• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.223-229
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• 2013

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is a power generation system to convert chemical energy of fuels and oxidants to electricity directly by electrochemical reactions. As a catalyst support for PEMFCs, carbon black has been generally used due to its large surface area and high electrical conductivity. However, under certain circumstances (start up/shut down, fuel starvation, ice formation etc.), carbon supports are subjected to serve corrosion in the presence of water. Therefore, it would be desirable to switch carbon supports to corrosion-resistive support materials such as metal oxide. $TiO_2$ has been attractive as a support with its stability in fuel cell operation atmosphere, low cost, commercial availability, and the ease to control size and structure. However, low electrical conductivity of $TiO_2$ still inhibits its application to catalyst support for PEMFCs. In this paper, to explore feasibility of $TiO_2$ as a catalyst support for PEMFCs, $TiO_2$ nanofibers were synthesized by electrospinning and calcinated at 600, 700, 800 and $900^{\circ}C$. Effects of calcination temperature on crystal structure and electrical conductivity of electrospun $TiO_2$ nanofibers were examined. Electrical conductivity of $TiO_2$ nanofibers increased significantly with increasing calcination temperature from $600^{\circ}C$ to $700^{\circ}C$ and then increased gradually with increasing the calcination temperature from $700^{\circ}C$ to $900^{\circ}C$. It was revealed that the remarkable increase in electrical conductivity could be attributed to phase transition of $TiO_2$ nanofibers from anatase to rutile at the temperature range from $600^{\circ}C$ to $700^{\circ}C$.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.265-270
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• 2003

In spite of high ionic conductivity, the polymer gels have poor mechanical properties and high reactivity with lithium metal anode. To solve these problems, the dry solid systems and polymer composites have been intensively studied, due to their good mechanical, thermal, chemical, and electrochemical stability. The objectives of this experiment were to improve ionic conductivity and mechanical properties of the solid polymer electrolytes based on PEO-LiClO$_4$. To obtain higher ionic conductivity and better mechanical properties, ceramic or rubber phase was added in the PEO-LiClO$_4$(8:1) matrix. The results showed that ionic conductivity and mechanical properties were improved. The ionic conductivity of the samples was as high as 10$\^$-5/ S cm$\^$-1/. This value is similar to the best ionic conductivity ever reported in the solid drying system. To obtain better results, we used PEO with various molecular weights (600∼8000) and changed the salt contents. By using DSC, we found that the addition of salt reduced the crystallinity of PEO. The mobility of polymer dependence on salt contents was examined by FT-IR.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.73-80
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• 2010

A solid oxide fuel cells(SOFC) is a clean energy technology which directly converts chemical energy to electric energy. When the SOFC is used in cogeneration then the efficiency can reach higher than 80%. Also, it has flexibility in using various fuels like natural gases and bio gases, so it has an advantage over polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells in terms of fuel selection. A typical cathode material of the SOFC in conjunction with yttria stabilized zirconia(YSZ) electrolyte is still Sr-doped $LaMnO_3$(LSM). Recently, application of mixed electronic and ionic conducting perovskites such as Sr-doped $LaCoO_3$(LSCo), $LaFeO_3$(LSF), and $LaFe_{0.8}Co_{0.2}O_3$(LSCF) has drawn much attention because these materials exhibit lower electrode impedance than LSM. However, chemical reaction occurs at the manufacturing temperature of the cathode when these materials directly contact with YSZ. In addition, thermal expansion coefficient(TEC) mismatch with YSZ is also a significant issue. It is important, therefore, to develop cathode materials with good chemical stability and matched TEC with the SOFC electrolyte, as well as with high electrochemical activity.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2011

