• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.51-65
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• 2008

The increasing demand for energy in the near future has created strong motivation for environmentally clean alternative energy resources. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have opened up new ways of utilizing renewable energy sources. MFCs are devices that convert the chemical energy in the organic compounds to electrical energy through microbial catalysis at the anode under anaerobic conditions, and the reduction of a terminal electron acceptor, most preferentially oxygen, at the cathode. Due to the rapid advances in MFC-based technology over the last decade, the currently achievable MFC power production has increased by several orders of magnitude, and niche applications have been extended into a variety of areas. Newly emerging concepts with alternative materials for electrodes and catalysts as well as innovative designs have made MFCs promising technologies. Aerobic bacteria can also be used as cathode catalysts. This is an encouraging finding because not only biofouling on the cathode is unavoidable in the prolonged-run MFCs but also noble catalysts can be substituted with aerobic bacteria. This article discusses some of the recent advances in MFCs with an emphasis on the performance, materials, microbial community structures and applications beyond electricity generation.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.369-376
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• 2017

Temperature and humidity regulations of an open-cathode PEM fuel cell with balance of plant (BOP) are developed in this study. The axial fan, a bubble humidifier, set of solenoid valves and a controller are used to perform temperature and humidity control simultaneously. A fuzzy controller is designed, and it shows its superiority in real-time controlling for strong non-linear dynamical fuel cell system. The axial fan speed is used for temperature control and solenoid valve on/off signal of the bubble humidifier is used for humidity control. The axial fan speed is controlled to keep the fuel cell temperature within the desired point. Meanwhile, the bubble humidifier is utilized to moisture hydrogen to manage the water content of membrane. The results show that the proposed fuzzy controller effectively increases the output power of 10% for a PEM fuel cell.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.1308-1312
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• 2011

CCFL(Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp)for BLU of LCD and special lighting has been widely utilized. The removal of oxide film formed on electrode of CCFL in manufacturing process is required. In this pape Plasma treatment was carried out to remove the oxide film. To ensure the optimum process, the analysis of sheet resistance, XRD, AFM and solder test was conducted. A minimum sheet resistance and the maximum percentage of the solder coverage ratio were measured in optimal process conditions such as plasma power consumption 600W and processing time of 70 seconds. As the plasma treatment is confirmed to be due to removal of copper oxide, this process is expected to be used as a treatment of electrode for CCFL.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.97-114
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• 2016

Lithium batteries based on elemental sulfur as the cathode-active material capture great attraction due to the high theoretical capacity, easy availability, low cost and non-toxicity of sulfur. Although lithium/sulfur (Li/S) primary cells were known much earlier, the interest in developing Li/S secondary batteries that can deliver high energy and high power was actively pursued since early 1990’s. A lot of technical challenges including the low conductivity of sulfur, dissolution of sulfur-reduction products in the electrolyte leading to their migration away from the cathode, and deposition of solid reaction products on cathode matrix had to be tackled to realize a high and stable performance from rechargeable Li/S cells. This article presents briefly an overview of the studies pertaining to the different aspects of Li/S batteries including those that deal with the sulfur electrode, electrolytes, lithium anode and configuration of the batteries.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.963-972
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• 2003

Performance characteristics of the planar-type solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) are investigated by the analysis of flow fields coupled with heat and mass transfer phenomena in anode and cathode channels. For these purposes, performance analysis of the SOFC is conducted based on electrochemical reaction phenomena in electrodes and electrolyte coupled with flow fields in anode and cathode channels. In the present study, the isothermal model adopted in the previous paper prepared by the same authors is extended to the non-isothermal model by solving energy equation additionally with momentum and mass transfer equations using CFD technique. It is found that the difference between isothermal and non-isothermal models come from non-uniform temperature distribution along anode and cathode electrodes by solving energy equation in non-isothermal model. Non-uniform temperature distribution in non-isothermal model contributes to the increase of average temperature of the fuel cell and influences its performance characteristics.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.72-72
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• 2010

Recent development of organic solar cell approaches the level of 8% power conversion efficiency by the introduction of new materials, improved material engineering, and more sophisticated device structures. As for interface engineering, various interlayer materials such as LiF, CaO, NaF, and KF have been utilized between Al electrode and active layer. Those materials lower the work function of cathode and interface barrier, protect the active layer, enhance charge collection efficiency, and induce active layer doping. However, the addition of another step of thin layer deposition could be a little complicated. Thus, on a typical solar cell structure of Al/P3HT:PCBM/PEDOT:PSS/ITO glass, we used Li:Al alloy electrode instead of Al to render a simple process. J-V measurement under dark and light illumination on the polymer solar cell using Li:Al cathode shows the improvement in electric properties such as decrease in leakage current and series resistance, and increase in circuit current density. This effective charge collection and electron transport correspond to lowered energy barrier for electron transport at the interface, which is measured by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. Indeed, through the measurement of secondary ion mass spectroscopy, the Li atoms turn out to be located mainly at the interface between polymer and Al metal. In addition, the chemical reaction between polymer and metal electrodes are measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.1598-1602
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• 2009

