• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.646-652
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• 2018

During a long-term operation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells(PEMFCs), the fuel cell performance may degrade due to severe agglomeration and dissolution of metal nanoparticles in the cathode. To enhance the electrochemical durability of metal catalysts and to prevent the particle agglomeration in PEMFC operation, this paper proposes a hybrid catalyst structure composed of PtCo alloy nanoparticles encapsulated by porous carbon layers. In the hybrid catalyst structure, the dissolution and migration of PtCo nanoparticles can be effectively prevented by protective carbon shells. In addition, $O_2$ can properly penetrate the porous carbon layers and react on the active Pt surface, which ensures high catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction. Although the hybrid catalyst has a much smaller active surface area due to the carbon encapsulation compared to a commercial Pt catalyst without a carbon layer, it has a much higher specific activity and significantly improved durability than the Pt catalyst. Therefore, it is expected that the designed hybrid catalyst concept will provide an interesting strategy for development of high-performance fuel cell catalysts.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.378-385
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• 2014

In this research, we investigate electrical performance and electrochemical properties of graphene supported Pt (Pt/G) and PtM (M = Ni and Y) alloy catalysts (PtM/Gs) that are synthesized by modified polyol method. With the PtM/Gs that are adopted for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) as cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), their catalytic activity and ORR performance and electrical performance are estimated and compared with one another. Their particle size, particle distribution and electrochemically active surface (EAS) area are measured by TEM and cyclic voltammetry (CV), respectively. On the other hand, regarding ORR activity and electrical performance of the catalysts, (i) linear sweeping voltammetry by rotating disk electrode and rotating ring-disk electrode and (ii) PEMFC single cell tests are used. The TEM and CV measurements demonstrate particle size and EAS of PtM/Gs are compatible with those of Pt/G. In case of PtNi/G, its half-wave potential, kinetic current density, transferred electron number per oxygen molecule and $H_2O_2$ production % are excellent. Based on data obtained by half-cell test, when PEMFC singlecell tests are carried out, current density measured at 0.6V and maximum power density of the PEMFC single cell employing PtNi/G are better than those employing Pt/G. Conclusively, PtNi/Gs synthesized by modified polyol shows better ORR catalytic activity and PEMFC performance than other catalysts.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.459-467
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• 2022

Redispersion of Pt-Sn particles in Pt, PtSn catalyst which have been sintered by high temperature hydrogen reduction was investigated using oxygen treatment with various temperatures. The aim of this study was to understand the relationship between the catalytic activity for propane dehydrogenation reaction and the change in the physicochemical properties of the catalyst. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), CO pulse chemisorption, and H₂ temperature programmed reduction (H₂-TPR) were performed to investigate the state of active metal and interactions between particles of redispersed catalyst. It was confirmed that the dispersion and particle size of platinum, the crystal phase of the catalyst, and the reduction behavior were changed according to the oxygen treatment. As for the catalytic activity in propane dehydrogeantion, sintered PtSn catalyst treated with oxygen at 500 ℃ showed best activity and recovery of initial activity. It was confirm that catalyst after oxygen treatment at 500 ℃ showed high dispersion of Pt and decreased particle size as the results of CO pulse chemisorption and XRD of catalyst, and thus the redispersion of PtSn particles in sintered catalyst was occurred. Catalytic activity was recovered due to redispersion using oxygen treatment, and the activity recovery of the PtSn catalyst was higher than that of Pt catalyst.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.96-101
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• 2017

Well-dispersed platinum catalysts on ruthenium oxide nanofiber supports are fabricated using electrospinning, post-calcination, and reduction methods. To obtain the well-dispersed platinum catalysts, the surface of the nanofiber supports is modified using post-calcination. The structures, morphologies, crystal structures, chemical bonding energies, and electrochemical performance of the catalysts are investigated. The optimized catalysts show well-dispersed platinum nanoparticles (1-2 nm) on the nanofiber supports as well as a uniform network structure. In particular, the well-dispersed platinum catalysts on the ruthenium oxide nanofiber supports display excellent catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reactions with a half-wave potential ($E_{1/2}$) of 0.57 V and outstanding long-term stability after 2000 cycles, resulting in a lower $E_{1/2}$ potential degradation of 19 mV. The enhanced electrochemical performance for oxygen reduction reactions results from the well-dispersed platinum catalysts and unique nanofiber supports.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.633-639
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• 2018

In anion exchange membrane fuel cells, Pd nanoparticles are extensively studied as promising non-Pt catalysts due to their electronic structure similar to Pt. In this study, to fabricate Pd nanoparticles well dispersed on carbon support materials, we propose a synthetic strategy using mixed organic ligands with different chemical structures and functions. Simultaneously to control the Pd particle size and dispersion, a ligand mixture composed of oleylamine(OA) and trioctylphosphine(TOP) is utilized during thermal decomposition of Pd precursors. In the ligand mixture, OA serves mainly as a reducing agent rather than a stabilizer since TOP, which has a bulky structure, more strongly interacts with the Pd metal surface as a stabilizer compared to OA. The specific roles of OA and TOP in the Pd nanoparticle synthesis are studied according to the mixture composition, and the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) activity and durability of highly-dispersed Pd nanocatalysts with different particles sizes are investigated. The results of this study confirm that the Pd nanocatalyst with large particles has high durability compared to the nanocatalyst with small Pd nanoparticles during the accelerated degradation tests although they initially indicated similar ORR performance.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1505-1510
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• 2009

Arginyl-fructose (AF) and arginyl-fructosyl-glucose (AFG) were chemically synthesized and purified. Their in vitro and cellular antioxidant activity was investigated using oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and cellular antioxidant activity assay, respectively. The peroxyl radical scavenging activity of AF was much higher than that of AFG, which was in good agreement with their reduction capacity to donate electrons or hydrogen atoms. On the other hand, the hydroxyl radical scavenging activity of AF was weaker than that of AFG, which was consistent with their metal chelating activity, suggesting that AFG-$Cu^{2+}$ complex may be less redox-active than AF-$Cu^{2+}$ complex due to 1 glucose molecule attached. The cellular antioxidant activity of AF and AFG appeared to depend on both their permeability into cell membrane and the scavenging activity on peroxyl or hydroxyl radicals. These results indicate that AF and AFG, Maillard reaction products, may have a high potential as a material for the development of nutraceutical food with antioxidant activity.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.63-71
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• 2020

It is necessary to fabricate uniformly dispersed nanoscale catalyst materials with high activity and long-term stability for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells with excellent electrochemical characteristics of the oxygen reduction reaction and hydrogen oxidation reaction. Platinum is known as the best noble metal catalyst for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells because of its excellent catalytic activity. However, given that Pt is expensive, considerable efforts have been made to reduce the amount of Pt loading for both anode and cathode catalysts. Meanwhile, the atomic layer deposition (ALD) method shows excellent uniformity and precise particle size controllability over the three-dimensional structure. The research progress on noble metal ALD, such as Pt, Ru, Pd, and various metal alloys, is presented in this review. ALD technology enables the development of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells with excellent reactivity and durability.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 2013

Tantalum carbide crystallites which is to be used for $H_2$ fuel cell has been synthesized via a temperature-programmed reduction of $Ta_2O_5$ with pure $CH_4$. The resultant Ta carbide crystallites prepared using two different heating rates and space velocity exhibit the different surface areas. The $O_2$ uptake has a linear relation with surface area, corresponding to an oxygen capacity of $1.36{\times}10^{13}\;O\;cm^{-2}$. Tantalum carbide crystallites are very active for hydrogen production form ammonia decomposition reaction. Tantalum carbides are as much as two orders of magnitude more active than Pt/C catalyst (Engelhard). The highest activity has been observed at a ratio of $C_1/Ta^{{\delta}+}=0.85$, suggesting the presence of electron transfer between metals and carbon in metal carbides.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.71.1-71.1
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• 2012

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) have been of great interest particularly in the automobile industries because of their high energy density and low pollutant emission. However, some of the issues such as, the necessarily high contents of Pt catalysts and their slow kinetics of cathode oxygen reduction reaction remain as obstacles in the commercialization of the PEMFC. In this presentation, after brief explanation on basic principles of PEMFC and its application to FC vehicles, recent researches to improve the activity and durability of Pt-based nano catalysts toward oxygen reduction will be introduced. It covers size and shape control of Pt nano particle, binary and ternary Pt-M alloys, novel core-shell nano structures of Pt, and a little bit about non-Pt catalysts. Strategies and methodologies for design and synthesis of novel catalysts will also be included.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.992-998
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• 1996

The $La_{0.8}Ca_{0.2}CoO_3$ prepared by a citrate process was shown to have higher oxygen reduction current density and specific activity than $LaCoO_3$, $La_{0.6}Ca_{0.4}CoO_3$. In the cyclic voltammogram, an oxygen desorption peak of a $La_{0.8}Ca_{0.2}CoO_3$+carbon electrode was larger than that of a only carbon electrode. $La_{0.8}Ca_{0.2}CoO_3$ sintered at $900^{\circ}C$ for 5 hours was shown high oxygen reduction current density because of the particle size distribution and sintering effect.