• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.955-965
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• 2014

Transport phenomena of reactant and product are directly linked to intrinsic inhomogeneous random configurations of catalyst layer (CL) that consist of ionomer, carbon-supported catalyst (Pt/C), and pores. Hence, electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of Pt/C is dominated by geometrical morphology of mass transport path. Undoubtedly these ECSAs are key factor of total fuel cell efficiency. In this study, non-deterministic micro-scale CLs were randomly generated by Monte Carlo method and implemented with the percolation process. To ensure valid inference about Pt/C catalyst utilization, 600 samples were chosen as the number of necessary samples with 95% confidence level. Statistic results of 600 samples generated under particular condition (20vol% Pt/C, 30vol% ionomer, 50vol% pore, and 20nm particle diameter) reveal only 18.2%~81.0% of Pt/C can construct ECSAs with mean value of 53.8%. This study indicates that the catalyst utilization in fuel cell CLs cannot be identical notwithstanding the same design condition.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.419-424
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• 2011

Pt nanoparticle catalysts incorporated on $RuO_2$ nanowire support were successfully synthesized and their electrochemical properties, such as methanol electro-oxidation and electrochemically active surface (EAS) area, were demonstrated for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). After fabricating $RuO_2$ nanowire support via an electrospinning method, two different types of incorporated Pt nanoparticle electrocatalysts were prepared using a precipitation method via the reaction with $NaBH_4$ as a reducing agent. One electrocatalyst was 20 wt% Pt/$RuO_2$, and the other was 40 wt% Pt/$RuO_2$. The structural and electrochemical properties of the Pt nanoparticle electrocatalysts incorporated on electrospun $RuO_2$ nanowire support were investigated using a bright field transmission electron microscopy (bright field TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and cyclic voltammetry. The bright field TEM, XRD, and XPS results indicate that Pt nanoparticle electrocatalysts with sizes of approximately 2-4 nm were well incorporated on the electrospun $RuO_2$ nanowire support with a diameter of approximately 50 nm. The cyclic voltammetry results showed that the Pt nanoparticle catalysts incorporated on the electrospun $RuO_2$ nanowire support give superior catalytic activity in the methanol electro-oxidation and a higher electrochemically active surface (EAS) area when compared with the electrospun Pt nanowire electrocatalysts without the $RuO_2$ nanowire support. Therefore, the Pt nanoparticle catalysts incorporated on the electrospun $RuO_2$ nanowire support could be a promising electrode for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.206-206
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• 2011

Nanoparticles have been received great attention from many researchers for several decades because of their good and unique properties. In particular, researches in the field of synthesis of bimetallic nanoparticles showed good results for the past ten years. In this research, Pd thinlayer on Au nanoparticles were synthesized by electrochemical deposition method. Well-defined Au(111) nanoparticles were synthesized by solution based reduction method. Electrochemical deposition conditions for Pd thinlayer on Au(111) nanoparticles surface were carefully regulated by controlling parameters of cyclic voltammetry. To calculate exact mass and surface area catalytic activities of deposited Pd thinlayer on Au(111) nanoparticle, electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) and mass of the deposited Pd thinlayer were measured by cyclic voltammetry in 0.1 M HClO4 solution. Afterward, catalytic activities of the deposited Pd thinlayer were measured in 0.1 M HClO4 + 0.2 M formic acid solution. In case of less negative deposition potential, the amounts of deposited Pd mass and surface area were small. However, mass and ECSA activity of the deposited Pd to oxidize formic acid were increased.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.289-289
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• 2007

Spinel structured $LiMn_2O_4$ is more economic and environmental friendly to be used as commercial active material for secondary battery compared to Co-oxide material active material, but spinel structure of $LiMn_2O_4$ is unstable and its capacitance decreases with increase of cycle. Therefore, the purpose of our sturdy is to improve the stability of $LiMn_2O_4$ spinel structure and increase its capacitance by using substituents or dopants. $LiMn_2O_4$ powder was synthesized by charging substituents or dopants mole fractions, and temperatures. Crystal state, structure and specific surface area of the synthesized powder were measured and also characteried electrochemically by measuring its impedance, charge-discharge capacitance and etc.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.217-222
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• 2020

The design and fabrication of catalysts with low-cost and high electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) have remained challenging because of the sluggish kinetics of this reaction. The key to the pursuit of efficient electrocatalysts is to design them with high surface area and more active sites. In this work, we have successfully synthesized a highly stable and active NiCo₂S₄ nanowire array on a Ni-foam substrate (NiCo₂S₄ NW/NF) via a two-step hydrothermal synthesis approach. This NiCo₂S₄ NW/NF exhibits overpotential as low as 275 mV, delivering a current density of 20 mA cm^-2 (versus reversible hydrogen electrode) with a low Tafel slope of 89 mV dec^-1 and superior long-term stability for 20 h in 1 M KOH electrolyte. The outstanding performance is ascribed to the inherent activity of the binder-free deposited, vertically aligned nanowire structure, which provides a large number of electrochemically active surface sites, accelerating electron transfer, and simultaneously enhancing the diffusion of electrolyte.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.408-413
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• 2022

