• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.172-178
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• 2009

Nanoparticles are small-scale substances (<100 nm) with unique properties, complex exposure and health risk implications. Aluminum oxide ($Al_2O_3$) nanoparticles (NP) have been widely used as abrasives, wear-resistant coatings on propeller shafts of ships, to increase the specific impulse per weight of composite propellants used in solid rocket fuel and as drug delivery systems to increase solubility. However, recent studies have shown that nano-sized aluminum (10 nm in diameter) can generate adverse effects, such as pulmonary response. The cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of $Al_2O_3$ NP were investigated using the dye exclusion assay, the comet assay, and the mouse lymphoma thymidine kinase (tk$^{+/-}$) gene mutation assay (MLA). IC$_{20}$ values of $Al_2O_3$ NP in BEAS-2B cells were determined the concentration of 273.44 $\mu$g/mL and 390.63 $\mu$g/mL with and without S-9. However IC$_{20}$ values of $Al_2O_3$ NP were found nontoxic in L5178Y cells both of with and without S-9 fraction. In the comet assay, L5178Y cells and BEAS-2B cells were treated with $Al_2O_3$ NP which significantly increased 2-fold tail moment with and without S-9. Also, the mutant frequencies in the $Al_2O_3$ NP treated L5178Y cells were increased compared to the vehicle controls with S-9. The results of this study indicate that $Al_2O_3$ NP can cause primary DNA damage and cytotoxicity but not mutagenicity in cultured mammalian cells.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.209-218
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• 2011

In low voltage high current applications such as fuel cells the current-fed DC-DC converter which has small ripple current and turn ratio is more efficient. In the applications larger than 5kW the conventional single-phase current-fed converter based on full-bridge, half-bridge or push-pull topologies has high current burden of devices such as switches, and the selection and optimized design of the devices are not easy. In this paper a three-phase active-clamped current-fed push-pull DC-DC converter suitable for high power high step-up applications is proposed. The proposed converter has reduced current burden and is suitable for wide input voltage applications due to the use of whole duty cycle range. Design methods of main components including three-phase high frequency transformers are provided, and the validity and performance of the proposed converter are proved from a 5kW prototype.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.315-323
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• 2021

The air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) stacks, which is widely used in small-sized PEMFC, have a problem in that durability is weaker than that of the water-cooled type. Because the cathode is open to the atmosphere and the structural problem of the air-cooled stack, which is difficult to maintain airtightness, is highly likely to form a hydrogen/air boundary during start-up/shut-down (SU/SD). Through the accelerated durability evaluation of the 20 W air-cooled PEMFC stack, the purpose of this study was to find out the cause of the degradation of the stack and to contribute to the improvement of the durability of the air-cooled PEMFC stack. In this study, it was possible to evaluate durability in a relatively short time by reducing 20-30% of initial performance by repeating SU/SD 1,000 to 1,200 times on an air-cooled PEMFC stack. After disassembling the stack, each cell was divided into two and the performance analysis showed that the electrode degradation was more severe in the anode outlet membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which facilitates air inflow as a whole, than in the inlet MEA. It was shown that the cathode Pt was dissolved/precipitated to deteriorate the polymer ionomer inside the membrane.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2022

Cathode open-type PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells) stacks, which are widely used in small transport-type PEMFC, have a problem with poor durability. Through the accelerated durability test of the 13-cell PEMFC stack, we tried to find the cause of the degradation of the stack and to contribute to the improvement of the durability of the cathode open stack. A hydrogen/air boundary is formed during start-up/shut-down (SU/SD) due to the structural problem of the cathode open stack in which the cathode is open to the atmosphere and it is difficult to maintain airtightness, thereby deteriorating the cathode. In this study, it was possible to evaluate the durability in a relatively short time by reducing the 54% of the initial performance by repeating SU/SD 1,800 times on the cathode open stack. After dismantling the stack, each cell was divided into two and the performance was analyzed. Overall, the anode outlet MEA, which facilitates air inflow, showed more severe electrode deterioration than the inlet MEA, confirming that the hydrogen/air boundary formation during SU/SD is the main cause of degradation.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.237-242
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• 2009

