• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.288-294
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• 2011

Simultaneous Ni and C codeposition by electrolysis was investigated with the aim of obtaining better corrosion resistivity and surface conductivity of a metallic bipolar plate for application in fuel cells and redox flow batteries. The carbon content in the Ni-C composite plate fell in a range of 9.2~26.2 at.% as the amount of carbon in the Ni Watt bath and the roughness of the composite were increased. The Ni-C composite with more than 21.6 at.% C content did not show uniformly dispersed carbon. It also displayed micro-sized defects such as cracks and crevices, which result in pitting or crevice corrosion. The corrosion resistance of the Ni-C composite in sulfuric acid is similar with that of pure Ni. Electrochemical test results such as passivation were not satisfactory; however, the Ni-C composite still displayed less than $10^{-4}$ $A/cm^2$ passivation current density. Passivation by an anodizing technique could yield better corrosion resistance in the Ni-C composite, approaching that of pure Ni plating. Surface resistivity of pure Ni after passivation was increased by about 8% compared to pure Ni. On the other hand, the surface resistivity of the Ni-C composite with 13 at.% C content was increased by only 1%. It can be confirmed that the metal plate electrodeposited Ni-C composite can be applied as a bipolar plate for fuel cells and redox flow batteries.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2014

Li-air cell is an exotic type of energy storage and conversion device considered to be half battery and half fuel cell. Its successful commercialization highly depends on the timely development of key components. Among these key components, the catalyst (i.e., the core portion of the air electrode) is of critical importance and of the upmost priority. Indeed, it is expected that these catalysts will have a direct and dramatic impact on the Li-air cell's performance by reducing overpotentials, as well as by enhancing the overall capacity and cycle life of Li-air cells. Unfortunately, the technological advancement related to catalysts is sluggish at present. Based on the insights gained from this review, this sluggishness is due to challenges in both the commercialization of the catalyst, and the fundamental studies pertaining to its development. Challenges in the commercialization of the catalyst can be summarized as 1) the identification of superior materials for Li-air cell catalysts, 2) the development of fundamental, material-based assessments for potential catalyst materials, 3) the achievement of a reduction in both cost and time concerning the design of the Li-air cell catalysts. As for the challenges concerning the fundamental studies of Li-air cell catalysts, they are 1) the development of experimental techniques for determining both the nano and micro structure of catalysts, 2) the attainment of both repeatable and verifiable experimental characteristics of catalyst degradation, 3) the development of the predictive capability pertaining to the performance of the catalyst using fundamental material properties. Therefore, under the current circumstances, it is going to be an extremely daunting task to develop appropriate catalysts for the commercialization of Li-air batteries; at least within the foreseeable future. Regardless, nano materials are expected to play a crucial role in this field.

• 전자공학회논문지 IE
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.41-46
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• 2010

WSN, or Wireless Sensor Network, consists of a multitude of inexpensive micro-sensors. Because the batteries in sensor nodes can not be replaced once they are deployed, the life of a WSN is absolutely determined by the batteries. So, energy efficiency of a network is a critical factor for long-life operation. LEACH protocol which divides WSN into two groups is a typical routing protocol based on the clustering scheme for the efficient use of limited energy. It is composed of round units which are separated into set-up and steady state. In this paper we propose a power saving scheme to minimize set-up phase itself and to involve a data comparison algorithm. We evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme in comparison with original LEACH protocol. Simulation results validate our scheme has better performance in terms of the number of alive nodes as time evolves and average energy dissipated.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.61-67
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• 2018

As emerging the new electric devices, the commercial lithium ion batteries have faced with various challenges. In this regard, many efforts to solve challenges have been tried. In order to solve the above problems in terms of development of a new secondary battery, we successfully demonstrated the two electrocatalysts, such as MCWB and PPY hydrogel, PPY hydrogel and MCWB showed typical H3-type BET isotherm, indicating that micro- and mesopores existed. Especially, in terms of voltage efficiency at the first cycle, PPY hydrogel was higher than that of MCWB, but lower than that of PtC. More interestingly, the PPY hygrogel based seawater battery exhibited charge-discharge reversibility during 20 cycles, and the voltage efficiencies ranged from 70.32 % to 77.35 % in cyclic performance test.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.361-368
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• 2023

In lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, encapsulation of sulfur in activated carbon (AC) materials is a promising strategy for preventing the dissolution of lithium polysulfide into electrolytes and enhancing cycle life, because instead of solid-liquid-solid reactions, quasi-solid-state (QSS) reactions occur in the AC micropores. While a high weight fraction of sulfur in S/AC composites is essential for achieving a high energy density of Li-S cells, the deterioration mechanisms under such conditions are still unclear. In this study, we report the deterioration mechanisms during charge-discharge cycling when the discharge products overflow from the AC. Analysis using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry confirms that the sulfur in the S/AC composites migrates outside the AC as cycling progresses, and it is barely present in the AC after 20 cycles, which corresponds to the capacity decay of the cell. Impedance analysis clearly shows that the electrical resistance of the S/AC composite and the charge-transfer resistance of QSS reactions significantly increase as a result of sulfur migration. On the other hand, the charge-discharge cycling performance under limited-capacity conditions, where the discharge products are encapsulated inside the AC, is extremely stable. These results reveal the degradation mechanism of a Li-S cell with micro-porous carbon and provide crucial insights into the design of a S/AC composite cathode and its operating conditions needed to achieve stable cycling performance.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.115-120
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• 2000

