• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.60 no.5
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• pp.310-316
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• 2016

Oxidation-reduction cycling (ORC) procedures are widely used for cleaning nanoparticle surfaces when investigating their electrocatalytic activities. In this work, the effect of ORC on the surface structures and electrocatalytic oxygen reduction activity of Au electrodes is analyzed. Different structural changes and variations in electrocatalysis are observed depending on the initial structure of the Au electrodes, such as flat bulk, nanoporous, nanoplate, or dendritic Au. In particular, dendritic Au structures lost their sharp-edge morphology during the ORC process, resulting in a significant decrease in its electrocatalytic oxygen reduction activity. The results shown in this paper provide an insight into the pretreatment of nanoparticle-based electrodes during investigation of their electrocatalytic activities.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.209-215
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• 2014

We report on the electrocatalytic activities at Pt nanostructure surfaces electrodeposited with different deposition charges on indium tin oxide electrodes for oxygen reduction and methanol oxidation reactions. The surface properties of Pt nanostructures depending on deposition charges were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, electrochemical surface area measurement, X-ray diffraction, and CO stripping analysis, which were correlated to the electrocatalytic activities. Pt nanostructures with deposition charge of 0.03 C exhibited the highest electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction and methanol oxidation. The sharp sites of Pt nanostructure and the presence of highly active facet play a key role, whereas the electrochemical surface area does not significantly affect the electrocatalytic activity. The results obtained in this work with regard to the dependence of electrocatalytic activity on the variation of the Pt nanostructures will give insights into the development of advanced electrocatalytic systems.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2016

Although the time dependences of the electrocatalytic activities of Pt and Pd nanoparticles during electrochemical operations have been widely studied, the time dependences under nonpolarized conditions have never been investigated in depth. This study reports the changes in the electrocatalytic activities of Pt and Pd nanoparticles with aging in air and in solution. Pt (or Pd) nanoparticle-modified electrodes are obtained by adsorbing citrate-stabilized Pt (or Pd) nanoparticles on amine-modified indium-tin oxide (ITO) electrodes, or by electrodeposition of Pt (or Pd) nanoparticles on ITO electrodes. The electrocatalytic activities of freshly prepared Pt and Pd nanoparticles in the oxygen reduction reaction slowly decrease with aging. The electrocatalytic activities decrease more slowly in solution than in air. An increase in surface contamination may cause electrocatalytic deactivation during aging. The electrocatalytic activities of long-aged Pt (or Pd) nanoparticles are significantly enhanced and recovered by NaBH₄ treatment.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.369-372
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• 2009

In the present study, the effect of chemical treatment on graphite nanofibers (GNFs) supports with various concentrated nitric acids was investigated for methanol oxidation. To optimize the electrocatalytic activity, PtRu catalysts were deposited on GNF supports by impregnation method. The surface and structural properties of the GNF supports were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), element analyzer (EA), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The morphology of the catalysts was observed by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The electrocatalytic activity of PtRu/GNF catalysts was investigated by cyclic voltammetry measurement. As a result, the oxygen functional groups were introduced on the GNF supports and were gradually increased with increasing of concentrated nitric acid, causing the smaller particle size and higher loading level. And the electrocatalytic activity of the catalysts for methanol oxidation was gradually improved. Consequently, it was found that chemical treatments could influence on surface properties of the carbon supports, resulting in enhancing the electrocatalytic activity of the catalysts for DMFCs.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.1485-1488
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• 2009

A facile, seed-mediated preparation method of trimetallic Au@Pb@Pt core-shell nanoparticles is developed. Au nanoparticles are the template seeds onto which sequentially reduced Pb and Pt are deposited. The trimetallic core-shell structure is confirmed by UV-Vis spectroscopy, TEM and EDS analysis, and cyclic voltammetry. The trimetallic Au@Pb@Pt core-shell nanoparticles show high electrocatalytic activity for formic acid and methanol electrooxidation.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.331-334
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• 2010

