Commercial activated-carbon used as the electrode material of an electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) was posttreated with various acids and alkalis to increase its capacitance. The carbon samples prepared were then heat-treated in order to control the amount of acidic functional groups formed by the acid treatments. Coin-type EDLC cells with two symmetric carbon electrodes were assembled using the prepared carbon materials and an organic electrolyte. The electrochemical performance of the EDLC was measured by galvanostatic charge-discharge, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Among the various activated carbons, the carbon electrodes (CSsb800) prepared by the treatments of coconutshell-based carbon activated with NaOH and H3BO5, and then heat treated at 800˚C under a flow of nitrogen gas, showed relatively good electrochemical performance. Although the specific-surface-area of the carbon-electrode material (1,096m2/g) was less than that of pristine activated-carbon (1,122m2/g), the meso-pore volume increased after the combined chemical and heat treatments. The specific capacitance of the EDLC increased from 59.6 to 74.8 F/g (26%) after those post treatments. The equivalent series resistance of EDLC using CSsb800 as electrode was much lower than that of EDLC using pristine activated carbon. Therefore, CSsb800 exhibited superior electrochemical performance at high scan rates due to its low internal resistance.

In this study, we present a more electrochemically enhanced electrode using activated carbon (AC)-sulfur (S) composite materials, which have high current density. The morphological and micro-structure properties were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Quantity of sulfur was measured by thermogravimetric analysis analysis. The electrochemical behaviors were investigated by cyclic voltammetry. As a trapping carbon structure, AC could provide a porous structure for containing sulfur. We were able to confirm that the AC-S composite electrode had superior electrochemical activity.

In this paper, the effect of electrical characteristics and electrode shape on the alignment and attachment of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) has been studied. The attraction and alignment of MWNTs between the gaps has been investigated by applying electric field which is called electrophoresis and dielectrophoresis. According to the frequency of electric field, positive or negative dielectrophoretic force can be determined. The concentration of MWNTs solution was , and a droplet of was dropped between two electrodes. Through the repeated experiments, the optimal electrical conditions for aligning and attaching MWNTs in the desired places were obtained. Since the frequency range of 100 kHz~10 MHz generated positive dielectrophoretic force, MWNTs were attracted and aligned between the gaps with this frequency range. For generating enough force to attract MWNTs, the appropriate voltage range was . Furthermore, the effect of electrode shape on the alignment of MWNTs was investigated. A single MWNT attachment was accomplished on the round shaped with 70% yield.

Transparent conductive films of single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) were prepared by spray coating method. The effect of acid treatment on the SWCNT films was investigated. The field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) shows that acid treatment can remove dispersing agent. The electrical and optical properties of acid-treated films were enhanced compared with those of as deposited SWCNT films. Nitric acid (HNO3), sulfuric acid (H2SO4), nitric acid:sulfuric acid (3:1) were used for post treatment. Although all solutions reduced sheet resistance of CNT films, nitric acid can improve electrical characteristics efficiently. During acid treatment, transmittance was increased continuously with time. But the sheet resistance was decreased for the first 20 minutes and then increased again. Post-treated SWCNT films were transparent (85%) in the visible range with sheet resistance of about 162Ω/sq. In this paper we discuss simple fabrication, which is suitable for different types of large-scale substrates and simple processes to improve properties of SWCNT films.

Activated carbon (AC) with very large surface area has high capacitance per weight. However, such activation methods tend to suffer from low yields, below 50%, and are low in electrode density and capacitance per volume. Carbon NanoFibers (CNFs) had high surface area polarizability, high electrical conductivity and chemical stability, as well as extremely high mechanical strength and modulus, which make them an important material for electrochemical capacitors. The electrochemical properties of immobilized CNF electrodes were studied for use as in electrical double layer capacitor (EDLC) applications. Immobilized CNFs on Ni foam grown by thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) were successfully fabricated. CNFs had a uniform diameter range from 50 to 60 nm. Surface area was 56 m2/g. CNF electrodes were compared with AC and multi wall carbon nanotube (MWNT) electrodes. The electrochemical performance of the various electrodes was examined with aqueous electrolyte of 2M KOH. Equivalent series resistance (ESR) of the CNF electrodes was lower than that of AC and MWNT electrodes. The specific capacitance of 47.5 F/g of the CNF electrodes was achieved with discharge current density of 1 mA/cm2.

The electrocatalytic behavior of the PtCo catalyst supported on the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) has been evaluated and compared with commercial Pt/C catalyst in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell(PEMFC). A PtCo/MWNTs electrocatalyst with a Pt:Co atomic ratio of 79:21 was synthesized and applied to a cathode of PEMFC. The structure and morphology of the synthesized PtCo/MWNTs electrocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. As a result of the X-ray studies, the crystal structure of a PtCo particle was determined to be a face-centered cubic(FCC) that was the same as the platinum structure. The particle size of PtCo in PtCo/MWNTs and Pt in Pt/C were 2.0 nm and 2.7 nm, respectively, which were calculated by Scherrer's formula from X-ray diffraction data. As a result we concluded that the specific surface activity of PtCo/MWNTs is superior to Pt/C's activity because of its smaller particle size. From the electrochemical impedance measurement, the membrane electrode assembly(MEA) fabricated with PtCo/MWNTs showed smaller anodic and cathodic activation losses than the MEA with Pt/C, although ohmic loss was the same as Pt/C. Finally, from the evaluation of cyclic voltammetry(CV), the unit cell using PtCo/MWNTs as the cathode electrocatalyst showed slightly higher fuel cell performance than the cell with a commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst.

In the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), carbon counter electrode has been tested for replacing the platinum counter electrode which has two drawbacks: limited surface area and high material cost. Poor mechanical stability of carbon layer due to weak bonding strength to electrically conductive TCO (transparent conducting oxide) glass substrate is a crucial barrier for practical application of carbon counter electrode. In the present study a carbon counter electrode with high conversion efficiency, comparable to Pt counter electrode, could be fabricated by adaption of a bonding layer between particulate carbon material and TCO substrate.

We investigated on the additive effect of carbon nanotube in the sulfur electrode on the first discharge curve and cycling property of lithium/sulfur cell. The sulfur electrode with carbon nanotube had two discharge plateau potentials and the first discharge capacity about 1200 mAh/g sulfur. The addition carbon nanotube into the sulfur electrode did not affect the first discharge behavior, but improved the cycling property of lithium/sulfur cell. The optimum content of carbon nanotube was 6 wt% of sulfur electrode

All-vanadium redox flow battery(VRFB) has been studied actively as one of the most promising electrochemical energy storage systems for a wide range of applications such as electric vehicles, photovoltaic arrays, and excess power generated by electric power plants at night time. CPCS has been shown to have the characteristics as an excellent current collector for VRFB and electrochemical properties of specific resistivity 0.31 Ω cm, which were composed of G-1028 80 wt%, PVC 10 wt%, DBP 5 wt% and FS 5 wt%. Energy efficiencies of VRFB with the CPCE and the existing electrode assembly were 84.14 % and 77.24 % respectively, in charge/discharge experiments at constant current of 200 mA, and the CPCE was confirmed to be suitable as the electrode of VRFB.

In the electrode fabrication of unit cell, we found that optimal the electrochemical characteristics were obtained with at 90 wt.% of activated carbon(BP-20), 5 wt.% of conducting agent(Ppy, Super P) and 5 wt.% of P(VdF-co-HFP)/PVP mixed binder. The electrochemical characteristics of unit cell with Ppy improver were as follows : 37.6 F/g of specific capacitance, 0.98 Ω of AC-ESR, 2.92 Wh/kg and 6.05 Wh/L of energy density, and 754 W/kg and 1,562 W/L of power density. It was confirmed that internal resistance were reduced due to the increase of electrical conductivity and filling density by the introduction of conductivity agent, and content of conducting agent was suitable in the range of 4~6 wt.%. According to the impedance measurement of the electrode with conductivity agent, we found that it was possible to charge rapidly by the fast steady-state current convergence due to low equivalent series resistance(AC-ESR), fast charge transfer rate at interface between electrode and electrolyte, and low RC time constant.

