New piezoelectric and triboelectric materials for energy harvesting are being widely researched to reduce their processing cost and complexity and to improve their energy conversion efficiency. In this study, BaTiO3 films of various thickness were deposited on Ni foams by R.F. magnetron sputtering to study the piezoelectric and triboelectric properties of the porous spongy structure materials. Then piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) were prepared with spongy structured BaTiO3 and PDMS composite. The output performance exhibited a positive dependence on the thickness of the BaTiO3 film, pushing load, and poling. The PENG output voltage and current were 4.4 V and 0.453 μA at an applied stress of 120 N when poled with a 300 kV/cm electric field. The electrical properties of the fabricated PENG were stable even after 5,000 cycles of durability testing. The triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) were fabricated using spongy structured BaTiO3 and various polymer films as dielectrics and operated in a vertical contact separation mode. The maximum peak to peak voltage and current of the composite film-based triboelectric nanogenerator were 63.2 V and 6 μA, respectively. This study offers new insights into the design and fabrication of high output nanogenerators using spongy structured materials.

We report on stretchable electrochromic films of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) fabricated on silver nanowire (AgNW) electrodes. AgNWs electrodes are prepared on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates using a spray coater for stretchable electrochromic applications. On top of the AgNW electrode, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is introduced to ensure a stable resistance over the electrode under broad strain range by effectively suppressing the protrusion of AgNWs from PDMS. This bilayer electrode exhibits a high performance as a stretchable substrate in terms of sheet resistance increment by a factor of 1.6, tensile strain change to 40%, and stretching cycles to 100 cycles. Furthermore, P3HT film spin-coated on the bilayer electrode shows a stable electrochromic coloration within an applied voltage, with a color contrast of 28.6%, response time of 4-5 sec, and a coloration efficiency of 91.0 cm2/C. These findings indicate that AgNWs/PEDOT:PSS bilayer on PDMS substrate electrode is highly suitable for transparent and stretchable electrochromic devices.

Ion exchange membranes (IEMs) have been widely employed in various electrochemical processes for water treatment and energy conversion. Their intrinsic properties such as electrical resistance and permselectivity are the key parameters dominating the efficiency of the electrochemical processes. The cost-effectiveness of the IEMs should also be considered for successful commercialization of the electrochemical membrane processes. In this work, we have investigated the optimum design parameters of the cost-effective IEMs for successful application to various electrochemical membrane processes. (This work was supported by the Technology Innovation Program funded by the Korea government (MOTIE) (No. 10047796).).

Hydrothermal synthesis of highly crystalline TiO2 nanorods is a well-developed technique and the nanorods have been widely used as the template for growth of various core-shell nanorod structures. Magneli/CdS core-shell nanorod structures are fabricated for the photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) electrode to achieve enhanced carrier transport along the metallic magneli phase nanorod template. However, the long and thin TiO2 nanorods may form a high resistance path to the electrons transferred from the CdS layer. TiO2 nanorods synthesized are reduced to magneli phases, TixO2x-1, by heat treatment in a hydrogen environment. Two types of magneli phase nanorods of Ti4O7 and Ti3O5 are synthesized. Structural morphology and X-ray diffraction analyses are carried out. CdS nano-films are deposited on the magneli nanorods for the main light absorption layer to form a photoanode, and the PEC performance is measured under simulated sunlight irradiation and compared with the conventional TiO2/CdS core-shell nanorod electrode. A higher photocurrent is observed from the stand-alone Ti3O5/CdS coreshell nanorod structure in which the nanorods are grown on both sides of the seed layer.

Ion-exchange membranes which consist of polymer backbones attached with fixed charge groups have been widely used in various electrochemical water treatment and energy processes. A pore-filled ion-exchange membranes (PFIEMs), composed of an inert and tough porous substrate and an ionomer that fills the pores, is considered as a promising candidate for various commercial applications because they can be manufactured via a cheap process and also provide both high ion conductivity and excellent mechanical properties. We will introduce the recent results on the development of high performance PFIEMs for various electrochemical applications such as direct fuel alkaline fuel cells, reverse electrodialysis, and capacitive deionization etc. (Acknowledgements: NRF-2015H1C1A1034436 and MOTIE-10047796)

본 연구에서는 다공성 폴리에틸렌 지지체를 기반으로 세 가지 가교제를 혼합 도입한 세공충진 이온교환막을 제조 하고 역 전기투석에서 멤브레인의 특성이 발전성능에 미치는 영향을 고찰하였다. 실험 결과, 분자 크기가 다른 가교제를 혼합 함으로써 이온교환막의 가교도 및 자유체적이 효과적으로 조절됨을 확인하였으며 상관 분석을 통해 멤브레인의 전기화학적 특성 및 이를 적용한 역 전기투석의 발전성능에 복합적인 영향을 미침을 알 수 있었다. 특히 세공충진 양이온 교환막은 최적 가교조건에서 상용막 대비 동등 이상의 발전 성능을 나타내었으며 음이온 교환막 또한 상용막에 근접하는 우수한 성능을 나 타내었다.

