전 바나듐 레독스 흐름 전지(VRFB)는 유망한 대용량 에너지 저장 기술 중 하나이다. 이온교환막은 VRFB의 충⋅ 방전 성능 및 내구성을 좌우하는 핵심 구성 요소이다. 본 연구에서는 기존 탄화수소계 이온교환막의 단점을 보완하기 위해 우수한 물리적 및 화학적 안정성을 갖는 다공성 폴리테트라플루오로에틸렌(PTFE) 지지체의 세공에 불소부가 포함된 탄화수 소계 이오노머를 충진하는 방식으로 세공충진 음이온교환막(PFAEMs)을 제조하였다. 얇은 다공성 PTFE 지지체의 사용으로 전기적 저항을 현저히 낮출 수 있었으며 PTFE 지지체의 사용과 더불어 충진 이오노머에 불소부를 도입함으로써 막의 산화 안정성을 크게 향상시킬 수 있었다. 충⋅방전 성능 평가 결과, PFAEM에 불소부의 함량이 증가할수록 높은 전류 효율을 나타내었으며 낮은 전기적 저항으로 상용막 대비 우수한 전압 효율 및 에너지 효율을 보였다. 또한, 산화 안정성 및 충⋅방전 성능의 관점에서 소수성 PTFE 지지체의 사용이 더 바람직함을 확인하였다.

Hierarchically porous carbon materials with high nitrogen functionalities are extensively studied as highperformance supercapacitor electrode materials. In this study, nitrogen-doped porous carbon textile (N-PCT) with hierarchical pore structures is prepared as an electrode material for supercapacitors from a waste cotton T-shirt (WCT). Porous carbon textile (PCT) is first prepared from WCT by two-step heat treatment of stabilization and carbonization. The PCT is then nitrogendoped with urea at various concentrations. The obtained N-PCT is found to have multi-modal pore structures with a high specific surface area of 1,299 m2 g−1 and large total pore volume of 1.01 cm3 g−1. The N-PCT-based electrode shows excellent electrochemical performance in a 3-electrode system, such as a specific capacitance of 235 F g−1 at 1 A g−1, excellent cycling stability of 100 % at 5 A g−1 after 1,000 cycles, and a power density of 2,500 W kg−1 at an energy density of 3.593 Wh kg−1. Thus, the prepared N-PCT can be used as an electrode material for supercapacitors.

Hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs) have been successfully prepared by a facile carbonization and subsequent CO2 activation process using corncob as a natural carbon precursor and Mg(C2H3O2)2 as a MgO nano-template precursor. The prepared corncob-based hierarchical porous carbons (C-HPCs) with desirable micropores and mesopores feature the excellent absorbency of gas (i.e., CO2 and CH4) and solution (i.e., methylene blue (MB)). Increasing the ratio of Mg(C2H3O2)2/corncob enlarged the specific surface area up to 1004 m2/ g, micropore and mesopore volumes, CO2, CH4, and MB adsorption capacities (112, 31 and 230 mg/g after 325 min, respectively). The results indicated that the pore structures of C-HPCs can be easily and suitably controlled by the amount of the template precursor and CO2 activation effecting concurrently, which leads to fascinating adsorption capacity for CO2, CH4, and MB.

Research on Graphene and its importance in the field of energy conversion and storage devices such as fuel cells, batteries, supercapacitors and solar cells has gained momentum recently. It is studied to be the most suitable electrode material for enhanced performance of supercapacitors in terms of charge–discharge cycles, specific capacitance, high power and energy densities and so on, specifically due to its high conductivity and large theoretical surface area. Unfortunately, it posits lot of challenges due to its irreversible stacking between the individual sheets resulting in the decrease in the Specific Surface Area (SSA) compared to the theoretically reported values. Numerous studies have been carried out to prevent this stacking in order to increase the surface area, thereby being a more suitable material for the manufacture of electrodes for supercapacitors as its capacitance greatly depends on the electrode material. To solve this problem, the conversion of two-dimensional graphene sheets to three-dimensional crumpled graphene structure has been verified to be the most effective approach. The study of crumpled graphene has been one of the recent trends in the field of energy storage applications in consumer electronics and hybrid vehicles as the process of crumpling can be controlled to suit the prospective device applications.

