• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.487-492
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• 2021

In this study, the electrochemical properties of pitch coated silicon sheets/graphite anode materials were investigated. Using NaCl as a template, silicon sheets were prepared through the stöber method and the magnesiothermic reduction methode. In order to synthesize the anode composite, the silicon sheets and graphite were combined with SDBS. The pitch coated silicon sheets/graphite was synthesized using THF as a solvent for the anode material composite. The physical properties of the prepared anode composites were analysed by XRD, SEM, EDS and TGA. The electrochemical performances of the prepared anode composites were performed by the current charge/discharge, rate performance, cyclic voltammetry and EIS tests in the electrolyte LiPF₆ dissolved solvents (EC:DMC:EMC=1:1:1 vol%). As the silicon composition of silicon sheets/graphite composite material increased, the discharge capacity also increased, but the cycle stability tended to decrease. The anode material of pitch coated silicon sheets/graphite composite (silicon sheets:graphite=3:7 weight ratio) showed the initial discharge capacity of 1228.8 mAh/g and the capacity retention ratio of 77% after 50 cycles. From these results, it was found that the cycle stability of pitch coated silicon sheets/graphite was improved.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.361-370
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• 2021

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) is one of the composite materials, which has a unique property that is lightweight but strong. The CFRPs are widely used in various industries where their unique characteristics are required. In particular, electric and unmanned aerial vehicles critically need lightweight parts and bodies with sufficient mechanical strengths. Vehicles using the battery as a power source should simultaneously meet two requirements that the battery has to be safely protected. The vehicle should be light of increasing the mileage. The CFRP has considered as the one that satisfies the requirements and is widely used as battery housing and other vehicle parts. On the other hand, in the battery area, carbon fibers are intensively tested as battery components such as electrodes and/or current collectors. Furthermore, using carbon fibers as both structure reinforcements and battery components to build a structural battery is intensively investigated in Sweden and the USA. This mini-review encompasses recent research trends that cover the classification of structural batteries in terms of functionality of carbon fibers and issues and efforts in the battery and discusses the prospect of structural batteries.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.42-48
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• 2021

Zn and Al added LiNi0.85Co0.15O2 cathode materials were synthesized to improve electrochemical properties and thermal stability using a solid-state route. Crystal structure, particle size and surface shape of the synthesized cathode materials was measured using XRD (X-ray diffraction) and SEM (scanning electron microscopy). CV (cyclic voltammetry), first charge-discharge profiles, rate capability, and cycle life were measured using battery cycler (Maccor, series 4000). Strong binding energy of Al-O bond enhanced structure stability of cathode material. Electrochemical properties were improved by preventing cation mixing between Li+ and Ni2+. Large ion radius of Zn+ increased lattice parameter of NC cathode material, which meant unit-cell volume was expanded. NCZA25 showed 80% of capacity retention at 0.5 C-rate during 100 cycles, which was 12% higher than that of NC cathode. The discharge capacity of NCZA25 showed 104 mAh/g at 5 C-rate. NCZA25 achieved 36 mAh/g more capacity than that of NC cathod. NCZA25 cathode material showed excellent rate capability and cycling performance.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.83-90
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• 2021

In this study, effects of the physical and chemical properties of low temperature heated carbon on electrochemical behavior as a secondary battery anode material were investigated. A heat treatment at 600 ℃ was performed for coking of petroleum based pitch, and the manufactured coke was heat treated with different heat temperatures at 700~1,500 ℃ to prepare low temperature heated anode materials. The physical and chemical properties of carbon anode materials were studied through nitrogen adsorption and desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, elemental analysis. Also the anode properties of low temperature heated carbon were considered through electrochemical properties such as capacity, initial Coulomb efficiency (ICE), rate capability, and cycle performance. The crystal structure of low temperature (≤ 1500 ℃) heated carbon was improved by increasing the crystal size and true density, while the specific surface area decreased. Electrochemical properties of the anode material were changed with respect to the physical and chemical properties of low temperature heated carbon. The capacity and cycle performance were most affected by H/C atomic ratio. Also, the ICE was influenced by the specific surface area, whereas the rate performance was most affected by true density.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.587-596
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• 2021

Naval battleships have systems to perform special purposes, such as the Command and Fire Control System (CFCS). Some of the this equipment should be equipped with an Uninterruptible Power System (UPS ) to ensure operational continuity and the backup of important data, even during unexpected power outages caused by problems with the ship's power generator. Heavy combat losses can occur if the equipment cannot satisfy the function. Therefore, it is important to design a stable UPS. The battery and Battery Management System (BMS) are two of the most important factors for designing a stable UPS. A power outage will be encountered if the battery and BMS are not stable. The customer will be exposed to abnormal situations, loss of important tactical data, and inability to operate some of the CFCS. As a result, an enhanced safety system should be designed. Thus, this study implemented and verified the improved system in terms of three methods, such as comparative analysis of the batteries, improvement about leakage current of the circuit, and tests of the aggressive environmental resistance to improve the UPS for CFCS.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.459-465
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• 2022

