• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제32권8호
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• pp.2683-2688
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• 2011

Silica-manganese oxides with a core-shell structure were synthesized via precipitation of manganese oxides on the $SiO_2$ core while varying the concentration of a precipitation agent. Elemental analysis, crystalline property investigation, and morphology observations using low- and high-resolution electron microscopes were applied to the synthesized silica-manganese oxides with the core-shell structure. As the concentration of the precipitating agent increased, the manganese oxide shells around the $SiO_2$ core sequentially appeared as $Mn_3O_4$ particles, $Mn_2O_3+Mn_3O_4$ thin layers, and ${\alpha}-MnO_2$ urchin-like phases. The prepared samples were assembled as electrodes in a supercapacitor with 0.1 M $Na_2SO_4$ electrolyte, and their electrochemical properties were examined using cyclic voltammetry and charge-discharge cycling. The maximum specific capacitance obtained was 197 F $g^{-1}$ for the $SiO_2-MnO_2$ electrode due to the higher electronic conductivity of the $MnO_2$ shell compared to those of the $Mn_2O_3$ and $Mn_3O_4$ phases.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.191-200
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• 2022

Na-β"-Al₂O₃ has been widely employed as a solid electrolyte for high-temperature sodium (Na) beta-alumina batteries (NBBs) thanks to its superb thermal stability and high ionic conductivity. Recently, a vapor phase conversion (VPC) method has been newly introduced to fabricate thin Na-β"-Al₂O₃ electrolytes by converting α-Al₂O₃ into β"-Al₂O₃ in α-Al₂O₃/yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) composites under Na⁺ and O^2- dual percolation environments. One of the main challenges that need to be figured out is lowered conductivity due to the large volume fraction of the non-Na⁺-conducting YSZ. In this study, the effect of lithia addition in the β"-Al₂O₃ phase on the grain size and ionic conductivity of Na-β"-Al₂O₃/YSZ solid electrolytes have been investigated in order to enhance the conductivity of the electrolyte. The amount of pre-added lithia (Li₂O) precursor as a phase stabilizer was varied at 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 mol% against that of Al₂O₃. It turns out that ionic conductivity increases even with 1 mol% lithia addition and reaches 67 mS cm^-1 at 350 ℃ of its maximum with 3 mol%, which is two times higher than that of the undoped composite.

• Archives of Metallurgy and Materials
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• 제66권4호
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• pp.931-934
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• 2021

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have attracted substantial interest as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries because of the low cost. There have been many studies on the development of new anode materials that could react with sodium by conversion mechanism. SnO₂ is a promising candidate due to its low cost and high theoretical capacity. However, SnO₂ has the same problem as other anodes during the conversion reaction, i.e., the volume of the anode repeatedly expands and contracts by cycling. Herein, anode is composed of carbon nanofiber embedded with SnO₂ nanopowder. The resultant electrode showed improvement of cyclability. The optimized SnO₂ electrode showed high capacity of 1275 mAh g^-1 at a current density of 50 mA g^-1. The high conductivity of the optimized electrode resulted in superior electrochemical performance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 한국진공학회 2013년도 제45회 하계 정기학술대회 초록집
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• pp.75.2-75.2
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• 2013

Atomic layer deposition (ALD), utilizing self-limiting surface reactions, could offer promising perspectives for future efficient energy conversion devices. The capabilities of ALD for surface/interface modification and construction of novel architectures with sub-nanometer precision and exceptional conformality over high aspect ratio make it more valuable than any other deposition methods in nanoscale science and technology. In the context, a variety of researches on fabrication of active materials for energy conversion applications by ALD are emerging. Among those materials, one-dimensional nanotubular titanium dioxide, providing not only high specific surface area but also efficient carrier transport pathway, is a class of the most intensively explored materials for energy conversion systems, such as photovoltaic cells and photo/electrochemical devices. The monodisperse, stoichiometric, anatase, TiO2 nanotubes with smooth surface morphology and controlled wall thickness were fabricated via low-temperature template-directed ALD followed by subsequent annealing. The ALD-grown, anatase, TiO2 nanotubes in alumina template show unusual crystal growth behavior which allows to form remarkably large grains along axial direction over certain wall thickness. We also fabricated dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) introducing our anatase TiO2 nanotubes as photoanodes, and studied the effect of blocking layer, TiO2 thin films formed by ALD, on overall device efficiency. The photon convertsion efficiency ~7% were measured for our TiO2 nanotubebased DSCs with blocking layers, which is ~1% higher than ones without blocking layer. We also performed open circuit voltage decay measurement to estimate recombination rate in our cells, which is 3 times longer than conventional nanoparticulate photoanodes. The high efficiency of our ALD-grown, anatase, TiO2 nanotube-based DSCs may be attributed to both enhanced charge transport property of our TiO2 nanotubes photoanode and the suppression of recombination at the interface between transparent conducting electrode and iodine electrolytes by blocking layer.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• 제26권1호
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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.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2010년도 춘계학술대회 초록집
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• pp.73.2-73.2
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• 2010