Deuterium is a crucial clean energy source required for nuclear fusion and is a future resource needed in various industries and scientific fields. However, it is not easy to enrich deuterium because the proportion of deuterium in the hydrogen mixture is scarce, at approximately 0.016%. Furthermore, the physical and chemical properties of the hydrogen mixture and deuterium are very similar. Therefore, the efficient separation of deuterium from hydrogen mixtures is often a significant challenge when using modern separation technologies. Recently, to effectively separate deuterium, studies utilizing the ‘Kinetic Quantum Sieving Effect (KQS)’ of porous materials are increasing. Therefore, in this review, two different strategies have been discussed for improving KQS efficiency for hydrogen isotope separation performance using nanoporous materials. One is the gating effect, which precisely controls the aperture locally by adjusting the temperature and pressure. The second is the breathing phenomenon, utilizing the volume change of the structure from closed system to open system. It has been reported that efficient hydrogen isotope separation is possible using these two methods, and each of these effects is described in detail in this review. In addition, a specific-isotope responsive system (e.g., 2nd breathing effect in MIL-53) has recently been discovered and is described here as well.

The effects of drying temperature on the microstructure of porous W fabricated by the freeze-casting process of tert-butyl alcohol slurry with WO3 powder was investigated. Green bodies were hydrogen-reduced at 800oC for 1 h and sintered at 1000oC for 6 h. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that WO3 powders were completely converted to W without any reaction phases by hydrogen reduction. The sintered body showed pores aligned in the direction of tertbutyl alcohol growth, and the porosity and pore size decreased as the amount of WO3 increased from 5 to 10v ol%. As the drying temperature of the frozen body increased from -25oC to -10oC, the pore size and thickness of the struts increased. The change in microstructural characteristics based on the amount of powder added and the drying temperature was explained by the growth behavior of the freezing agent and the degree of rearrangement of the solid powder during the solidification of the slurry.

The effect of tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) as a freezing solvent on the pore structure of a porous tungsten body prepared by freeze-drying is analyzed. TBA slurries with a WO3 content of 10 vol% are prepared by mixing with a small amount of dispersant and binder at 30oC. The slurries are frozen at -25oC, and pores are formed in the frozen specimens by the sublimation of TBA during drying in air. After hydrogen reduction at 800oC and sintering at 1000oC, the green body of WO3 is completely converted to porous W with various pore structures. Directional pores from the center of the specimen to the outside are observed in the sintered bodies because of the columnar growth of TBA. A decrease in pore directionality and porosity is observed in the specimens prepared by long-duration drying and sintering. The change in pore structure is explained by the growth of the freezing solvent and densification.

Porous carbons have been widely used as electrode material for supercapacitors. However, commercial porous carbons, such as activated carbons, have low electrochemical performance. Nitrogen-doping is one of the most promising strategies to improve electrochemical performance of porous carbons. In this study, nitrogen self-doped porous carbon (NPC) is prepared from melamine foam by carbonization to improve the supercapacitive performance. The prepared NPC is characterized in terms of the chemical structures and elements, morphology, pore structures, and electrochemical performance. The results of the N2 physisorption measurement, X-ray diffraction, and Raman analyses reveal that the prepared NPC has bimodal pore structures and pseudo-graphite structures with nitrogen functionality. The NPC-based electrode exhibits a gravimetric capacitance of 153 F g−1 at 1 A g−1, a rate capability of 73.2 % at 10 A g−1, and an outstanding cycling ability of 97.85% after 10,000 cycles at 10 A g−1. Thus, the NPC prepared in this study can be applied as electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors.

Nanostructured ZnO materials have been studied extensively because of their functional properties. This paper presents a composite material of zinc oxide quantum dots (ZnO QDs) and porous carbon using a one-step carbonization process. The direct carbonization of a metal–organic complex generates mesostructured porous carbon with a homogeneous distribution of ZnO QDs. The structural and morphological properties are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The resulting ZnO QDs@porous carbon composite delivers a high specific capacity of 990 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1, 357 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1, and high reversibility when evaluated as an anode for lithium ion batteries.