In the pyroprocessing of spent nuclear fuels, fuel materials are recovered by electrochemical reactions on the surface of electrodes as well as stirring the electrolyte in electrolytic cells such as electrorefiner, electroreducer and electrowinner. The system with this equipment should first be scaled-up in order to commercialize the pyroprocessing. So in this study, the scale-up for those electrolytic cells was studied to design a large-scale system which can be employed in a commercial process in the future. Basically the dimensions of both electrolytic cells and electrodes should be enlarged on the basis of the geometrical similarity. Then the criterion of constant power input per unit volume, characterizing the fluid behavior in the cells, was introduced in this study and a calculation process based on trial-and-error methode was derived, which makes it possible to seek a proper speed of agitation in the electrolytic cells. Consequently examples of scale-up for an arbitrary small scale system were shown when the criterion of constant power input per unit volume and another criterion of constant impeller tip speed were respectively applied.

• Solar Energy
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 1997

Recently, new generation systems using solar cells or fuel cells are under development. Particularly, it is expected that small scale, utility interactive, dispersed PV system will be widely diffused in the near future. The inverter used in coupling the PV array with utility lines is an important factor determining the overall performance of power generation systems. This paper presents the design and control method of the single-phase PV inverter system that is capable of compensating reactive power including harmonic distortions. It is shown that reactive power caused by rectifier load can be compensated by the proposed inverter system.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.512-518
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• 2019

To develop a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with lower Pt loading and higher performance in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), it is an important research issue to understand interfacial structure of Pt/C catalyst and ionomer and design the catalyst layer structure. In this study, we prepared short-side-chain Nafion-based ionomer dispersion using propylene glycol (PG) as a solvent instead of water which is commonly used as a solvent for commercially available ionomers. Cathode catalyst layers with different ionomer content from 20 to 35 wt% were prepared using the ionomer dispersion for the fabrication of four different MEAs, and their fuel cell performance was evaluated. As the ionomer content increased to 35 wt%, the performance of the prepared MEAs increased proportionally, unlike the commercially available water-based ionomer, which exhibited an optimum at about 25 wt%. Small size micelles and slow evaporation of PG in the ionomer dispersion were effective in proton transfer by inducing the formation of a uniformly structured catalyst layer, but the low oxygen permeability problem of the PG-based ionomer film should be resolved to improve the MEA performance.

• Carbon letters
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.213-216
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• 2009

The electrochemical deposition of Pt nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) supports and their catalytic activities for methanol electro-oxidation were investigated. Pt catalysts of 4~12 nm average crystalline size were grown on supports by potential cycling methods. Electro-plating of 12 min time by potential cycling method was sufficient to obtain small crystalline size 4.5 nm particles, showing a good electrochemical activity. The catalysts' loading contents were enhanced by increasing the deposition time. The crystalline sizes and morphology of the Pt/support catalysts were evaluated using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The electrochemical behaviors of the Pt/support catalysts were investigated according to their characteristic current-potential curves in a methanol solution. In the result, the electrochemical activity increased with increased plating time, reaching the maximum at 12 min, and then decreased. The enhanced electroactivity for catalysts was correlated to the crystalline size and dispersion state of the catalysts.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.44-46
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• 2008

Air-breathing polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are highly promising particularly for small-power applications up to tens watts class. A distinctive feature of the air-breathing PEMFC is its simple system configuration in which axial fans operate for dual purposes, supplying both oxidant and coolant in a single manner. In the present study, a nominal 80W air-breathing PEMFC system is developed and investigated to determine the optimal operating strategy through parametric studies (i.e., reactant humidity, and fanblowing flow rate). The cell voltage distributions are examined as a function of time to evaluate the system performance under various operating conditions.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.834-841
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• 2014

This paper proposes new active switched-capacitor and switched-inductor Z-source inverter (ASC/SL-ZSI) topologies, which can provide a higher boost ability with a small shoot-through time. The proposed ASC/SL-ZSIs inherit all of the advantages of the classical ZSI, and have a stronger voltage boost inversion ability when compared with the classical ZSI. Thus, the output ac voltage quality is significantly improved. In addition, more cells can be cascaded in the impedance network in order to obtain a very high boost ability. The proposed topologies can be applied to photovoltaic or fuel-cell generation systems with low-voltage renewal sources due to their wide range of obtainable voltages. Both simulations and the experimental results are carried out in order to verify performance of the proposed topologies.