Methods of producing hydrogen include steam reforming, electrochemical decomposition of water, and the SI process. Among these methods, the Sulfur iodine process is one of the most promising processes for hydrogen production. The thermochemical sulfur-iodine (SI) process uses heat from a high-temperature-gas nuclear reactor to produce $H_2$ gas; this process is known for its production of clean energy as it does not emit $CO_2$ from water. But the SI-process takes place in an extremely corrosive environment for the materials. To endure SI environments, the materials for the SI environment will have to have strong corrosion resistance. This work studies the corrosion resistances of the Fe-Si, Ni-Ti and Ni Alloys, which are tested in SI-process environments. Among the SI-process environments, the conditions of boiling sulfuric acid and decomposed sulfuric acid are selected in this study. Before testing in boiling sulfuric acid environments, the specimens of Fe-4.5Si, Fe-6Si, Ni-4.5Si, Ni-Ti-Si-Nb and Ni-Ti-Si-Nb-B are previously given heat treatment at $1000^{\circ}C$ for 48 hrs. The reason for this heat treatment is that those specimens have a passive film on the surface. The specimens are immersed for 3~14 days in 98wt% boiling sulfuric acid. Corrosion rates are measured by using the weight change after immersion. The corrosion rates of the Fe-6Si and Ni-Ti-Si-Nb-B are found to decrease as the time passes. The corrosion rates of Fe-6si and Ni-Ti-Si-Nb-B are measured at 0.056 mm/yr and 0.16 mm/yr, respectively. Hastelloy-X, Alloy 617, Alloy 800H and Haynes 230 are tested in the decomposed sulfuric acid for one day. Alloy 800H was found to show the best corrosion resistance among the materials. The corrosion rate of Alloy 800H is measured at -0.35 mm/yr. In these results, the corrosion resistance of materials depends on the stability of the oxide film formed on the surface. After testing in boiling sulfuric acid and in decomposed sulfuric acid environments, the surfaces and compositions of specimens are analyzed by SEM and EDX.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.111-129
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• 2019

Recently, all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) have attracted increasing interest owing to their higher energy density and safety. As the core material of ASSBs, the characteristics of the solid electrolyte largely determine the performance of the battery. Thus far, a variety of inorganic solid electrolytes have been studied, including the NASICON-type, LISICON-type, perovskite-type, garnet-type, glassy solid electrolyte, and so on. The garnet Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZO) solid electrolyte is one of the most promising candidates because of its excellent comprehensively electrochemical performance. Both, experiments and theoretical calculations, show that cubic LLZO has high room-temperature ionic conductivity and good chemical stability while contacting with the lithium anode and most of the cathode materials. In this paper, the crystal structure, Li-ion transport mechanism, preparation method, and element doping of LLZO are introduced in detail based on the research progress in recent years. Then, the development prospects and challenges of LLZO as applied to ASSBs are discussed.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.6-14
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• 2001

The monomer N,N'-bis(3-pyrrol-1-yl-propyl)-4,4'-bipyridinium$(PF_6)_2$ was electrochemically polymerized on glassy carbon electrode surface. This polymer film electrode has electroactive sites on its bipyridinium ions distributed at the polymer strands. The formal potentials of the electrodes were -0.41V and -0.81V(vs. SSCE) for each step at phosphate buffer(pH=5.70). The diffusion coefficients of the dopants ions into the polymer matrix were $1.57{\times}10^{-4}$ and $4.35{\times}10^{-5}cm^2s^{-1}$ for first and second redox couple, respectively. The rate constants of electron transfer at $V^{2+/+}$ of the first step was a $57.53s^{-1}$, which was 22 times higher than $V^{+/0}$ one having $2.63s^{-1}$ in the solution. The charge transfer resistance of the polymer film was influenced by the dopant ion of the electrolyte. Thus the resistances were 22.63, 16.81, 12.44 and $11.36k{\Omega}$ for $LiClO_4,\;NaClO_4,\;KClO_4$, and phosphate buffer, respectively. The reaction order of the electropolymerization was first order and the rate constant of the polymerization was $1.31{\times}10^{-1}s^{-1}$ as determined by EQCM method. The G.C./p-BPB type electrode doped with phosphate ions showed a stability and reproducibility in CV procedure over 20 cycles.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.41 no.7
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• pp.665-671
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• 2017