토양 콘의 무게를 기반으로 한 간단한 토양 수분 측정 방법이 개발되었다. 토양 콘은 토양으로 채워진 원추형 다공성 세라믹 컵이다. 세 가지 토양 샘플에서 코어 방법과 FDR (Frequency Domain reflectometry) 방법에 의한 토양 수분 함량은 직선 회귀식의 결정계수가 각각 0.92－0.98 및 0.97－ 0.99였으며, 선형 관계였다. 토양 세라믹 콘 내부 토양의 체적 수분 함량과 콘 내부 토양 수분 중량 및 FDR의 센서 값의 회귀 결과 결정계수가 각각 0.96 및 0.97였다. 토양 콘 중량과 FDR 센서 값(r 2 = 0.99, p < 0.001) 사이는 높은 유의한 상관관계가 있었다. 따라서 토양 콘의 무게를 측정하여 토양 수분 함량을 측정할 수 있었다.

MnO2 can be potentially utilized as an electrode material for redox capacitors. The deposition of MnO2 with poor electrical conductivity onto porous carbons supplies them with additional conductive paths; as a result, the capacitance of the electrical double layer formed on the porous carbon surface can be utilized together with the redox capacitance of MnO2. However, the obtained composites are not generally suitable for industrial production because they require the use of expensive porous carbons and/or inefficient fabrication methods. Thus, to develop an effective preparation procedure of the composite, a suitable structure of porous carbons must be determined. In this study, MnO2/C composites have been prepared from activated carbon gels with various pore sizes, and their electrical properties are investigated via cyclic voltammetry. In particular, mesoporous carbons with a pore size of around 20 nm form a composite with a relatively low capacitance (98 F/g-composite) and poor rate performance despite the moderate redox capacitance obtained for MnO2 (313 F/g-MnO2). On the other hand, using macro-porous carbons with a pore size of around 60 nm increases the MnO2 redox capacitance (399 F/g-MnO2) as well as the capacitance and rate performance of the entire material (203 F/g-composite). The obtained results can be used in the industrial manufacturing of MnO2/C composites for supercapacitor electrodes from the commercially available porous carbons.

In this study, we developed a facile and template-free strategy for the preparation of activated porous carbon beads (APCBs) from polyacrylonitrile. The chemical activation with KOH was found to enhance the pore properties, such as specific surface area (SSA), pore volume, and pore area. The APCBs exhibited a large SSA of 1147.99 m2/g and a pore area of 131.73 m2/g. The APCB-based electrodes showed a good specific capacitance of 112 F/g at 1 A/g in a 6 M KOH electrolyte, and excellent capacitance retention of 100% at a current density of 5 A/g after 1000 cycles. Therefore, the APCBs prepared in this study can be applied as electrode materials for electric double-layer capacitors.

The porous carbons with high specific surface area and excellent electrochemical properties were prepared using three types of green needle coke as raw materials. Electrochemical performances of the porous carbons derived from different microstructure green needle coke were investigated. The XRD and Raman spectra demonstrated that the content of the ordered carbon microcrystals were decreased and the content of amorphous and cross-linked structure were increased in the porous carbons with comparison to the raw materials. The results of N2 adsorption–desorption analysis verified that the content of ordered microcrystalline structure in the raw materials evidently influence the specific surface area and pore size distribution of the porous carbons. The porous carbon with 1665 m2 g−1 specific surface area and 2.89 nm average pore size has shown that the specific capacitance was 288 F g−1 at the current density 1 A g−1. Furthermore, the capacity retention was 94.93% and the Coulombic efficiency was 92.87% after 5000 charge/discharge cycles.

Biomass porous carbons derived from Laminaria japonica were prepared by KOH and H3PO4 activation methods, respectively. The results indicated that the chemical activation had an apparent effect on the molecular framework and space of materials. To enhance the selective adsorption for organic acids, biomass carbons were modified by dopamine combined with N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane. The SEM and BET results illustrated the effect of the chemical activation approach on the morphology and porous texture. The biomass porous carbon using KOH activation method had the highest surface area (up to 1558 m2/ g). Compared with unmodified materials, the modified materials showed higher adsorption capacity for organic acids (27.90 μg/mL for chlorogenic acid and 25.47 μg/mL for caffeic acid). It was suggested that modification of porous carbons might be a viable pathway to increase the specific adsorption affinity and efficiency for organic acids in dried jujube samples.

To meet the increased performance and cost requirements of commercial supercapacitor, a N and O self-doped hierarchical porous carbon is fabricated via a green and simple self-activation route utilizing leaves of wild hollyhock as raw materials. Comparing to commercial activated carbon, the reported material exhibits some marked merits, such as simple and green fabrication process, low cost, and superior capacitance performance. The specific surface area of the obtained N and O codoped hierarchical porous carbon arrives 954 m2 g−1, and the content of the self-doped nitrogen and oxygen reaches 2.64 at.% and 7.38 at.%, respectively. The specific capacitance of the obtained material reaches 226 F g− 1 while the specific capacitance of the symmetric supercapacitor arrives 47.3 F g− 1. Meanwhile, more than 90.3% of initial specific capacitance is kept under a current density of 20 A g− 1, and no arresting degradation is observed for capacitance after 5000 times cycle, perfectly demonstrating the excellent cycle and rate capability of the obtained material. The obtained N and O co-doped hierarchical porous carbon are expected to be an ideal substitution for commercial activated carbon.

Effective processing and use of coal slime is of great significance to protect the environment and save resources. Different coal slimes (untreated with 43 wt% ash content, crushed and flotation treated with 10 wt% ash content, and pre-carbonized) were activated with KOH to prepare porous activated carbon. The results show the activated carbon prepared from coal slime with 10 wt% ash had high specific surface area (3037 m2/ g) and pore volume (1.66 cm3/ g), which was ascribed to the suitable contents of minerals as template and oxygen-containing functional groups. Electrochemical measurements exhibited the best specific capacitance of 220 F/g at 0.1 A/g and the cycle stability of over 100% capacitance retention after 1000 cycles at 5 A/g in 6 M KOH solution. Due to the high specific surface area, superior electrochemical performance, and facile and low cost, developing highly porous activated carbon for supercapacitors is one alternative way for effective use of coal slime waste.

PURPOSES : This study aims to reduce the urban heat island phenomenon via utilization of porous asphalt pavements. METHODS : One of the many known functions of porous asphalt is that it reduces the urban heat island phenomenon. Indoor experiments were conducted to compare the surface temperature of sprinkled dense-graded and porous asphalt and outdoor experiments were conducted to verify the difference between the two asphalt pavements under external conditions. RESULTS : The results of the indoor experiment demonstrated that the temperatures of the two pavements were similar and that the porous asphalt pavement exhibited low temperature when sprinkled; the temperature of the porous asphalt was approximately 2 °C lower than that of the dense-graded asphalt pavement. The results of the outdoor experiment showed that the peak temperatures of the two pavements were approximately the same as usual. However, it was confirmed that the surface temperature of the porous asphalt pavement at night after sunset was lower than that of the dense-graded asphalt pavement and that the peak temperature dropped for approximately 1~2 days after the rainfall.. CONCLUSIONS : Porous asphalt pavement has a lower surface temperature than normal dense-graded asphalt pavement, under the presence of moisture in the pavement. In addition, it was confirmed that the lower surface temperature of the porous asphalt pavement is due to the low heat emission of the pavement at night. Accordingly, it is believed that the application of the porous asphalt pavement will not only have known effects but also significant impacts on the reduction of urban heat island phenomena.

PURPOSES : The objective of this study is to address various problems, such as an increase in material cost and premature failure (e.g., cracks and potholes) of porous pavements, and to develop multifunctional asphalt and asphalt mixtures to ensure the long-term commonality of porous asphalt pavements. METHODS : A basic quality test of two types of porous asphalt mixtures was performed. One type consisted of the existing porous asphalt mixture, using domestically presented grading, and the other a porous asphalt mixture using high-viscosity modified asphalt with enhanced low-temperature properties, aimed at improving strain resistance and developed by applying the grading suggested by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). RESULTS : The cantabros loss rate was 19.62 % for conventional modified asphalt (PG 82-22) and 5.95 % for the developed highviscosity modified asphalt (PG 88-28), indicating that both mixtures passed the criteria. Regarding the drain-down loss rate, mixtures using both types of asphalt were found to pass all quality standards. The average permeability coefficients for each porous asphalt mixture were 0.023 and 0.018 and both types of porous asphalt mixtures satisfied the quality standard of 0.01 cm/s, as given by the Asphalt Concrete Pavement Guidelines of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport. CONCLUSIONS : As a result of the mix design of the two porous asphalt mixtures, the mixture developed in this study was found to be superior to the conventional porous asphalt mixture using conventional porous asphalt grading and modified asphalt.