• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.65-72
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• 2014

The use of nanoscale electrocatalysts is a promising strategy for achieving high catalyst activity due to their large surface area. However, catalyst activity is not directly correlated to particle size. To understand this discrepancy, many studies have been conducted, but a full understanding has still not been achieved, despite the importance of particle size effects in designing an active catalyst. In this review, we focus on the discussion of particle size effects on the oxygen reduction reaction, and also discussed the nanoscale design beyond the nanoparticle to the meso and macroscale design.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.151-156
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• 2010

In this paper, we characterized bimetallic Pt-Ru/C alloy catalysts having four different compositions and compared the catalytic activities of the prepared alloys for CO oxidation. ICP-AES, EDS, XRD, TEM, and XAS were used to investigate the composition, degree of alloying, particle size, and electronic structure of the prepared Pt-Ru/C catalysts. Those results indicated the synthesis of the alloy catalysts with intended composition and uniform size. The electrochemical study of the characterized alloys showed higher catalytic activity for CO oxidation than that of the commercial Pt/C (E-TEK, Inc., 20 wt %) catalyst. Especially, it was shown that the alloy catalyst with Ru composition of 50 atomic % gave the highest catalytic activity for CO oxidation.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.972-976
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• 1997

Single phase ruthenium oxides with perovskite (ATi1-xRuxO3 (A=Ca, Sr)) and pyrochlore structure (Bi2Ru2O7, Pb2Ru2O6.5) have been prepared reproducibly by solid state reaction methods and their electrocatalytic activities for oxygen evolution have been examined by Tafel plots. Tafel slopes vary from a low value of 42 mV/decade up to 222 mV/decade at room temperature. The high exchange current densities and high Tafel slopes compared with those obtained from the RuO2 DSA electrode at the crystalline single phase metal oxide electrodes suggest that they are better electrocatalysts at low overpotentials. A favorable change in the Tafel slope for the oxygen evolution reaction occurs as the ruthenium content increases. Substitution of Ti for Ru in the perovskite solid solutions enhanced their chemical stability by losing marginal electrochemical activity.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2019

Anodic oxidized $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays are promising materials for application in photoelectrochemical solar cells as the photoanode, because of their attractive properties including slow electron recombination rate, superior light scattering, and smooth electrolyte diffusion. However, because of the opacity of these nanotube electrodes, the back-side illumination is inevitable for the application in solar cells. Therefore, for the fabrication of solar cells with the anodic oxidized nanotube electrodes, it is required to develop efficient and transparent counter electrodes. Here, we demonstrate quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSCs) based on the nanotube photoanode and transparent counter electrodes. The transparent counter electrodes based on Pt electrocatalysts were prepared by a simple thermal decomposition methods. The photovoltaic performances of QDSCs with nanotube photoanode were tested and optimized depending on the concentration of Pt precursor solutions for the preparation of counter electrodes.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.261-272
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• 2022

CO₂ electroreduction is considered as a means to overcome climate change by converting CO₂ into value-added chemicals and liquid fuels. Although numerous researchers have screened versatile metal for the use of electrodes, and looked into the reaction mechanism, it is still required to develop highly enhanced electrocatalyst for CO₂ reduction to reach beyond lab-scale. Plasma treatment applying onto the surface of meal electrodes could improve activity, selectivity and stability of the electrocatalysts. This review highlights the effect of plasma pretreatment, and provides insight to design suitable CO₂ electrocatalyst.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.243-251
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• 2023

Developing oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts is essential to accomplish viable CO₂ and water electrolysis. Herein, we report the fabrication and OER performance of Ni-foam (NF)-immobilized Ni₆ nanoclusters (NCs) (Ni₆/NF) prepared by a dip-coating process. The Ni₆/NF electrode exhibited a high current density of 500 mA/cm² for the OER at an overpotential as low as 0.39 V. Ni₆/NF exhibited high durability in an alkaline solution without corrosion. Electrokinetic studies revealed that OER can be easily initiated on Ni6 NC with fast electron-transfer rates. Finally, we demonstrated stable CO₂-to-CO electroreduction using an NC-based zero-gap CO₂ electrolyzer operated at a current density of 100 mA/cm² and a full-cell potential of 2.0 V for 12 h.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2024