The particle size of Li[$Ni_{0.2}Li_{0.2}Mn_{0.6}]O_2$ cathode powder was controlled effectively by dispersion using lauric acid as a surfactant. The samples treated by lauric acid showed smaller particles of approximately half the original size compared to the particles of a pristine sample. A structural change due to the dispersion of Li[$Ni_{0.2}Li_{0.2}Mn_{0.6}]O_2$ powder was not detected. The rate performance of the Li[$Ni_{0.2}Li_{0.2}Mn_{0.6}]O_2$ cathode was improved by dispersion using lauric acid, which was likely due to the decrease of the particle size. In particular, a sample dispersed pristine powder using lauric acid (L2) presented a greatly enhanced discharge capacity and capacity retention at a high C rate. The discharge capacity of a pristine sample was only 133 m$Ahg^{-1}$ (3C rate) and 96 m$Ahg^{-1}$ (12C rate) at the tenth cycle. In contrast, the L2 electrode delivered higher discharge capacities of 160 m$Ahg^{-1}$ (3C rate) and 129 m$Ahg^{-1}$ (12C rate) at the tenth cycle. The capacity retention at a rate of 12C/2C was also enhanced from ~ 45% (pristine sample) to 57% (L2) by treatment with lauric acid.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.593-595
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• 1992

To improve the lifetime and output power in a sealed-off $CO_2$ laser, a series of Nd$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$CoO$_3$(x = 0.0, 0.25, 0.40, 0.50, 0.60, 0.75) perovskite-type compounds has been synthesized and used for a cathode material. Using a typical method samples were sintered at 1150$^{\circ}$C and their structures were determined as a cubic form by means of XRD analysis. The degrees of $CO_2$ dissociation were measured by PAS (photoacoustic spectroscopy) with the lapse of time. In the case of $Nd_{0.4}$Sr$_{0.6}$$CoO_3$, which showed the highest catalytic cathode effect, only 7% of the initial $CO_2$ concentration were dissociated at 30 torr of gas mixture and 5 mA of discharge current. The more the gas pressure decreased and the discharge current increased, the more the degree of dissociation occurred. The ability of catalytic cathode to regenerate CO$_2$ in the laser cavity lies in order for x, 0.60 > 0.50 > 0.40 > 0.75 > 0.25 ${\gg}$ 0.0. Except for the case of x = 0.0 the amounts of $CO_2$ dissociation were found to be within 7-15% of the initial $CO_2$ concentration.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.154.2-154.2
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• 2016

In this work, we introduce a solution-processed CdS interlayer for use in inverted bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells, and compare this material to a series of standard organic and inorganic cathode interlayers. Different combinations of solution-processed CdS, ZnO and conjugated polyelectrolyte (CPE) layers were compared as cathode interlayers on ITO substrates to construct inverted solar cells based on $PTB7:PC_{71}BM$ and a $P3HT:PC_{61}BM$ as photoactive layers. Introduction of a CdS interlayer significantly improved the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of inverted $PTB7:PC_{71}BM$ devices from 2.0% to 4.9%, however, this efficiency was still fairly low compared to benchmark ZnO or CPE interlayers due to a low open circuit voltage ($V_{OC}$), stemming from the deep conduction band energy of CdS. The $V_{OC}$ was greatly improved by introducing an interfacial dipole (CPE) layer on top of the CdS layer, yielding outstanding diode characteristics and a PCE of 6.8%. The best performing interlayer, however, was a single CPE layer alone, which yielded a $V_{OC}$ of 0.727 V, a FF of 63.2%, and a PCE of 7.89%. Using $P3HT:PC_{61}BM$ as an active layer, similar trends were observed. Solar cells without the cathode interlayer yielded a PCE of 0.46% with a poor $V_{OC}$ of 0.197 V and FF of 34.3%. In contrast, the use of hybrid ZnO/CPE layer as the cathode interlayer considerably improved the $V_{OC}$ of 0.599 V and FF of 53.3%, resulting the PCE of 2.99%. Our results indicate that the CdS layer yields excellent diode characteristics, however, performs slightly worse than benchmark ZnO and CPE layers in solar cell devices due to parasitic absorption below 550 nm. These results suggest that the hybrid inorganic/organic interlayer materials are promising candidates as cathode interlayers for high efficiency inverted solar cells through the modification of interface contacts.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.40 no.10
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• pp.967-972
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• 2003

The inner-diameter 5 cm cold hollow cathode ion source was designed for the high current density and the homogeneous beam profile of ion beam. The ion source consisted of a cylindrical cathode, a generation part of magnetic field, a plasma chamber, convex type ion optic system with two grid electrode, and DC power supply system. The cold hollow cathode ion sources were classified into standard type (I), electron output electrode modified type (II). The operation of the ion source was done with discharge current, ion beam potential and argon gas flow rate. The modification of electron output electrode resulted in uniform plasma generation and uniform area of ion beam was extended from 5 cm to 20 cm. Improved ion source was evaluated with beam uniformity, ion current, team extraction efficiency, and ionization efficiency.