All solid-state thin film micro-batteries consisting of lithium metal anode, an amorphous LiPON electrolyte and cathode of vanadium oxide have been fabricated and characterized, which were fabricated with cell structure of $Li/LiPON/V_2O_5Pt$. The effect of various oxygen partial pressure on the electrochemical properties of vanadium oxide thin films formed by d.c. reactive sputtering deposition were investigated. The vanadium oxide thin film with deposition condition of $20\%\;O_2/Ar$ ratio showed good cycling behavior. In in-siか process, the LiPON electrolyte was deposited on the $V_2O_5$ films without breaking vacuum by r.f. magnetron sputtering at room temperature. After deposition of the amorphous LiPON, the Li metal films were grown by a thermal evaporator in a dry room. The charge-discharge cycle measurements as a function of current density and voltage variation revealed that the $Li/LiPON/V_2O_5$ thin film had excellent rechargeable properly when current density was $7{\mu}A/cm^2$. and cut-off voltage was between 3.6 and 2.7V In practical experiment, a stopwatch ran on this $Li/LiPON/V_2O_5$ thin film micro-battery. This result means that thin film micro-battery fabricated by in-siか process is a promising for power source for electronic devices.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.121-130
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• 2015

The micro emulsion method has been successfully used for preparing perovskite LaCoO₃ with uniform, fine-shaped nanoparticles showing high activity as electro catalysts in oxygen reduction reactions (ORRs). They are, therefore, promising candidates for the air-cathode in metal-air rechargeable batteries. Since the activity of a catalyst is highly dependent on its specific surface area, nanoparticles of the perovskite catalyst are desirable for catalyzing both oxygen reduction and evolution reactions. Herein, LaCoO₃ powder was also prepared by sol-gel method for comparison, with a broad particle distribution and high agglomeration. The electro catalytic properties of LaCoO₃ and LaCoO₃-carbon Super P mixture layers toward the ORR were studied comparatively using the rotating disk electrode technique in 0.1 M KOH electrolyte to elucidate the effect of carbon Super P. Koutecky-Levich theory was applied to acquire the overall electron transfer number (n) during the ORR, calculated to be ~3.74 for the LaCoO₃-Super P mixture, quite close to the theoretical value (4.0), and ~2.7 for carbon-free LaCoO₃. A synergistic effect toward the ORR is observed when carbon is present in the LaCoO₃ layer. Carbon is assumed to be more than an additive, enhancing the electronic conductivity of the oxide catalyst. It is suggested that ORRs, catalyzed by the LaCoO₃-Super P mixture, are dominated by a 2+2-electron transfer pathway to form the final, hydroxyl ion product.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.51-68
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• 2022

Although lithium metal batteries have a high energy density, experimental skills capable of solving lots of problems induced by dendrite such as short circuit, low coulomb efficiency, capacity loss, and cycle performance are still only in academic research stage. In this paper, research cases for dendrite growth inhibition on lithium metal electrode were classified into four types: flexible SEI (solid electrolyte interface) layer responding to volume expansion of lithium metal electrode, SEI supporting layer to inhibit dendrite growth physically, SHES (self-healing electrostatic shield) mechanism to adjust lithium growth by leading uniform diffusion of Li⁺ ions, and finally micro-patterning to induce uniform deposition of lithium. We hope to advance the practical use of lithium metal electrode by analyzing pros and cons of this classification.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.423.1-423.1
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• 2016

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) has drawn much attention due to its many advantages. PVDF shows high mechanical strength and flexibility, thermal stability, and good piezoelectricity enabling its application to various fields such as sensors, actuators, and energy transducers. Further studies have been conducted on PVDF in the form of thin films. The thin films exhibit different ionic conductivity according to the number of pores within the film, letting these films to be applied as electrolytes or separators of batteries. Porous PVDF membranes are also easily processed, usually made by using electrospinning. However, a large portion of researches were conducted using PVDF membranes produced by far field electrospinning, which is not a well-controlled experimental method. In this paper, we use near field electrospinning (NFES) process for more controlled, small-scaled, mesh type PVDF structures of nano to micro fibers fabricated by controlling process parameters and investigate the properties of such membranous structures. These membranes vary according to geometrical shape, pore density, and fiber thickness. We then measured the mechanical strength and piezoelectric characteristic of the structures. With various geometries in the fiber structures and various scales in the fibers, these types of structures can potentially lead to broader applications for stretchable electronics and dielectric electro active polymers.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.135-142
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• 2012

Over the past few years, $LiFePO_4$ has been actively studied as a cathode material for lithium-ion batteries because of its advantageous properties such as high theoretical capacity, good cycle life, and high thermal stability. However, it does not have a very good power capability owing to the low lithium-ion diffusivity and poor electronic conductivity. Reduction in particle size of $LiFePO_4$ to the scale of nanometers has been found to dramatically enhance the above properties, according to many earlier reports. However, because of the intrinsically low tap density of nanomaterials, it is difficult to commercialize this method. Many studies are being carried out to improve the volumetric energy density of this material and many methods have been reported so far. This paper provides a brief summary of the synthesis methods and electrochemical performances of micro-spherical $LiFePO_4$ having high volumetric energy density.