This paper presents applications of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) energy storage batteries, while showing merits and demerits of several techniques to mitigate their electrochemical challenges. Unmanned aerial vehicles, electric cars, and grid-scale energy storage systems represent main applications of Li-S batteries due to their low cost, high specific capacity, and light weight. However, polysulfide shuttle effects, low conductivities, and low coulombic efficiencies signify key challenges of Li-S batteries, causing high volumetric changes, dendritic growths, and limited cycling performances. Solid-state electrolytes, interfacial interlayers, and electrocatalysts denote promising methods to mitigate such challenges. Moreover, nanomaterials have capability to improve kinetic reactions of Li-S batteries based on several properties of nanoparticles to immobilize sulfur in cathodes, stabilizing lithium in anodes while controlling volumetric growths. Li-S energy storage technologies are able to satisfy requirements of future markets for advanced rechargeable batteries with high-power densities and low costs, considering environmentally friendly systems based on renewable energy sources.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.26-34
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• 2010

The electrocatalystic prperties of Pt-Co and Pt-Ni with heteropolyacids (HPAs) entrapped in covalently cross-linked sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (CL-SPEEK)/HPA membranes were investigated for water electrolysis. The HP As, including molybdophosphoric acid (MoPA), and tungstophosphoric acid (TPA) were both used as membrane additives and electrocatalysts. The membrane electrode assembly (MEA) was prepared by a nonequilibrium impregnation-reduction (I-R) method. $Pt(NH_3)_4Cl_2$, $NiCl_2$ and $CoCl_2$ as electrocatalytic materials and $NaBH_4$ as reducing agent were used. I order to enhance electrocatalytic activity, the catalyst layer prepared above was electrodeposited (Dep) with HP A. Surface morphologies and physico-chemical properties of MEA were investigated by means of SEM, EDX and XRD. The electrocatalytic properties of composite membranes such as the cell voltage and coulombic charge in CV were in the order of magnitude: CL-SPEEK/MoPA40 (wt%) > CL-SPEEK/TPA30 > Nafion117. In the optimum cell applications for water electrolysis, the cell voltage of Pt/CL-SPEEK-MoPA40/Pt-Co (Dep-MoPA) and Pt/CL-SPEEK-TPA30/Pt-Co (Dep-TPA) was 1.75 Vat $80^{\circ}C$ and $1\;A/cm^2$ and voltage efficiency was 87.1%. Also, the observed activity of Pt-Co (84:16 atomic ratio by EDX) is a little higher than that of Pt-Ni (86: 14). The current density peak of electrodeposited electrodes were better a little than those of unactivated electrodes based on the same membranes.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.240-245
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• 2010

This work explored the catalytic effect of Pt in multi-wall carbon nanotube and poly-pyrrole conductive polymer electrocatalysts (Pt/PPy/MWCNT). A home-made Pt/PPy/MWCNT catalyst was first evaluated by comparing its electrochemical active surface area (ESA) with E-Tek commercial catalysts by cyclic voltammetry in $H_2SO_4$ solution. Then, the methanol oxidation currents of Pt/PPy/MWCNT and the hydrogen peaks in $H_2SO_4$ solution were serially measured with microporous electrode. This provided the current density of methanol oxidation based on the ESA, allowing a quantitative comparison of catalytic activity. The current densities were also measured for Pt/C catalysts of E-Tek and Tanaka Precious Metal Co. The current densities for the different catalysts were similar, implying that catalytic activity depended directly on the ESA rather than charge transfer or electronic conductivity.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.331-334
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• 2010

In the present study, carbon supports mixed with purified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and carbon blacks (CBs) were used to improve the cell performance of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). Additionally, the effect of $O_2$ plasma treatment on CBs/MWNTs supports was investigated for different plasma RF powers of 100, 200, and 300 W. The surface and structural properties of the CBs/MWNTs supports were characterized by FT-IR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and inductive coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The electrocatalytic activity of PtRu/CBs/MWNTs catalysts was investigated by cyclic voltammetry measurement. In the experimental results, the oxygen functional groups of the supports were increased with increasing plasma RF power, while the average Pt particle size was decreased owing to the improvement of dispersibility of the catalysts. The electrochemical activity of the catalysts for methanol oxidation was gradually improved by the larger available active surface area, itself due to the introduction of oxygen functional groups. Consequently, it was found that $O_2$ plasma treatments could influence the surface properties of the carbon supports, resulting in enhanced electrocatalytic activity of the catalysts for DMFCs.