• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2006

There are two types of metal hydride electrodes as a negative electrode in a Ni-MH battery, $AB_2$ Zr-based Laves phases and $AB_5$ LM(La-rich mischmetal)-based alloys. The $AB_5$ alloy electrodes have characteristic properties such as a large discharge capacity per volume, easiness in activation, long cycle life and a low cost of alloy. However they have a relatively small discharge capacity per weight. The $AB_2$alloy electrodes have a much higher discharge capacity per weight than $AB_5$ alloy electrodes, however they have some disadvantages of poor activation behavior and cycle life. Therefore, in order to improve the discharge capacity of the $AB_5$ alloy electrode the Zr, Ti and V which are the alloying elements of the $AB_2$ alloys were added to the $LaNi_{3.6}Ai_{0.4}Co_{0.7}Mn_{0.3}$ alloy which was chosen as a $AB_5$ alloy with a high capacity. The addition of Zr, Ti and V to $LaNi_{3.6}Ai_{0.4}Co_{0.7}Mn_{0.3}$ alloy improved the activation to be completed in two cycles. The discharge capacities of Zr 0.02, Ti 0.02 and V 0.1 alloys in $LaNi_{3.6}Ai_{0.4}Co_{0.7}Mn_{0.3}M_y$ (M = Zr, Ti, V) were respectively 346, 348 and 366 mAh/g alloy. The alloy electrodes, Zr 0.02, Ti 0.05 and V 0.1 in $LaNi_{3.6}Ai_{0.4}Co_{0.7}Mn_{0.3}M_y$ (M = Zr, Ti, V), have shown good cycle property after 200 cycles. The rate capability of the $LaNi_{3.6}Ai_{0.4}Co_{0.7}Mn_{0.3}M_y$ (M = Zr, Ti, V) alloy electrodes were very good until 0.6 C rate and the alloys, Zr 0.02, Ti 0.05 and V 0.1, have shown the best result as 92 % at 2.4 C rate. The charge retention property of the $LaNi_{3.6}Ai_{0.4}Co_{0.7}Mn_{0.3}M_y$ (M = Zr, Ti, V) alloys was not good and the alloys with M content from 0.02 to 0.05 showed better charge retention properties.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.16-24
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• 1998

Recently Zr-based $AB_2$ type hydrogen absorbing alloy has received much attention as a negative electrode material for the Ni-MH batteries because of its high capacity. In this study $ZrV_{0.1}Mn_{0.7}Ni_{1.2}$ alloy was chosen and the effects of heat treatment and a partial substitution of the Mo in Mn site on the various electrode properties were investigated. The alloys was prepared by arc melting (as-cast sample). Some of them were heat treated at $1,100^{\circ}C$ for 4 hours. After this they were differentiated by the different cooling rates of slow cooling and quenching. Various electrode characteristics such as activation process, high rate dischargeability and self discharge characteristic were investigated with the three types of electrodes. It was found that heat treated alloys resulted in an increase in plateau flatness of P-C isotherms however both discharge capacity and high rate capability were decreased. And the partial substitution of Mo for Mn in $ZrV_{0.1}Mn_{0.7}Ni_{1.2}$ alloy improved the self-discharge characteristic without the loss of discharge capacity (300mAh/g).

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.192-197
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• 2007

The effects of immersion time in the liquid nitrogen on the behavior of aluminum alloys used for the hydrogen storage tank of auto-mobile at cryogenic temperature were investigated. With increasing immersion time in the liquid nitrogen, the elongation of AI 5083 alloy at cryogenic temperature decreased because of non-uniform fracture of precipitates on the grain boundary, and the serration also occurred because of discontinuous slip due to rapid decreasing of the specific heat. The mechanical properties of AI 6061 alloy at cryogenic temperature were characterized by uniformed yield strength, tensile strength and elongation regardless of the immersion time in the liquid nitrogen. These mechanical properties of aluminum alloys at cryogenic temperature were interpreted by the strength of grain boundary and the slip deformation behavior.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.49-54
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• 2010

This paper presents apparent thermal conductivity of various powder at different vacuum levels for cryogenic insulation. Four kinds of powder insulator are examined by using boil-off calorimetry at pressure range from 50 Torr to 3 mTorr. The first material is perlite which is widely used in cryogenic application. Microsphere is the second one that is recently proposed as a replacement powder for liquid hydrogen storage tanks. It is a hollow sphere made of silica with the diameter in the order of 10 to $100{\mu}m$. Popped rice and polystyrene beads are also selected as candidates for powder insulation even though they are polymers. With their porous elliptic and spherical configuration and light density, they demonstrate fairly good thermal insulation performance at pressure range from 50 Torr to 3 mTorr. According to the experimental investigation in this paper, microsphere and polystyrene beads possess promising insulation characteristic as powder insulators and further study is desired.

• Clean Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.329-335
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• 2020

Methanol synthesized from renewable hydrogen and captured CO2 has recently attracted great interest as a sustainable energy carrier for large-scale renewable energy storage. In this study, molten carbonate fuel cell's performance was investigated with the direct conversion of methanol into syngas inside the anode chamber of the cell. The internal reforming of methanol may significantly improve system efficiency since the heat generated from the electrochemical reaction can be used directly for the endothermic reforming reaction. The porous Ni-10 wt%Cr anode was sufficient for the methanol steam reforming reaction under the fuel cell operating condition. The direct supply of methanol into the anode chamber resulted in somewhat lower cell performance, especially at high current density. Recycling of the product gas into the anode gas inlet significantly improved the cell performance. The analysis based on material balance revealed that, with increasing current density and gas recycling ratio, the methanol steam reforming reaction rate likewise increased. A methanol conversion more significant than 90% was achieved with gas recycling. The results showed the feasibility of electricity and syngas co-production using the molten carbonate fuel cell. Further research is needed to optimize the fuel cell operating conditions for simultaneous production of electricity and syngas, considering both material and energy balances in the fuel cell.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.294-299
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• 2001

Effects of the surface fluorination on the electrochemical charge-discharge properties of $Mg_2$Ni electrode in Ni-MH batteries fabricated by mechanical alloying were investigated. After 20h ball milling, Mg and Ni powder formed nanocrystalline $Mg_2$Ni. Discharge capacity of this alloy increased greatly at first one cycle, but due to the formation of Mg(OH)$_2$ passive layer, it showed a rapid degradation in alkaline solution within 10cyc1es. In case of 6N KOH +xN KF electrolyte (x = 0.5, 1, 2), a continuous and stable fluorinated layer formed by adding excess F$^{[-10]}$ ion, increased durability of $Mg_2$Ni electrode greatly and high rate discharge capability(90-100mAh/g). 2N KF addition led to the highest durability of all tested here. The reason of the improvement is due to thin MgF$_2$, which can prevent the $Mg_2$Ni electrode from forming Mg(OH)$_2$layer that is the main cause of degradation.

• Composites Research
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.246-252
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• 2023

A secondary barrier made of glass fiber reinforced composites has been installed infinitely using automatic bonding machine(ABM) in membrane type LNG cargo containment system (CCS). At the same time, significant thermal stress due to cryogenic heat shrinkage has occurred in the composite on the non-bonding area between the adhesive fixation at both ends. There have been studies from the perspective of structural safety evaluation taking this into account, but none that have analyzed mechanical property taking an prolonged length into account. In this study, 2-parameter Weibull distribution statistical analysis was used to standardize reliable mechanical property for actual length, taking into account the composite's brittle fracture of ceramic material with wide fracture strength dispersion. Related experimental data were obtained by performing uniaxial tensile tests at specific temperatures below cryogenic condition considering LNG environment. As a result, the mechanical strength increased about 1.5 times compared to -20℃ at -70℃ and initial non-linear behavior of fiber stretched was suppressed. As the temperature decreased until the cryogenic, the mechanical strength continued to increase due to cold brittleness. The suggested mechanical property in this study would be employed to secure reliable analysis support material property when assessing the safety of secondary barrier's structures.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.221-232
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• 2023

Carbon neutrality requires carbon dioxide reduction technology and alternative green energy sources. Palygorskite is a clay mineral with a ribbon structure and possess a large surface area due to the nanoscale pore size. The clay mineral has been proposed as a potential material to capture carbon dioxide (CO₂) and possibly to store eco-friendly hydrogen gas (H2). We report our preliminary results of grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations that investigated the adsorption isotherms and mechanisms of CO₂ and H₂ into palygorskite nanopores at room temperature. As the chemical potential of gas increased, the adsorbed amount of CO₂ or H₂ within the palygorskite nanopores increased. Compared to CO₂, injection of H₂ into palygorskite required higher energy. The mean squared displacement within palygorskite nanopores was much higher for H₂ than for CO₂, which is consistent with experiments. Our simulations found that CO₂ molecules were arranged in a row in the nanopores, while H₂ molecules showed highly disordered arrangement. This simulation method is promising for finding Earth materials suitable for CO₂ capture and H₂ storage and also expected to contribute to fundamental understanding of fluid-mineral interactions in the geological underground.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.430.1-430.1
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• 2016

We present the concept of reducible fugitive material that conformally surrounds core Cu nanowire (NW) to fabricate transparent conducting electrode (TCE). Reducing atmosphere can corrodes/erodes the underlying/surrounding layers and might cause undesirable reactions such impurity doing and contamination, so that hydrogen-/forming gas based annealing is impractical to make device. In this regards, we introduce novel reducible shell conformally surrounding indivial CuNW to provide a protection against the oxidation when exposed to both air and solvent. Uniform copper lactate shell formation is readily achievable by injecting lactic acid to the CuNW dispersion as the acid reacts with the surface oxide/hydroxide or pure copper. Cu lactate shell prevents the core CuNW from the oxidation during the storage and/or film formation, so that the core-shell CuNW maintains without signficant oxidation for long time. Upon simple thermal annealing under vacuum or in nitrogen atmosphere, the Cu lactate shell is easily decomposed to pure Cu, providing an effective way to produce pure CuNW network TCE with typically sheet resistance of $19.8{\Omega}/sq$ and optical transmittance of 85.5% at 550 nm. Our reducible copper lactate core-shell Cu nanowires have the great advantage in fabrication of device such as composite transparent electrodes or solar cells.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 2005

Anaerobic decomposition is one of the most common processes in nature and has been extensively used in waste and wastewater treatment for several centuries. New applications and system modifications continue to be adapted making the process either more effective, less expensive, or suited to the particular waste in question and the operation to which it is to be applied. Animal manure is a highly biodegradable organic material and will naturally undergo anaerobic fermentation, resulting in release of noxious odors, such as in manure storage pits. Depending on the presence or absence of oxygen in the manure, biological treatment process may be either aerobic or anaerobic. Under anaerobic conditions, bacteria carry on fermentative metabolisms to break down the complex organic substances into simpler organic acids and then convert them to ultimately formed methane and carbon dioxide. Anaerobic biological systems for animal manure treatment include anaerobic lagoons and anaerobic digesters. Methane and carbon dioxide are the principal end products of controlled anaerobic digestion. These two gases are collectively called biogas. The biogas contains $60\~70\%$ methane and can be used directly as a fuel for heating or electrical power generation. Trace amounts of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide ($100\~300\;ppm$) are always present in the biogas stream. Anaerobic lagoons have found widespread application in the treatment of animal manure because of their low initial costs, ease of operation and convenience of loading by gravity flow from the animal buildings. The main disadvantage is the release of odors from the open surfaces of the lagoons, especially during the spring warm-up or if the lagoons are overloaded. However, if the lagoons are covered and gases are collected, the odor problems can be solved and the methane collected can be used as a fuel. Anaerobic digesters are air-tight, enclosed vessels and are used to digest manure in a well-controlled environment, thus resulting in higher digestion rates and smaller space requirements than anaerobic lagoons. Anaerobic digesters are usually heated and mixed to maximize treatment efficiency and biogas production. The objective of this work was to review a current anaerobic biological treatment of animal manure for effective new technologies in the future.