• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2014

Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are the state-of-the-art technology among electrochemical energy storage and conversion cells, and are still considered the most attractive class of battery in the future due to their high specific energy density, high efficiency, and long cycle life. Rapid development of power-hungry commercial electronics and large-scale energy storage applications (e.g. off-peak electrical energy storage), however, requires novel anode materials that have higher energy densities to replace conventional graphite electrodes. Germanium (Ge) and silicon (Si) are thought to be ideal prospect candidates for next generation LIB anodes due to their extremely high theoretical energy capacities. For instance, Ge offers relatively lower volume change during cycling, better Li insertion/extraction kinetics, and higher electronic conductivity than Si. In this focused review, we briefly describe the basic concepts of LIBs and then look at the characteristics of ideal anode materials that can provide greatly improved electrochemical performance, including high capacity, better cycling behavior, and rate capability. We then discuss how, in the future, Ge anode materials (Ge and Ge oxides, Ge-carbon composites, and other Ge-based composites) could increase the capacity of today's Li batteries. In recent years, considerable efforts have been made to fulfill the requirements of excellent anode materials, especially using these materials at the nanoscale. This article shall serve as a handy reference, as well as starting point, for future research related to high capacity LIB anodes, especially based on semiconductor Ge and Si.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.261-268
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• 2022

In this study, electrochemical treatment of urban wastewater with electrical conductivity of 1000 μS cm^-1 and chemical oxygen demand of 250 mg L^-1 was investigated using the variables of initial pH value, current density and flow rate. Electrocoagulation was used, in which aluminum and stainless steel were selected, as the electrochemical treatment process. The electrocoagulation process was operated in continuous mode. The data obtained in experimental studies show that the best COD removal efficiency occurred in experiments where the initial pH value was 6. The increase in current density from 5 A to 15 A decreased the removal efficiency from 79 to 67%. The increase in flow rate under constant current density also reduced the efficiency of removal as expected. In experiments in which current density and flow rate were examined together, the increase in flow rate allowed the application of higher current densities. This situation led to considerable reductions in energy consumption values, even if the COD removal efficiency did not significantly increase. The high COD removal obtained with the use of high flow rate and high current density indicates that the electrocoagulation process can be used for high flow rate municipal wastewater treatment.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.505-510
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• 2019

Zn-ion supercapacitors (ZICs) show high energy densities with long cycling life for use in electronic devices. Porous Zn electrodes as anodes for ZICs are fabricated by chemical etching process using optimized conditions. The structures, morphologies, chemical bonding states, porous structure, and electrochemical behavior are examined. The optimized porous Zn electrode shows a root mean square of roughness of 173 nm and high surface area of $153{\mu}m^2$. As a result, ZIC using the optimized porous Zn electrode presents excellent electrochemical performance with high specific capacitance of $399F\;g^{-1}$ at current density of $0.5A\;g^{-1}$, high-rate performance ($79F\;g^{-1}$ at a current density of $10.0A\;g^{-1}$), and outstanding cycling stability (99 % after 1,500 cycles). The development of energy storage performance using synergistic effects of high roughness and high surface area is due to increased electroactive sites by surface functionalization of Zn electrode. Thus, our strategy will lead to a rational design and contribute to next-generation supercapacitors in the near future.

• Composites Research
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.270-276
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• 2015

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based nanocomposites are fabricated by incorporation of boron nitride (BN) nanosheets with anisotropic orientation for a potential high thermal conducting ferroelectric materials. The PVDF is dissolved in dimethylformamide (DMF) and homogeneously mixed with exfoliated BN nanosheets, which is then cast into a polyimide film under application of high magnetic fields (0.45~10 T), where the direction of the filler alignment was controlled. The BN nanosheets are exfoliated by a mixed way of solvothermal method and ultrasonication prior to incorporation into the PVDF-based polymer suspension. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and thermal diffusivity are measured for the characterization of the polymer nanocomposites. Analysis shows that BN nanosheets are exfoliated into the fewer layers, whose basal planes are oriented either perpendicular or parallel to the composite surfaces without necessitating the surface modification induced by high magnetic fields. Moreover, the nanocomposites show a dramatic thermal diffusivity enhancement of 1056% by BN nanosheets with perpendicular orientation in comparison with the pristine PVDF at 10 vol % of BN, which relies on the degree of filler orientation. The mechanism for the magnetic field-induced orientation of BN and enhancement of thermal property of PVDF-based composites by the BN assembly are elucidated.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.1192-1197
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• 2011