A pitch coating method was proposed for the purpose of improving the electrochemical properties of natural graphite. The synthesis conditions of pitch coating were optimized via measuring electrochemical properties of pitch-coated graphite anodes. As the synthesis temperature increased, the thermal stability was improved in addition to an increase in the softening point and residual carbon weight. However, the synthesis temperature of 430 ℃ resulted in the synthesis of a large amount of NI (NMP Insoluble) due to excessive condensation reaction. As the surface uniformity and coating thickness increased due to high thermal stability, the initial coulombic efficiency and rate capability of the pitch-coated graphite were improved. However, the graphite coated with the pitch containing excessive NI showed lower electrochemical properties than the uncoated graphite. NI had low dispersibility and formed spheres after heat treatment, so it formed the heterogeneous and thicker SEI layer. The optimum conditions for forming a uniform surface and an appropriate coating layer were investigated.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.309-315
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• 2024

Silicon and carbon composite (SiC) is considered one of the most promising anode materials for the commercialization of Si-based anodes, as it could simultaneously satisfy the high theoretical capacity of Si and the high electronic conductivity of carbon. However, SiC active material undergoes repeated volumetric changes during charge/discharge processes, leading to continuous electrolyte decomposition and capacity fading, which is still considered an issue that needs to be addressed. To solve this issue, we suggest a 4,4'-Methylenebis(cyclohexyl isocyanate) (H₁₂MDI)-based waterborne polyurethane binder (HPUD), which forms a 3D network structure through thermal cross-linking reaction. The cross-linked HPUD (denoted as CHPU) was prepared using an epoxy ring-opening reaction of the cross-linker, triglycidyl isocyanurate (TGIC), via simple thermal treatment during the SiC anode drying process. The SiC anode with the CHPU binder, which exhibited superior mechanical and adhesion properties, not only demonstrated excellent rate and cycling performance but also alleviated the volume expansion of the SiC anode. This work implies that eco-friendly binders with cross-linked structures could be utilized for various Si-based anodes.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.246-252
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• 2024

In this study, impurities such as Li and F were removed from waste graphite through citric acid treatment, and changes in structural properties, capacity, and cycle stability of regenerated graphite were observed accordingly. Regenerated graphite pretreated in a nitrogen atmosphere was treated with citric acid, and its structure and characteristics were analyzed through SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope), FT-IR (Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy), XRD (X-ray Diffraction), and XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy). Waste graphite that was not treated with acid had a rapid decrease in capacity before 70 cycles, but graphite that had been treated with citric acid showed a capacity of 302.9 mAh g^-1 and a capacity retention rate of 93.1% at 100 cycles. In addition, despite changes in current density in rate performance, samples treated with citric acid showed 340.2 mAh g^-1 performance at 1.0C without change in capacity. As a result, it was confirmed that citric acid treatment not only effectively removed impurities and showed a high capacity retention rate, but also showed stability even at high current densities.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.262-268
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• 2024

In this study, the MXene/Si composite was prepared by electrostacic assembly with 2-dimensional structured titanium carbide (MXene) and nano silicon for anode material of high-performance lithium-ion battery. Ti₃C₂T_x MXene was synthesized by etching the Ti₃AlC₂ MAX with LiF/HCl, and the surface of nano silicon was charged to positively using CTAB (Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide). The MXene/Si anode composite was successfully manufactured by simple mixing process of synthesized MXene and charged silicon. The physical and electrochemical properties of prepared composite were investigated with MXene-silicon composition ratio, and the surface of electrode after cycles was analyzed to evaluate stability of the electrode. The MXene/Si composites demonstrated high initial discharge capacities of 1962.9, 2395.2 and 2504.3 mAh/g as the silicon composition ratio increased to 2, 3 and 4 compared to MXene, respectively. MXene/Si-4, which is MXene and silicon ratio with 1 : 4, exhibited 1387.5 mAh/g of reversible capacity, 74.5% of capacity retention at 100 cycles and high capacity of 700.5 mAh/g at high rate of 4.0 C. As the results, the MXene/Si composite prepared by electrostatic-assenbly could be applied to anode materials for high-performance LIBs.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.172-180
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• 2012

The $LiMn_2O_4$ cathodes for lithium ion battery were synthesized from various precursors of manganese oxides and manganese hydroxides. As the first step, nanosized precursors such as ${\alpha}-MnO_2$ (nano-sticks), ${\beta}-MnO_2$ (nano-rods), $Mn_3O_4$ (nano-octahedra), amorphous $MnO_2$(nano-spheres), and $Mn(OH)_2$ (nano-plates) were prepared by a hydrothermal or a precipitation method. Spinel $LiMn_2O_4$ with various sizes and shapes were finally synthesized by a solid-state reaction method from the manganese precursors and LiOH. Nano-sized (500 nm) octahedron $LiMn_2O_4$ showed high capacities of 107 mAh $g^{-1}$ and 99 mAh $g^{-1}$ at 1 C- and 50 C-rate, respectively. Three dimensional octahedral crystallites exhibit superior electrochemical characteristics to the other one-dimensional and two-dimensional shaped $LiMn_2O_4$ nanoparticles. After 500 consecutive charge discharge battery cycles at 10 C-rate with the nano-octahedron $LiMn_2O_4$ cathode, the capacity retention of 95% was observed, which is far better than any other morphologies studied in this work.