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is very sluggish compared to the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Considering this difference is essential when designing and developing a cost-effective and facile synthesis method for a catalyst that can effectively perform OER activity. The material should possess a high surface area and more active sites. Considering these points, in this work we successfully synthesized sheets of cobalt phosphate hydrate (CP) and sulphurated cobalt phosphate hydrate (CPS) material, using simple successive ionic layered adsorption and reaction (SILAR) methods followed by sulfurization. The CP and CPS electrodes exhibited overpotentials of 279 mV with a Tafel slope of 212 mV dec^-1 and 381 mV with a Tafel slope of 212 mV dec^-1, respectively. The superior performance after sulfurization is attributed to the intrinsic activity of the deposited well-aligned nanosheet structures, which provided a substantial number of electrochemically active surface sites, speeded electron transfer, and at the same time improved the diffusion of the electrolyte.

• Current Applied Physics
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1399-1402
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• 2018

Nanorod films of cobalt oxide ($Co_3O_4$) have been grown by a unique oblique angle deposition (OAD) technique in an e-beam evaporator for supercapacitor electrode applications. This technique offers a non-chemical route to achieve large aspect ratio nanorods. The fabricated electrodes at OAD $80^{\circ}$ exhibited a specific capacitance of 2875 F/g. The electrochemically active surface area was $1397cm^{-2}$, estimated from the non-Faradaic capacitive current region. Peak energy and power densities obtained for $Co_3O_4$ nanorods were 57.7 Wh/Kg and 9.5 kW/kg, respectively. The $Co_3O_4$ nanorod electrode showed a good endurance of 2000 charge-discharge cycles with 62% retention. The OAD approach for fabricating supercapacitor nanostructured electrodes can be exploited for the fabrication of a broad range of metal oxide materials.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.54-62
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• 2022

The preparation of low-cost, simple, and scalable electrodes is crucial for the commercialization of water electrolyzers for H₂ production. Herein, we demonstrate the fabrication of cathodes through Mo-modified Zn phosphating of Ni foam (NiF) for water electrolysis, which has been largely utilized in surface coating industry. In situ growth of electrocatalytically active layers in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was occurred after 1 min of phosphating to form ZnNiMoP_i, and subsequent thermal treatment and electrochemical activation resulted in the formation of ZnNiMoPO_xH_y. ZnNiMoPO_xH_y exhibited superior HER performance than NiF, primarily because of the increased electrochemically active surface area of ZnNiMoPO_xH_y compared to that of bare NiF. Although further investigations to improve the intrinsic electrochemical activity toward the HER and detailed mechanistic studies are required, these results suggest that phosphating is a promising coating method and will possibly advance the fabrication procedure of electrodes for water electrolyzers with better practical applications.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.423-430
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• 2016

In this study, we investigated the corrosion damage characteristics of steel for offshore wind turbine tower substructure using an accelerated electrochemical test. The galvanostatic corrosion test method was employed with a conventional 3 electrode cell in natural sea water, and the steel specimen was served as a working electrode to induce corrosion in an accelerated manner. Surface and cross-sectional image of the damaged area were obtained by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope. The weight of the specimens was measured to determine the gravimetric change before and after corrosion test. The result revealed that the steel tended to suffer uniform corrosion rather than localized corrosion due to active dissolution reaction under the constant current regime. With increasing galvanostatic current density, the damage depth and surface roughness of surface was increased, showing approximately 25 times difference in damage depth between the lowest current density ($1mA/cm^2$) and the highest current density ($200mA/cm^2$). The gravimetric observation showed that the weight loss was proportionally increased with increment of current density that has 75 times different according by experimental conditions. Consequently, uniform corrosion of the steel specimen was conveniently induced by the electrochemically accelerated corrosion technique, and it was possible to control the extent of the corrosion damage by varying the current density.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.76-81
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• 2016

An anatase TiO₂ nanotube array (NTA) was fabricated by anodization and successive heat treatments. When the anatase TiO₂ NTA was cathodically polarized, its color changed to blue, and it could be used as an electrochemically active anode for an oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline water electrolysis. The structure of the blue anatase TiO₂ NTA was controlled by the anodization conditions and its catalytic activity increased with an increase of the surface area. The activity of the blue anatase TiO₂ NTA gradually reduced with the continued OER because of the partial oxidation of Ti³⁺ to Ti⁴⁺. However, an intermittent cathodic regeneration process could significantly slow its reduction rate. The blue anatase TiO₂ NTA could be an alternative anode for alkaline water electrolysis.