Recent developments of small-size unmanned or manned mobile systems such as autonomous robots, exoskeleton or armored suits, micro air vehicles, and unmanned armored vehicles require long-lasting independent power sources of high energy and power density to support the systems' operation for up to 72 hours in the fields. Chemical batteries such as Ni-MH, Li-Ion, the current primary power sources for mobile devices, however, are not capable of providing enough power and energy density for the next generation high power mobile machines. For this reason, KIMM along with KERI and KIMS has been carrying out a 500W MTG development project under the DAPA's "Next generation military power source R&D program" since 2009. In this paper, a design process for a 500W MTG system currently being developed at KIMM is briefly described and the technical issues related to its development are addressed.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.14-20
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• 2011

The advantage of using lasers for through silicon via (TSV) drilling is that they allow higher flexibility during manufacturing because vacuums, lithography, and masks are not required; furthermore, the lasers can be applied to metal and dielectric layers other than silicon. However, conventional nanosecond lasers have disadvantages including that they can cause heat affection around the target area. In contrast, the use of a picosecond laser enables the precise generation of TSVs with a smaller heat affected zone. In this study, a comparison of the thermal and crystallographic defect around laser-drilled holes when using a picosecond laser beam with varing a fluence and repetition rate was conducted. Notably, the higher fluence and repetition rate picosecond laser process increased the experimentally recast layer, surface debris, and dislocation around the hole better than the high fluence and repetition rate. These findings suggest that even the picosecond laser has a heat accumulation effect under high fluence and short pulse interval conditions. To eliminate these defects under the high speed process, the CDE (chemical downstream etching) process was employed and it can prove the possibility to applicate to the TSV industry.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.458-467
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• 2012

Single phase converters suffer from ripple power pulsating at twice the line frequency. The ripple power is usually absorbed by a bulky capacitor bank and/or a dedicative LC resonant link, resulting in a low power density and a high cost. An alternative solution is using a dc link active power filter (APF) to direct the pulsating power into another energy-storage component. The main dc link filter capacitor can then be reduced substantially. Based on a mainstream dc APF topology, this paper proposed a new control strategy incorporating both dual-loop control and repetitive control. The circuit parameter design is also re-examined from a control point of view. The proposed APF scheme has better control performance, and is more suited for high power applications since it works in CCM and with a low switching frequency.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.97-101
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• 2014

The 304 stainless steel powders were prepared by high energy ball milling and subsequently sintered by spark plasma sintering, and the microstructural characteristics and micro-hardness were investigated. The initial size of the irregular shaped 304 stainless steel powders was approximately 42 ${\mu}m$. After high energy ball milling at 800 rpm for 5h, the powders became spherical with a size of approximately 2 ${\mu}m$, and without formation of reaction compounds. From TEM analysis, it was confirmed that the as-milled powders consisted of the aggregates of the nano-sized particles. As the sintering temperature increased from 1073K to 1573K, the relative density and micro-hardness of sintered sample increased. The sample sintered at 1573K showed the highest relative density of approximately 95% and a micro-hardness of 550 Hv.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.85-89
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• 2006

KAERI(Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) has developed a repassivation rate test system which can be operated at $300^{\circ}C$. It consists of an autoclave, three electrodes for an electrochemical test and a diamond scratch tip. All the electrodes are electrically insulated from the autoclave by using high temperature fittings. Reproducible repassivation curves of alloy 600 at 300 C were obtained. Repassivation rate of alloy 600 at pH 13 was slower than that of pH 10. Stress corrosion cracking test was carried as a function of the pH at a high temperature. At pH 10, alloy 600 showed a severe stress corrosion cracking(SCC), whereas it did not show a SCC at pH 7. From the viewpoint of a relationship between the current density and the charge density, a big difference was observed in the two solutions; the slope of pH 13 was steeper than that of pH 10. So the stress corrosion susceptibility at pH 13 seems to be higher than that of pH 10. The system would be a good tool to evaluate the SCC susceptibility of alloy 600 at a high temperature.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2004.03a
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• pp.314-317
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• 2004

On 9/5/2003, the planet probe “HAYABUSA” as MUSES-C project was launched by The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. “HAYABUSA” has microwave discharge ion engines and these engines are characterized by their high efficiency and specific impulse in comparison with chemical engine. A large ion engine can be used as a planet explorer, while a small ion engine can be used as attitude control of small satellite. We have been developing a high thrust density microwave discharge ion engine using “Multi-Monopole Antenna”. The performance of this engine are: ion cost of 344W/A, propellant utilization efficiency of 52% and thrust density of 0.055mN/$\textrm{cm}^2$ for Kr gas flow rate of 2.5sccm, microwave(2.45㎓) power of 32W and acceleration voltage of l.4㎸.