much interest in polymer electrolyte membranes continues to rise and the papers on polymer electrolytes membranes have been extensively reported recently. This review covers the concept and development of polymer electrolyte membranes for DSSCs, and discusses the efficiency and electrochemical properties of DSSCs, highlighting the modification of polymer matrix, the introduction of additives such as organic-inorganic plasticizers and ionic liquids.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.603-606
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• 2020

A hydrophilic alkaline room temperature ionic liquid electrolyte (RT-IL) carrying hydroxide ion as an anion and 1-benzyl-3-butylimidazolium as a cation was synthesized. Electrochemical, physical and structural properties of the synthesized RT-IL were characterized using cyclic voltammetry, ionic conductivity, viscosity, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), FT-IR, and 1H-NMR measurements. High ionic conductivity and low viscosity characteristics comparable to 0.1 M KCl electrolyte solution were achieved for the RT-IL in addition to a wide electrochemical potential window of about 4.4 V. The results indicate that the RT-IL is promising for future applications as an alternative electrolyte to energy and environmental research fields.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.199-207
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• 2022

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) have emerged as a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to their high energy density and economic viability. In addition, all-solid-state LSBs, which use solid-state electrolytes, have been proposed to overcome the polysulfide shuttle effect while improving safety. However, the high interfacial resistance and poor ionic conductivity exhibited by the electrode and solid-state electrolytes, respectively, are significant challenges in the development of these LSBs. Herein, we apply a poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based composite solid-state electrolyte with oxide Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZO) solid-state electrolyte in an all-solid-state LSB to overcome these challenges. We use an electrochemical method to evaluate the degradation of the all-solid-state LSB in accordance with the carbon content and loading weight within the cathode. The all-solid-state LSB, with sulfur-carbon content in a ratio of 3:3, exhibited a high initial discharge capacity (1386 mAh g^-1), poor C-rate performance, and capacity retention of less than 50%. The all-solid-state LSB with a high loading weight exhibited a poor overall electrochemical performance. The factors influencing the electrochemical performance degradation were revealed through systematic analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.80-87
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• 2018

Safety issues in Li-ion battery system have been prime concerns, as demands for power supply device applicable to wearable device, electrical vehicles and energy storage system have increased. To solve safety problems, promising strategy is to replace organic liquid electrolyte with non-flammable solid electrolyte, leading to the development of all-solid-state battery. However, relative low conductivity and high resistance from rigid solid-solid interface hinder a wide application of solid electrolyte. Composite electrolytes composed of organic and inorganic parts could be alternative solution, which in turn bring about the increase of conductivity and conformal contact at physically rough interfaces. In our study, composite electrolytes were prepared by combining poly(ethylene oxide)(PEO) and $Li_7La_3Zr_2O_{12}$ (LLZO). The crystallinity, morphology and electrochemical performances were investigated with the control of LLZO contents from 0 wt% to 50 wt%. From the results, it is concluded that optimum content and uniform dispersion of LLZO in polymer matrix are significant to improve overall conductivity of composite electrolyte.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.36 no.9
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• pp.909-914
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• 1999

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.442-455
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• 2022

High-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) has been studied as an alternative to low-temperature PEMFC due to its fast activation of electrodes and high resistance to electrode poisoning by carbon monoxide. It is highly required to develop stable PEMs operating at high temperatures even doped by ion-conducting materials for the development of high-performance and durable HT-PEMFC systems. A number of studies have been conducted to develop polybenzimidazole (PBI)-based PEMs for applications in HT-PEMFC due to their high interaction with doped ion-conducting materials and outstanding thermomechanical stability under high-temperature operation. This review focused on the development of PBI-based PEMs showing high performance and durability. Firstly, the characteristic behavior of PBI-based PEMs doped with various ion-conducting materials including phosphoric acid was systematically investigated. And then, a comparison of the physicochemical properties of the PEMs according to the different membrane manufacturing processes was conducted. Secondly, the incorporation of porous polytetrafluoroethylene substrate and/or inorganic composites to PBI matrix to improve the membrane performances was studied. Finally, the construction of cross-linked structures into PBI-based PEM systems by polymer blending method was introduced to improve the PEM properties.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.160-166
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• 2019

In this study, we investigated the long-term stability of Nd₂NiO₄ solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cathodes to evaluate their chromium poisoning tolerance. Symmetrical cells consisting of Nd2NiO4 electrodes and a yttria-stabilized zirconia electrolyte were fabricated and the cell potential and polarization resistance were measured at 850 ℃ in the presence of gaseous chromium species for 800 h. Up to 500 h of operation, the cell potential remained constant at 500 mA/㎠. However, it increased slightly over the operation duration of 550-800 h. No appreciable increase was observed in the polarization resistance of the Nd₂NiO₄ cathode during the entire operation of 800 h. Physicochemical examinations revealed that the gaseous chromium species did not form chromium-related contamination not only in the Nd₂NiO₄ cathode but also at the cathode/electrolyte interface. The results demonstrated that Nd₂NiO₄ is resistant to chromium poisoning, and hence is a potential alternative to standard perovskite cathodes.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.694-700
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• 2008

Proton conducting oxides based on the $BaCe_{0.9}M_{0.1}O_{3-{\delta}}$ (M = La, AL) were tested for the alternative electrolyte materials of fuel cell. The power density for single cell of Air |Pt| $BaCe_{0.9}M_{0.1}O_{3-{\delta}}$ |Pt| $H_2(3%H_2O)$ system was maximum $0.04W/cm^2$ at $1000^{\circ}C$. In this system, proton transport number was proved to depend on the lattice parameters and the distortion of $CeO_6$ octahedral as a function of the ionic radii of acceptor ions. This proton conducting oxide system requires developing the new electrode materials for application.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.171-178
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• 2013

In a polymer membrane fuel cell stack, the bipolar plate is a key element because it accounts for over 50% of total costs of the stack. In order to lower the cost of bipolar plates, 316L stainless steels coated with nitrides such as TiN and CrN by physical vapor deposition were investigated as alternative materials for the replacement of traditional brittle graphite bipolar-plates. For this purpose, interfacial contact resistances were measured and electrochemical corrosion tests were conducted. The results showed that although both TiN and CrN coatings decreased the interfacial contact resistances to less than $10m{\Omega}{\cdot}cm^2$, they did not significantly improve the corrosion resistance in simulated polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell environments. A CrN coating on 316L stainless steel showed better corrosion resistance than a TiN coating did, indicating the possibility of using modified CrN coated metallic bipolar plates to replace graphite bipolar plates.