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Paving the way to future secondary batteries | the research team of prof. Ko Min-Seong | |||
WRITER | 대외협력과 | WRITE DAY | 2023-04-06 |
COUNT | 279 |
Paving the way to future secondary batteries | the research team of prof. Ko Min-Seong | |||||
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대외협력과 | ![]() |
2023-04-06 | ![]() |
279 |
By applying the ‘plant root-design’ to electrode catalyst of the secondary battery, both capacity and efficiency jumped-up
- a team led by prof. Ko Min-Seong at PKNU developed a graphite electrode catalyst with high durability … his paper published in international journals
A study that secured high durability by applying the ‘plant root-design strategy’ to catalysts for next-generation secondary battery electrodes is attracting attention from the academic world.
Professor Ko Min-Seong (metallurgical engineering) at Pukyong National University said that the research team, along with dr. Jang Hae-Seong at Lawrence berkeley national laboratory in the US, succeeded in developing a highly durable graphite electrode catalyst using carbon nanotubes.
While ‘vanadium redox flow battery’, a water-based energy storage device with no risk of fire, is attracting attention as a next-generation secondary battery, design research to secure long lifespan and high capacity of this battery is a major concern in the academic world.
Vanadium redox flow batteries use expensive noble metals or transition metal oxides as electrode catalysts to achieve high energy density, however, corrosion and damage to the electrode surfaces and catalyst materials may occur due to continuous friction caused by the flow of acid electrolyte.
To solve this problem, the research team of professor Ko applied a plant root design to electrode catalysts. The research team proposed a synthesis process in which carbon nanotubes are planted in the carbon support inside the graphite electrode, as if plant roots deeply rooted in the ground.
The research team used reduction between the graphite electrode and the nickel catalyst to allow nickel nanoparticles to penetrate the electrode, and induced carbon nanotubes to grow from the inside of the electrode using hydrocarbon gas.
The composite electrode developed by the research team, which applied carbon nanotubes as catalysts, has been confirmed to have high durability against the flow of electrolyte and the acidic electrolyte environment unique to redox flow batteries. As the catalyst is firmly supported like a plant root, it makes good progress in the chemical reaction.
As a result of the experiment, this electrode showed a 40% improvement in capacity performance compared to the existing graphite electrode (current density = 50 mA·cm-2) and a high energy efficiency of 86.9%.
Professor Ko said, “Designs such as plant roots can be synthesized easily using the chemical vapor deposition method, I expect that they can be stably applied to various water-based flow batteries except for vanadium.”
His research, supported by the National research foundation of Korea, was recently published in <Carbon>(IF=11.307), an international academic journal in the field of carbon materials. <Pukyong Today>
△ A schematic diagram of the synthesis of a graphite electrode shaped like a plant root.