본 연구에서는 얇은 폴리에틸렌 계 다공성 필름(두께 = 25 μm)에 이오노머를 충진시킨 세공충진 이온교환막을 개발하였으며 이를 적용한 전 바나듐 레독스 흐름전지의 충방전 특성을 고찰하였다. 특히 분자 크기가 다른 가교제를 혼합함 으로써 이온교환막의 가교도 및 자유체적을 적절히 제어하여 저저항 및 저 바나듐 투과도를 나타내는 이온교환막을 제조하 고자 하였다. 실험 결과, 제조된 세공충진 이온교환막은 상용막 대비하여 동등 수준의 우수한 전기화학적 특성을 나타내었다. 또한 바나듐 이온 투과도 및 전 바나듐 레독스 흐름전지 성능 평가 실험을 통해 얇은 막 두께에도 불구하고 상용막 대비하여 낮은 바나듐 이온 투과도와 높은 충방전 효율을 나타냄을 확인하였다.

바이폴라막을 이용한 전기투석공정은 의약산업, 음식산업 등과 같은 고부가 가치산업에 이용되어 왔으며, 용액으로부터 산 또는 염기를 생산하거나 회수할 수 있는 공정으로 많은 각광을 받아왔다. 전기투석공정은 경제적이며 친환경적인 시스템으로 이온교환공정, 추출공정, 흡착공정과 같은 타 공정과의 복합화가 가능하다. 따라서 본고에서는 이온교환막과 이를 이용한 잠재성을 가진 응용분야에 대하여 조사하였다.

Metal nanowires can be coated on various substrates to create transparent conducting films that can potentially replace the dominant transparent conductor, indium tin oxide, in displays, solar cells, organic light-emitting diodes, and electrochromic windows. One issue with these metal nanowire based transparent conductive films is that the resistance between the nanowires is still high because of their low aspect ratio. Here, we demonstrate high-performance transparent conductive films with silver nanofiber networks synthesized by a low-cost and scalable electrospinning process followed by two-step sequential thermal treatments. First, the PVP/AgNO3 precursor nanofibers, which have an average diameter of 208 nm and are several thousands of micrometers in length, were synthesized by the electrospinning process. The thermal behavior and the phase and morphology evolution in the thermal treatment processes were systematically investigated to determine the thermal treatment atmosphere and temperature. PVP/AgNO3 nanofibers were transformed stepwise into PVP/Ag and Ag nanofibers by two-step sequential thermal treatments (i.e., 150˚C in H2 for 0.5 h and 300˚C in Ar for 3 h); however, the fibrous shape was perfectly maintained. The silver nanofibers have ultrahigh aspect ratios of up to 10000 and a small average diameter of 142 nm; they also have fused crossing points with ultra-low junction resistances, which result in high transmittance at low sheet resistance.

nanotubes were successfully synthesized using an electrospinning technique followed by calcination in air. The nanotubes were the single phase nature of and consisted of approximately 14 nm nanocrystals. SEM and TEM characterizations demonstrated that uniform hollow fibers with an average outer diameter of around 124 nm and wall thickness of around 25 nm were successfully obtained. As anode materials for lithium ion batteries, the nanotubes exhibited excellent cyclability and reversible capacity of up to 25 cycles at as compared to nanoparticles with a capacity of . Such excellent performance of the nanotube was related to the one-dimensional hollow structure which acted as a buffer zone during the volume contraction and expansion of Sn.

Amorphous BaTi4O9 (BT4) film was deposited on Pt/Si substrate by RF magnetron sputter and their dielectric properties and electrical properties are investigated. A cross sectional SEM image and AFM image of the surface of the amorphous BT4 film deposited at room temperature showed the film was grown well on the substrate. The amorphous BT4 film had a large dielectric constant of 32, which is similar to that of the crystalline BT4 film. The leakage current density of the BT4 film was low and a Poole-Frenkel emission was suggested as the leakage current mechanism. A positive quadratic voltage coefficient of capacitance (VCC) was obtained for the BT4 film with a thickness of<70 nm and it could be due to the free carrier relaxation. However, a negative quadratic VCC was obtained for the films with a thickness ≥96nm, possibly due to the dipolar relaxation. The 55 nm-thick BT4 film had a high capacitance density of 5.1fF/μm2 with a low leakage current density of 11.6nA/cm2 at 2 V. Its quadratic and linear VCCs were 244ppm/V2 and -52 ppm/V, respectively, with a low temperature coefficient of capacitance of 961ppm/˚C at 100 kHz. These results confirmed the potential suitability of the amorphous BT4 film for use as a high performance metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor.