• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.399-406
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• 2022

In line with the megatrend of 2050 carbon neutrality, the amount of critical minerals used in clean-energy technology is expected to increase fourfold and sixfold, respectively, according to the Paris Agreement-based scenario as well as the 2050 carbon-neutrality scenario. And, in the case of Korea, in terms of the battery supply chain used for secondary batteries, the midstream that manufactures battery materials and battery cell packs shows strength, but the upstream that provides and processes raw materials is experiencing difficulties. The Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources has established a strategy to secure lithium, nickel, and cobalt and is conducting surveys to respond to the upstream risk of these types of battery raw materials. In the case of lithium, exploration has been carried out in Uljin, Gyeongsangbuk-do since 2020, and by the end of 2021, the survey area was selected for precision exploration by synthesizing all exploration data and building a 3D model. Potential resources will be assessed in 2022. In the case of nickel, the prospective site will be selected by the end of 2022 through a preliminary survey targeting 10 nickel sulfide deposits that have been prospected in the past. In the case of cobalt, Boguk cobalt is known only in South Korea, but there is only a record that cobalt was produced as a minor constituent of hydrothermal deposit. According to the literature, a cobalt ore body was found in the contact area between serpentinite and granite, and a protocol for cobalt exploration in Korea will be established.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2019

In this paper, the electrical characteristics with various C-rates are tested with a high power series battery pack comprised of 18650 cylindrical nickel cobalt aluminum(NCA) lithium-ion battery. The electrical characteristics of discharge capacity test with 14S1P battery pack and electric vehicle (EV) cycle test with 4S1P battery pack are compared and analyzed by the various of C-rates. Multiple linear regression is used to estimate voltage imbalance of 14S1P and 4S1P battery packs with various C-rates based on experimental data. The estimation accuracy is evaluated by root mean square error(RMSE) to validate multiple linear regression. The result of this paper is contributed that to use for estimating the voltage imbalance of discharge capacity test with 14S1P battery pack using multiple linear regression better than to use the voltage imbalance of EV cycle with 4S1P battery pack.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2008

The adsorption features of nickel ion in wastewater on manganese dioxide from spent batteries were investigated for its usage as an adsorbent. The aquatic behavior of nickel ion was characterized by MINTEQ program and the considered influential variables on the adsorption of nickel ion were its initial concentration, reaction temperature, the amount of adsorbent, and pH. The adsorption ratio of nickel ion decreased with increasing its initial concentration and thermodynamic estimation has been carried out based on the adsorption characteristics of nickel ion depending on temperature. In addition, the adsorption of nickel ion was shown to be promoted according to the amount of manganese dioxide and a lot of nickel ions were adsorbed as the solution pH was raised.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.489-493
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• 2010

Nickel-based and iron-based alloys have been developed and commercialized for a wide range of high performance applications at severely corrosive and high temperature environment. This alloy foam has an outstanding performance which is predestinated for diesel particulate filters, heat exchangers, and catalyst support, noise absorbers, battery, fuel cell, and flame distributers in burners in chemical and automotive industry. Production of alloy foam starts from high-tech coating technology and heat treatment of transient liquid-phase sintering in the high temperature. These technology allow for preparation of a wide variety of foam compositions such as Ni, Cr, Al, Fe on various pore size of pure nickel foam or iron foam in order for tailoring material properties to a specific application.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.67-73
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• 2021

Nickel-rich lithium nickel-cobalt-manganese oxides (NCM) are viewed as promising cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs); however, their poor cycling performance at high temperature is a critical hurdle preventing expansion of their applications. We propose the use of a functional electrolyte additive, triphenyl phosphate (TPPa), which can form an effective cathode-electrolyte interphase (CEI) layer on the surface of Ni-rich NCM cathode material by electrochemical reactions. Linear sweep voltammetry confirms that the TPPa additive is electrochemically oxidized at around 4.83 V (vs. Li/Li+) and it participates in the formation of a CEI layer on the surface of NCM811 cathode material. During high temperature cycling, TPPa greatly improves the cycling performance of NCM811 cathode material, as a cell cycled with TPPa-containing electrolyte exhibits a retention (133.7 mA h g-1) of 63.5%, while a cell cycled with standard electrolyte shows poor cycling retention (51.3%, 108.3 mA h g-1). Further systematic analyses on recovered NCM811 cathodes demonstrate the effectiveness of the TPPa-based CEI layer in the cell, as electrolyte decomposition is suppressed in the cell cycled with TPPa-containing electrolyte. This confirms that TPPa is effective at increasing the surface stability of NCM811 cathode material because the TPPa-initiated POx-based CEI layer prevents electrolyte decomposition in the cell even at high temperatures.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.21-29
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• 2014

Nickel, cobalt and manganese-based(NCM, $Li(Ni_xCo_yMn_z)O_2$) cathode active materials of spent lithium-ion batteries contained valuable metals such as cobalt(15 ~ 20%), nickel(25 ~ 30%), manganese(10 ~ 15%) and lithium(5 ~ 10%). It was investigated the eco-friendly leaching process for the recovery of valuable metal from spent lithium-ion battery NCM cathode active materials by DL-malic acid($C_4H_5O_6$) as an organic leachant in this research. The experiments were carried out to optimize the process parameters for the recovery of cobalt, nickel and lithium by varying the concentration of lixivant, reductant concentration, solid/liquid ratio and temperature. The leaching solution was analyzed using ICP-OES(Inductively Coupled Plasma Optic Emission Spectrometer). Cathode active materials of 5 wt. % were introduced into the leaching solution which was 2 M DL-malic acid in addition of 5 vol. % $H_2O_2$ at $80^{\circ}C$ and it resulted in the recovery of 99.10% cobalt, 99.80% nickel and 99.75% lithium in 120 min. $H_2O_2$ in DL-malic acid solution acts as an effective reducing agents, which enhance the leaching of metals.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.170-181
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• 2008