Polymer solar cells (PSCs) have attracted considerable academic and commercial interest because of their unique advantages, such as the facile manufacture of low cost, flexibility, lightweight, and solution processibility. Recently, high-performance polymer solar cells made from a mixture of poly(2,7-carbazole) derivatives, PCDTBT, and [6,6]-phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC70BM) have been reported, with maximum power conversion efficiency of 6.1%. In this work, we report new novel copolymers based on poly(2,7-carbazole) derivatives with a suite of electron-deficient moieties or electron-rich units. We systematically investigated the synthesis, thermal stability, as well as the optical and electrochemical properties of these polymers. Detailed synthetic scheme, optical, electrochemical, and photovoltaic properties of the copolymers will be presented.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.83-91
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• 2011

Mesoporous titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) thin films were prepared using poly(vinyl chloride)-graft-poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVC-g-PVP) as a templating agent via sol-gel process. Grafting of PVC chains from PVC backbone was done by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) technique. The successful grafting of PVP to synthesize PVC-g-PVP was checked by fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The carbonyl group interaction of PVC-g-PVP graft copolymer with $TiO_2$ was confirmed by FT-IR. The porous morphologies of the $TiO_2$ films genereated after calcination at $450^{\circ}C$ was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mesoporous $TiO_2$ films with 580 nm in thickness were used as a photoelectrode for solid state dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and showed an energy conversion efficiency of 1.05% at 100 $mW/cm^2$.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제29권10호
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• pp.1983-1987
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• 2008

This study demonstrates the electrochemical conversion of the synthetic procedure of monolayer-protected clusters using a thin toluene layer over an edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrode. A thin toluene layer with a thickness of 0.31 mm was coated over the electrode and an immiscible liquid/liquid water/toluene interface was introduced. The transfer of the tetrachloroaurate ($AuCl_4^-$) ions into the toluene layer interposed between the aqueous solution and the electrode surface was electrochemically monitored. The $AuCl_4^-$ ions initially could not move through into the toluene layer, showing no reduction wave, but, in the presence of the phase transfer reagent, tetraoctylammonium bromide (TOABr), a cathodic wave at 0.23 V vs. Ag/AgCl was observed, indicating the reduction of the transferred $AuCl_4^-$ ions in the toluene layer. In the presence of dodecanethiol together with TOABr, a self-assembled monolayer was formed over the electro-deposited metallic gold surface. The E-SEM image of the surface indicates the formation of a highly porous metallic gold surface, rather than individual nanoparticles, over the EPG electrode.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• 제2권2호
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• pp.68-75
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• 2011

In this review, we have investigated the effect of $TiO_2$-based blocking layers (t-BLs), deposited on a transparent conductive oxide (TCO)-coated glass substrate, on the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The t-BL was deposited using spin-coating or sputtering technique, and its thicknesses were varied to study the influence of the thin $TiO_2$ layer in between transparent conducting glass and nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ (nc-$TiO_2$). The DSSC with the t-BL showed the improved adhesion and the suppressed charge recombination at a TCO glass substrate than those without the t-BL, which led to the higher conversion efficiency.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.99-116
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• 2020

The article provides information on ceramic / nanostructured materials which are suitable for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) working between 500 to 1000℃. However, low temperature solid oxide fuel cells LTSOFCs working at less than 600℃ are being developed now-a-days with suitable new materials and are globally explored as the "future energy conversion devices". The LTSOFCs device has emerged as a novel technology especially for stationary power generation, portable and transportation applications. Operating SOFC at low temperature (i.e. < 600℃) with higher efficiency is a bigger challenge for the scientific community since in low temperature regions, the efficiency might be less and the components might have exhibited lower catalytic activity which may result in poor cell performance. Employing new and novel nanoscale ceramic materials and composites may improve the SOFC performance at low temperature ranges is most focused now-a-days. This review article focuses on the overview of various ceramic and nanostructured materials and components applicable for SOFC devices reported by different researchers across the globe. More importance is given for the nanostructured materials and components developed for LTSOFC technology so far.