In the present study, carbon supports mixed with purified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and carbon blacks (CBs) were used to improve the cell performance of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). Additionally, the effect of $O_2$ plasma treatment on CBs/MWNTs supports was investigated for different plasma RF powers of 100, 200, and 300 W. The surface and structural properties of the CBs/MWNTs supports were characterized by FT-IR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and inductive coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The electrocatalytic activity of PtRu/CBs/MWNTs catalysts was investigated by cyclic voltammetry measurement. In the experimental results, the oxygen functional groups of the supports were increased with increasing plasma RF power, while the average Pt particle size was decreased owing to the improvement of dispersibility of the catalysts. The electrochemical activity of the catalysts for methanol oxidation was gradually improved by the larger available active surface area, itself due to the introduction of oxygen functional groups. Consequently, it was found that $O_2$ plasma treatments could influence the surface properties of the carbon supports, resulting in enhanced electrocatalytic activity of the catalysts for DMFCs.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.88-94
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• 2015

In this study we investigated the electrocatalytic oxidation of saccharose on conductive polymer- Nickel oxide modified graphite electrodes based on the ability of anionic surfactants to form micelles in aqueous media. This NiO modified electrode showed higher electrocatalytic activity than Ni rode electrode in electrocatalytic oxidation of saccharose. The anodic peak currents show linear dependency with the square root of scan rate. This behavior is the characteristic of a diffusion controlled process. Under the CA regime the reaction followed a Cottrellian behavior and the diffusion coefficient of saccharose was found in agreement with the values obtained from CV measurements.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.489-496
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• 1996

Metal dispersed carbon paste electrodes were fabricated, and their electrochemical properties were investigated. Among various metal dispersed carbons, platinum-dispersed carbon paste electrode showed most efficient electrocatalytic characteristics. The overpotential for the oxidation of NADH was significantly lowered in the platinum-dispersed carbon paste electrode, and catalytic current was also enhanced. Based on these electrocatalytic observations, L-lactate biosensor using L-lactate dehydrogenase was constructed to evaluate its performance in terms of sensitivity and stability.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.24-28
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• 2012

The electrocatalytic activities and surface roughness of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrodes have been investigated after thermal treatment at 100, 150, or $200^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, 2 h, or 8 h. To check electrocatalytic activities, the electrochemical behavior of four electroactive species (p-hydroquinone, $Ru(NH_3){_6}^{3+}$, ferrocenemethanol, and $Fe(CN){_6}^{4-}$) has been measured. The electron transfer rate for p-hydroquinone oxidation and ferrocenemethanol oxidation increases with increasing the incubation temperature and the incubation period of time, but the rate for $Ru(NH_3){_6}^{3+}$ is similar irrespective of the incubation temperature and period because $Ru(NH_3){_6}^{3+}$ undergoes a fast outer-sphere reaction. Overall, the electrocatalytic activities of ITO electrodes increase with increasing the incubation temperature and period. The surface roughness of ITO electrodes increases with increasing the incubation temperature, and the thermal treatment generates many towering pillars as high as several tens of nanometer.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.459-462
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• 2006

Formic acid recently attracted attention as an alternative fuel for direct liquid fuel cells(DLFCs) due to its high theoretical open circuit voltage(1.45V). In this paper, a novel chemical strategy is described for the preparation and characterization of carbon-supported and surface-alloys, which were prepared by using a successive reduction process. After preparing Au colloid nanoparticles, the deposition of Au colloid nanoparticles occurred spontaneously in the carbon black-dispersed aqueous solution. Then nano-scaled Pt layer were formed on the surface of carbon-supported Au nanoparticles. The Au-Pt[x] showed the higher electrocatalytic activity than those of the particle-alloys and commercial one (Johnson-Matthey) for the reaction of formic acid oxidation when the mass-specific currents were compared. The increased electrocatalytic activity might be attributed to the effective surface structure of surface-alloys, which have a high utilization of active materials for the surface reaction of electrode.