The shape of rectangular cup used for Ni-MH(Nickel-coated Metal Hydrogen) battery for hybrid car looks quite simple, but the forming process of extruding and setting up process design are highly difficult. Furthermore, there are few concrete reports on the rectangular deep drawn cup as part of hybrid vehicles till now. In this study, process design for rectangular cup in the multi-stage deep drawing process is carried out, and FE analysis is also preformed based on the result of the process design. From the simulation result, some unexpected problems such as earing, wrinkling and excessive thickness changes of the intermediate blank occurred. To overcome these failures, a series of modification for punch shape in the forming process design are completed and applied. Considering the modified punch shape in the multi-stage deep drawing process, additional FE analysis is also carried out and the simulation result is verified in view of the deformed shape, thickness change and effective strain distribution. The result of FE analysis with the improved process design confirmed not only reducing thinning of wall and possibilities of failure but also improving the quality of drawing product through the modification of punch shape.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.516-523
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• 2015

Nickel based oxygen transfer materials supported on two different YSZs were tested to evaluate their performance in methane chemical-looping reforming. The oxygen transfer materials of YSZs were selected with different amount of the doped yittrium in the $ZrO_2$ structure. The yittrium of 8 mol% stabilized the zirconia oxide to a cubic structure compare to the 3 mol% doping, which is known to be a good for oxygen transfer. Various nickel amounts (16wt.%, 32wt.%, 48wt.%) were loaded on the selected supports. The nickel amount of 32% shows the optimized catalyst structure with good physical properties and reducibility from the XRD, BET and H2-TPR analysis, especially when the support of 8YSZ was used. From the methane chemical-looping reforming, hydrogen was produced by methane decomposition catalyzed by Ni on both YSZs. Comparing two YSZ supports of 3YSZ and 8YSZ during the cycling tests, the catalyst with 8YSZ (Ni 32%) exhibits not only the higher methane conversion and hydrogen production but also a faster reaction rate reaching to the stable point.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.72-72
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• 2012

Lithium rechargeable batteries have been widely used as key power sources for portable devices for the last couple of decades. Their high energy density and power have allowed the proliferation of ever more complex portable devices such as cellular phones, laptops and PDA's. For larger scale applications, such as batteries in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) or power tools, higher standards of the battery, especially in term of the rate (power) capability and energy density, are required. In PHEV, the materials in the rechargeable battery must be able to charge and discharge (power capability) with sufficient speed to take advantage of regenerative braking and give the desirable power to accelerate the car. The driving mileage of the electric car is simply a function of the energy density of the batteries. Since the successful launch of recent Ni-MH (Nickel Metal Hydride)-based HEVs (Hybrid Electric Vehicles) in the market, there has been intense demand for the high power-capable Li battery with higher energy density and reduced cost to make HEV vehicles more efficient and reduce emissions. However, current Li rechargeable battery technology has to improve significantly to meet the requirements for HEV applications not to mention PHEV. In an effort to design and develop an advanced electrode material with high power and energy for Li rechargeable batteries, we approached to this in two different length scales - Atomic and Nano engineering of materials. In the atomic design of electrode materials, we have combined theoretical investigation using ab initio calculations with experimental realization. Based on fundamental understanding on Li diffusion, polaronic conduction, operating potential, electronic structure and atomic bonding nature of electrode materials by theoretical calculations, we could identify and define the problems of existing electrode materials, suggest possible strategy and experimentally improve the electrochemical property. This approach often leads to a design of completely new compounds with new crystal structures. In this seminar, I will talk about two examples of electrode material study under this approach; $LiNi_{0.5}Mn_{0.5}O_2$ based layered materials and olivine based multi-component systems. In the other scale of approach; nano engineering; the morphology of electrode materials are controlled in nano scales to explore new electrochemical properties arising from the limited length scales and nano scale electrode architecture. Power, energy and cycle stability are demonstrated to be sensitively affected by electrode architecture in nano scales. This part of story will be only given summarized in the talk.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.361-367
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• 2020

Recently, layered nickel-rich cathode materials (NCM) have attracted considerable attention as advanced alternative cathode materials for use in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, their inferior surface stability that gives rise to rapid fading of cycling performance is a significant drawback. This paper proposes a simple and convenient coating method that improves the surface stability of NCM using sulfate-based solvents that create artificial cathode-electrolyte interphases (CEI) on the NCM surface. SO_x-based artificial CEI layer is successfully coated on the surface of the NCM through a wet-coating process that uses dimethyl sulfone (DMS) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as liquid precursors. It is found that the SO_x-based artificial CEI layer is well developed on the surface of NCM with a thickness of a few nanometers, and it does not degrade the layered structure of NCM. In cycling performance tests, cells with DMS- or DMSO-modified NCM811 cathodes exhibited improved specific capacity retention at room temperature as well as at high temperature (DMS-NCM811: 99.4%, DMSO-NCM811: 88.6%, and NCM811: 78.4%), as the SO_x-based artificial CEI layer effectively suppresses undesired surface reactions such as electrolyte decomposition.