• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.1332-1339
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• 2002

This research was undertaken to clarify effects of thermal aging on electrochemical and mechanical properties of superaustenitic stainless steel and to detect the material degradation nondestructively. The steel was artificially aged at $300{\sim}650^{\circ}C$ for $240{\sim}10,000h$ and the mechanical properties were investigated at $-196{\sim}650^{\circ}C$ using small punch(SP) test. Also, the change in electrochemical properties caused by effects of thermal aging on superaustenitic stainless steel was investigated using electrochemical anodic polarization test in a KOH electrolyte. Carbides and ${\eta}-phase(Fe_2Mo)$ precipitated in the grain boundaries seem to deteriorate the mechanical properties by decreasing cohesive strength in the grain boundaries and to promote the current density observed in electrochemical polarization curves, The electrochemical and mechanical properties of superaustenitic stainless steel decreased significantly in the specimen aged at $650^{\circ}C$ corresponding to the sensitization temperature for conventional austenitic stainless steels.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.189-195
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• 2023

As a PEMFC (Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell) cathode catalyst, Pt-Co/C has recently been widely used because of its improved durability. In a fuel cell, electrodes and electrolytes have a close influence on each other in terms of performance and durability. The effect on the electrochemical durability of the electrolyte membrane when Pt-Co/C was replaced in the Pt/C electrode catalyst was studied. The durability of Pt-Co/C MEA (Membrane Electrode Assembly) was higher than that of Pt/C MEA in the electrochemical accelerated degradation process of PEMFC membrane. As a result of analyzing the FER (Fluorine Emission Rate) and hydrogen permeability, it was shown that the degradation rate of the membrane of Pt-Co/C MEA was lower than that of Pt/C MEA. In the OCV (Open Circuit Voltage) holding process, the rate of decrease of the active area of the Pt-Co/C electrode was lower than that of the Pt/C electrode, and the amount of Pt deposited on the membrane was smaller in Pt-Co/C MEA than in Pt/C MEA. Pt inside the polymer membrane deteriorates the membrane by generating radicals, so the degradation rate of the membrane of Pt/C MEA with a high Pt deposition rate was higher than Pt-Co/C MEA. When the Pt-Co/C catalyst was used, the electrode durability was improved, and the amount of Pt deposited on the membrane was also reduced, thereby improving the electrochemical durability of the membrane.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.524-529
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• 2020

To increase the mechanical durability of the proton exchange membrane fuel cells, a reinforced membrane in which a support is placed in the polymer membrane is used. The support mainly uses e-PTFE, which is hydrophobic and does not transfer ions, which may cause performance degradation. In this study, we investigated the effect of e-PTFE support on PEMFC performance and electrochemical durability. In this study, the reinforced membrane with the support was compared with the single membrane (non-reinforced membrane). Due to the hydrophobicity of the support, the water diffusion coefficient of the reinforced membrane was lower than that of the single membrane. The reinforced membrane had a lower water diffusion coefficient, resulting in higher HFR, which is the membrane migration resistance of ions, than that of a single membrane. Due to the low hydrogen permeability of the support, the OCV of the reinforced membrane was higher than that of the single membrane. The support was shown to reduce the hydrogen permeability, thereby reducing the rate of radical generation, thereby improving the electrochemical durability of the reinforced membrane.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2005

Material degradation is a multibillion-dollar problem which affects all the industries amongst others. The last decades have seen the development of newer and more effective techniques such as Focused-ion beam(FIB), Transmission electron microscopy(TEM), Secondary-ion mass spectroscopy(SIMS), auger electron spectroscopy(AES), X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) , Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS), Photo- stimulated luminescence spectroscopy(PSLS), etc. to study various forms of material degradation. These techniques are now used routinely to obtain information on the chemical state, depth profiling, composition, stress state, etc. to understand the degradation behavior. This paper describes the use of these techniques specifically applied to materials degradation and failure analysis.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.9-19
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• 2018

The anodic behavior of aluminum (Al) foils with varying purity, capacitance, and withstand voltage in organic electrolytes was examined for EDLC. The results of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA) experiments showed that the electrochemical stability improves when Al foil has higher purity, lower capacitance, and higher withstand voltage. To improve the electrochemical stability of EDLC current collectors made of low-purity foil (99.4% Al foil), the foil was modified by chemical etching to reduce its capacitance to $60{\mu}F/cm^2$ and forming to have withstand a voltage of 3 Vf. EDLC cells using the modified Al foil as a current collector were made to 2.7 V with 360 F, and a constant voltage load test was subsequently performed for 2500 hours at high temperature under a rated voltage of 2.7 V. The reliability and stability of the EDLC cell improved when the modified Al foil was used as a current collector. To understand the deterioration process of the Al current collector, standard cells made of conventional Al foil under a constant voltage load test were disassembled, and the surface changes of the foil were measured every 500 hours. The Al foil became increasingly corroded, causing the adhesion between the AC coating layer and the Al foil to weaken, and it was confirmed that partial AC coating layer peeling occurred.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.267-274
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• 2002