The alkali-Metal Thermal-to-electric Converter (AMTEC) is one of the promising static energy conversion technologies for the direct conversion of thermal energy to electrical energy. The advantages over a conventional energy converter are its high theoretical conversion efficiency of 40% and power density of 500 W/kg. The working principle of an AMTEC battery is the electrochemical reaction of the sodium through an ion conducting electrolyte. Sodium ion pass through the hot side of the beta"-alumina solid electrolyte (BASE) primarily as a result of the pressure difference. This pressure difference across the BASE has a significant effect on the overall performance of the AMTEC system. In order to build the high pressure difference across the BASE, hermeticity is required for each joined components for high temperature range of $900^{\circ}C$. The AMTEC battery was manufactured by utilizing robust joining technology of BASE/insulator/metal flange interfaces of the system for both structural and electrical stability. The electrical potential difference between the anode and cathode sides, where the electrons emitted from sodium ionization and recombined into sodium, was characterized as the open-circuit voltage. The efforts of technological improvement were concentrated on a high-power output and conversion efficiency. This paper discusses about the joining and performance of the AMTEC systems.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.514-519
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• 2020

Graphite materials for lithium ion battery anode materials are the most commercially available due to their structural stability and low price. Recently, research efforts have been conducted on carbon coatings by improving side reactions at the edge site of carbon materials. The carbon coating process has classified into a CVD by chemical reaction, wet coating process with solvent and dry coating by mechanical impact. In this paper, the rapid crush/coating process was used to solve the problem of which only few parts of the carbon precursor (pitch) can be used and also environmental problems caused by solvent removal in the wet coating process. When the ratio of needle coke to pitch was 8 : 2 wt%, and the rapid crush/coating process was carried out, it was confirmed that the fracture surface was coated by pitch. The pitch-coated sample was treated at 2400 ℃ and 41.8% improvement in 10C/0.1C rate characteristic was observed. It is considered that the material simply manufactured through the simple crush/coating process can be used as an anode electrode material for a lithium ion battery.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.281-286
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• 1989

The redox properties of benzophydroxamic acid (Hben) and its oxovanadium complex, $VO(Ben)_2$ has been studied by the use of polarograpy and cyclic voltammetry. The radical anions of Hben seem to be generated in acetone. The wave at -0.05V vs. Ag/AgCl electrode might be attributed to the formation of radical anion and the wave at -1.78V vs. Ag/AgCl electrode might be attributed the formation of radical dianion. The $VO(Ben)_2$ exhibits one oxidation wave at + 0.55V and two reduction waves at -0.15V and -1.30V vs. Ag/AgCl electrode; the oxidation is reversible one electron process $(VO(ben)_2 {\rightleftharpoons} VO(ben)^+ + e)$. The reduction wave at -0.15V is quasireversible and is arised from the formation of radical anion,$VO(Ben)_2^-$. The second reduction wave at -1.30V is irreversible and this reduction process produces vanadium(III). This oxygen containing ligand of Hben seems to reduce the stability of + 4 oxidation state of vanadium while the sulfur or nitrogen donor of the ligands stabilize the + 4 oxidation state of vanadium when comparisons are made among several oxovanadium complexes.

• Clean Technology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.183-189
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• 2018

Hollow carbon spheres (HCS) and carbon spheres (CS) were prepared by a hydrothermal reaction and they were introduced as a substrate for the deposition of $MnO_2$ nanoparticles. The $MnO_2$ nanoparticles were deposited on the carbon surface by a chemical redox deposition method. After deposition, the $MnO_2$ nanoparticles were uniformally distributed on the carbon surface in a slit-shape, and sparse $MnO_2$ slits appeared on the HCS surface. The $MnO_2-HCS$ showed an initial specific capacitance of $164.1F\;g^{-1}$ at scan rate of $20mv\;s^{-1}$, and after 1,000 cycles, the specific capacitance was maintained to $141.3F\;g^{-1}$. The capacity retention of $MnO_2-HCS$ and $MnO_2-CS$ were calculated to 86% and 78% in the cycle performance test up to 1,000 cycles, respectively. $MnO_2-HCS$ showed a good cycle stability due to the mesoporous hollow structure which can cause a faster diffusion of the electrolyte and can easily adsorb and desorb $Na^+$ ions on the surface of the electrode.