• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.181-184
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• 2013

Highly ordered porous materials having mesopores in the walls of macropores showed improved adsorption dynamics results for VOC molecules, especially bulky molecules. These meso/macroporous mataerials were synthesized by the dual templating method, and mesopore and macropore size were controlled by adjusting the templates for each pore size regime. In the case of adsorption and desorption of small VOC molecules (toluene), although meso/macroporous MCM-41 with smaller mesopore size showed improved results, meso/macroporous SBA-15 with larger mesopore size was not improved regardless of the existence of macropores, since there was no limitation of movement through the larger mesopore. However, the adsorption dynamics of bulky VOC molecules (p-xylene) over meso/macroporous SBA-15 were drastically improved by increasing the macropore size.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.401-406
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• 2017

Ammonia, $NH_3$, is a key chemical widely used in chemical industries and a toxic pollutant that impacts human health. Thus, there is a need for the development of effective adsorbents with high uptake capacities to adsorb $NH_3$. An adsorbent with a high surface area and a small pore size is generally preferred in order to have a high capacity for the removal of $NH_3$. The use inorganic nanoporous materials as gas adsorbents has increased substantially and emerged as an alternative to zeolite and activated carbon. Herein, mesoporous alumina (MA) was prepared and used as an $NH_3$ adsorbent. MA showed good pore properties such as a uniform pore size and interlinked pore system, when compared to commercial adsorbents (activated carbon, zeolite, and silica powder). MA has free hydroxyl groups, serving as useful adsorption sites for $NH_3$. In an adsorption isotherm test, MA exhibited 4.7-6.5 times higher uptake capacities for $NH_3$ than commercial adsorbents. Although the larger surface areas of adsorbents are important features of ideal adsorbents, a regular and interlinked adsorbent pore system was found to be a more crucial factor to adsorb $NH_3$.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.64.2-64.2
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• 2010

In order to improve the overall power conversion efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), it is very important to secure the sufficient surface area of photocatalytic nanoparticles layer for absorbing dye molecules. It is because increasing the amount of dye absorbed generally results in increasing the amount of light harvesting. In this work, we proposed a new method for increasing the specific surface area of photocatalytic titanium oxide ($TiO_2$) nanoparticles by using an inorganic templating method. Salt-$TiO_2$ composite nanoparticles were synthesized in this approach by spray pyrolyzing both the titanium butoxide and sodium chloride solution. After aqueous removal of salt from salt-$TiO_2$ composite nanoparticles, mesoporous $TiO_2$ nanoparticles with pore size of 2~50 nm were formed and then the specific surface area of resulting porous $TiO_2$ nanoparticle was measured by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. Generally, commercially available P-25 with the average primary size of ~25 nm $TiO_2$ nanoparticles was used as an active layer for dye-sensitized solarcells, and the specific surface area of P-25 was found to be ~50 $m^2/g$. On the other hand, the specific surface area of mesoporous $TiO_2$ nanoparticles prepared in this approach was found to be ~286 $m^2/g$, which is 5 times higher than that of P-25. The increased specific surface area of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles will absorb relatively more dye molecules, which can increase the short curcuit current (Jsc) in DSSCs. The influence of nanoporous structures of $TiO_2$ on the performance of DSSCs will be discussed in terms of the amount of dye molecules absorbed, the fill factor, the short circuit current, and the power conversion efficiency.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.3576-3582
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• 2014

Zeolite-templated carbons (ZTCs), which have high specific surface area, were prepared by a conventional templating method using microporous zeolite-Y for catalyst supports in direct methanol fuel cells. The ZTCs were synthesized at different temperatures to investigate the characteristics of the surface produced and their electrochemical properties. Thereafter, Pt-Ru was deposited at different carbonization temperatures by a chemical reduction method. The crystalline and structural features were investigated using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The textural properties of the ZTCs were investigated by analyzing $N_2$/77 K adsorption isotherms using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller equation, while the micro- and meso-pore size distributions were analyzed using the Barrett-Joyner-Halenda and Harvarth-Kawazoe methods, respectively. The surface morphology was characterized using transmission electron microscopy and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The electrochemical properties of the Pt-Ru/ZTCs catalysts were also analyzed by cyclic voltammetry measurements. From the results, the ZTCs carbonized at $900^{\circ}C$ show the highest specific surface areas. In addition, ZTC900-PR led to uniform dispersion of Pt-Ru on the ZTCs, which enhanced the electro-catalytic activity of the Pt-Ru catalysts. The particle size of ZTC900-PR catalyst is about 3.4 nm, also peak current density from the CV plot is $12.5mA/cm^2$. Therefore, electro-catalytic activity of the ZTC900-PR catalyst is higher than those of ZTC1000-PR catalyst.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.425-431
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• 2019