This research is described on the applicability of a electrochemical techniques for evaluating nondestructive material degradation with various polarization characteristics for Cr-Mo-V steel. The applied electrochemical technique is anodic polarization test which are widely used to evaluate the corrosion rate and/or sensitization at depleted zone of strengthening elements mainly caused by thermal experience for stainless steels. The evaluation of material degradation is performed by small punch test which has been well known as micromechanics test method using specimen size of $10{\times}10{\times}0.5mm$. The 1,000hrs aged material at $630^{\circ}C$ shows the highest material degradation$({\Delta}[DBTT]_{SP})$, but the 2,000hrs and 3,000hrs aged materials show the decrease of ${\Delta}[DBTT]_{SP}$ as aging time increases. It is observed that the difference of current density $({\Delta}I_{FP}\;and\;{\Delta}I_{SP})$.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.86.2-86.2
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• 2010

In order to improve polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) durability, the durability of membrane electrode assemblies (MEA), in which the electrochemical reactions actually occur, is one of the vital issues. Many articles have dealt with catalyst layer degradation of the durability-related factors on MEAs in relation to loss of catalyst surface area caused by agglomeration, dissolution, migration, formation of metal complexes and oxides, and/or instability of the carbon support. Degradation of catalyst layer during long-term operation includes cracking or delamination of the layer which result either from change in the catalyst microstructure or loss of electronic or ionic contact with the active surface, can result in apparent activity loss in the catalyst layer. Membrane degradation of the durability-related factors on MEAs can be caused by mechanical or thermal stress resulting in formation of pinholes and tears and/or by chemical attack of hydrogen peroxide radicals formed during the electrochemical reactions. All of these effects, the mechanical damage of membrane and degradation of catalyst layers are more facilitated by uneven stress or improper MEA fabrication process. In order to improve the PEMFC durability, therefore, it is most important to minimize the uneven stress or improper MEA fabrication process in the course of the fabrication of MEA. We analyzed the effects of the MEA fabrication condition on the PEMFC durability with MEA produced using CCM (catalyst coated membrane) method. This paper also investigated the effects of MEA fabrication condition on the PEMFC durability by adding additional treatment process, hot pressing and pressing, on the MEA produced using CCM method.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.126-131
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• 2007

The durability problem of Prussian blue in non-aqueous $Li_+$-based electrolytes has been due to the degradation of the Prussian blue electrode matrix during the insertion/extraction processes by $Li_+$. In this work, we designed and synthesised the Prussian blue without reducing the electrochromic performance in non-aqueous $Li_+$-based electrolytes. Prussian blue was electrodeposited on a glass which has ITO coating, and the coating solution is a mixture solution of $FeCl_3\;and\;K_3Fe(CN)_6$ with deionized water added HCl, KCl, and LiCl, respectively. The durability of Prussian blue was evaluated by an in-situ transmittance measurement during a continuous and pulse potential cycling test, and measured by electroactive layer thickness due to evaluating the degradation.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.253-260
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• 2024

Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is an efficient method for utilizing renewable energy sources such as wind and solar powers to produce green hydrogen. For PEMWE powered by renewable energy sources, its durability is a crucial factor in its performance since irregular and fluctuating characteristics of renewable energy sources, especially for wind power, can deteriorate the stability of PEMWE. Triangular voltage cycle is well able to simulate fluctuating wind power, but its effect on the durability has not been investigated extensively. In this study, the performance degradation of the PEMWE cell operated with the triangular voltage cycling was investigated at different ramping rates. The measured current responses during the cycling gradually decreased for both ramping rates, and I-V curve measurements before and after the cycling confirmed the degradation of the performances of PEMWE. For both measurements, the degradation rate was larger for 300 mV s^-1 than 30 mV s^-1, and they were determined as 0.36 and 1.26 mV h^-1 (at the current density of 2 A cm^-2) at the ramping rates of 30 and 300 mV s^-1, respectively. The comparison with other studies on triangular voltage cycling also indicate that an increase in the ramping rate accelerates the deterioration of the PEMWE performance. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy results showed that the Ir catalyst was oxidized and did not dissolve during the voltage cycling. This study suggests that the ramping rate of the triangular voltage cycling is an important factor for the evaluation of the durability of PEMWE cells.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.124-124
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• 2003

To improve the electrochemical properties of thin-film LiCoO$_2$ cathodes, metal oxides were coated on the LiCoO$_2$ thin films using f sputtering. Galvanostatic charge-discharge experiments showed the enhanced cycling behaviors in the metal-oxide coated LiCoO$_2$ thin films than the uncoated ones. These results are because the metal-oxide coating layer suppresses the degradation of Li-diffusion kinetics during cycling, which is related to the protection of cathode surface from the electrolytes [l-3]. The variation in the metal-oxide coating thickness ranging from 10 to 300 nm did not affect the electrochemical properties. Changes of lattice constants in the coated and bare LiCoO$_2$ thin films at different charged states will also be discussed.