The electrochemical behavior of the LiCoO2 electrode, containing carbon black as a conductor, depends upon the nature and characteristics of carbon black. In this study, six different kinds of carbon blacks were employed to investigate the relationship between the properties of carbon blacks and electrochemical characteristics of the electrode. The larger amount of surface oxygen functional groups brought the lower electrical conductivity for the carbon blacks. The electrical conductivity of carbon blacks was closely related to the impurities such as ash and volatile content. The rate capability and cyclability of the electrode were improved with the higher conductivity of carbon blacks used. So, it can be concluded that high conductive carbon black plays an important role as a conductor for high rate of charge-discharge capability and initial efficiency.

Performance of direct methanol fuel cell using high porous active carbon as an uncatalysed diffusion layer in anode (composite electrode) has been evaluated. Effects of porous active carbon in anode were investigated by galvanostatic method and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. The single cell was operated with 2.5 M methanol at temperature of 80-120℃ and showed performance of 210-510 mA/cm2 at 0.4V. By replacing conventional electrode with composite electrode, the increment of 290 mA/cm2 in current density was obtained at 90℃and 0.4V. The potential decay of the single cell was about 14.5% for 20 days operation.

Electrochemical charateristics of activated carbon fiber cloth(ACFC) electrode were studied with propylene carbonate(PC), γ-butyrolactone(GBL) and N,N-dimethyl-formamide(DMF) as a solvent and tetraethylammoniumtetrafluoroborate(TEABF4), tetraethylammoniumhexafluorophosphate(TEABF6), tetrabutylammoniumtetrafluoroborate(TBABF4) and tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate(TBAPF6) as an electrolytes(active material). The concentrations of electrolytes were in the range of 0.2~1.2 N, the volume ratios of PC and DMF as a mixed solvent system, were 90：10, 80：20, 70：30, 60：40, 50：50, and 40：60 vol%. Electrochemical characteristics such as electric conductivity, internal resistance, and electric capacitance of fabricated unit cells were measured after the moisture of activated material was removed with molecular sieve. Electrochemical characteristics were better in mixed solvents system than in mono solvent system. The mono solvent system of 1.0 N electrolyte of GBL/TEABF4 with activated carbon cloth electrodes showed better result but the mixed solvent system with PC and DMF/TEABF4(50：50 vol%) and the concentration of 1.0 N electrolyte showed the best characteristics. Internal resistance was 3.47 Ω and specific capacitance was 19.1 F/g respectively.y.

중성과 산성의 전해질내에서 여러 탄소전극의 전기화학적 특성과 전극재료의 중요함수인 이중층 축전용량에 대하여 조사 하였다. 이를 위해 임피던스 스펙트로스코피를 이용하였으며, 0.5M K2SO4용액과 0.1M H2SO4용액내에서 electrographite와 박판상 흑연의 경우 이중층 축전용량은 다른 두 전극재료에 비하여 높게 나타났으며, 0.1M H2SO4용액에서 탄소재료의 전하이동저항 R1은 유리상 탄소와 PVDF graphite의 경우 140 ㏀과 31.9㏀로 나타났으며 electropraphite와 박판상 흑연의 경우 2.0㏀과 5.7㏀의 적은 값을 나타냈다. 이는 재료의 표면이나 내부의 기공에 의해 생기는 커다란 비 표면적 때문이며, 이것에 의해 재료의 상경계에서 측정된 임피던스량은 저주파영역에서 낮게 나타났다. 특히 electrographite는 전극계면에서 흡착의 영향이 현저하게 나타났으며, 4종류 전극재료의 전기화학적 특성과 이중층 축전용량은 전극표면 조직에 의해 차이가 나타났다.