As rechargeable metal-air batteries will be ideal energy storage devices in the future, an active cathode electrocatalyst is required with bi-functionality on both oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) during discharge and charge, respectively. Here, a class of perovskite cathode catalyst with a micro-tubular structure has been developed by controlling bi-functionality from different Ru and Ni dopant ratios. A micro-tubular structure is achieved by the activated carbon fiber (ACF) templating method, which provides uniform size and shape. At the perovskite formula of $LaCrO_3$, the dual dopant system is successfully synthesized with a perfect incorporation into the single perovskite structure. The chemical oxidation states for each Ni and Ru also confirm the partial substitution to B-site of Cr without any changes in the major perovskite structure. From the electrochemical measurements, the micro-tubular feature reveals much more efficient catalytic activity on ORR and OER, comparing to the grain catalyst with same perovskite composition. By changing the Ru and Ni ratio, the $LaCr_{0.8}Ru_{0.1}Ni_{0.1}O_3$ micro-tubular catalyst exhibits great bi-functionality, especially on ORR, with low metal loading, which is comparable to the commercial catalyst of Pt and Ir. This advanced catalytic property on the micro-tubular structure and Ru/Ni synergy effect at the perovskite material may provide a new direction for the next-generation cathode catalyst in metal-air battery system.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.35-39
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• 2011

In this work, mesoporous carbons (CMK-3) were prepared by a conventional templating method using mesoporous silica (SBA-15) for using catalyst supports in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The CMK-3 were chemically activated to obtain high surface area and small pore diameter with different potassium hydroxide (KOH) amounts, i.e., 0, 1, 3, and 4 g as an activating agent. And then Pt-Ru was deposited onto activated CMK-3 (K-CMK-3) by a chemical reduction method. The characteristics of Pt-Ru catalysts deposited onto K-CMK-3 were determined by surface area and pore size analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and inductive coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The electrochemical properties of Pt-Ru/K-CMK-3 catalysts were also analyzed by cyclic voltammetry (CV). From the results, the K3g-CMK-3 carbon supports activated with 3 g KOH showed the highest specific surface areas. In addition, the K3g-CMK-3 led to uniform dispersion of Pt-Ru onto K-CMK-3, resulted in the enhancement of elelctro-catalystic activity of Pt-Ru catalysts.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.167-172
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• 2011

In this work, the effect of surface treatment on mesoporous carbons (MCs) supports was investigated by analyzing surface functional groups. MCs were prepared by a conventional templating method using mesoporous silica (SBA-15) for using catalyst supports in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). The MCs were treated with different phosphoric acid ($H_3PO_4$) concentrations i.e., 0, 1, 3, 4, and 5 M at 343 K for 6 h. And then Pt-Ru was deposited onto surface treated MCs (H-MCs) by chemical reduction method. The characteristics of Pt-Ru catalysts deposited onto H-MCs were determined by specific surface area and pore size analyzer, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron, transmission electron microscopy, and inductive coupled plasma-mass spectrometer. The electrochemical properties of Pt-Ru/H-MCs catalysts were also analyzed by cyclic voltammetry experiments. From the results of surface analysis, an oxygen functional group was introduced to the surface of carbon supports. From the results, the H4M-MCs carbon supports surface treated with 4 M $H_3PO_4$ led to uniform dispersion of Pt-Ru onto H4M-MCs, resulting in enhancing the electro-catalytic activity of Pt-Ru catalysts.

• Clean Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2009

Mesoporous aluminas (A-C, A-A, and A-N) were prepared by a templating method using cationic(C), anionic(A), and non-ionic(N) surfactant as a structure-directing agent, respectively. Nickel catalysts supported on mesoporous alumina (Ni/A-C, Ni/A-A, and Ni/A-N) were then prepared by an impregnation method, and were applied to hydrogen production by steam reforming of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Regardless of surfactant type, nickel species were finely dispersed on the surface of mesoporous alumina in the calcined catalysts. It was revealed that interaction between nickel species and support in the reduced catalysts was strongly dependent on the identity of surfactant. LNG conversion and $H_2$ composition in dry gas increased in the order of Ni/A-C < Ni/A-A < Ni/A-N. It was found that catalytic performance increased with increasing nickel surface area in the reduced catalyst. Among the catalyst tested, Ni/A-N catalyst with the highest nickel surface area showed the best catalytic performance.