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- News박민주 학생, 영국왕립화학회 발행 저널에 논문 게재
- 13/11/051,724
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KBS Group의 박민주 학생(나노생명화학공학부 4학년)이 영국왕립화학회의 Nanoscale 지에 전기화학 촉매에 관한 논문을 게재하여 국내외 언론의 이목을 끌었습니다.
이 논문은 연료전지와 금속-공기 전지 등에서 촉매로 사용되는 값비싼 백금을 대체할 무금속 산소환원반응 촉매에 관한 것으로,
그래핀에 여러 종류의 아민(Amine)을 반응시킨 후 열처리를 가하는 간단하고 친환경적인 개발 공정을 통해 무금속 촉매를 개발하였습니다.
이 방법은 질소 만이 아니라 황과 붕소와 같은 다른 이종원소도 그래핀에 고정이 가능하고, 기존 백금 촉매에 비해 저렴하고 내구성도 우수하다는 측면에서 여러 국내외 언론의 이목을 끌었습니다.
이는 여러 국내 언론과 Science Daily, Phys.org, Science Codex 등의 외국 언론에서도 하이라이트 되었습니다.
학부생으로서 직접 연구를 계획하고 긴 시간 동안 꾸준히 진행하여 우수한 저널에 논문을 게재한 박민주 학생에게 수고의 말씀을 드리며, 지도해주신 김병수 교수님께도 감사의 말씀을 전합니다.
- 아래는 ScienceDaily 지에 10월 28일 보도된 기사를 인용한 것입니다 -
A Noble Yet Simple Way to Synthesize New Metal-Free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction
Oct. 28, 2013 — A Korean research team from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), S. Korea, developed a high performance and stable metal-free electrocatalyst for ORR and the research work was published in a science journal, Nanoscale by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC).
Limited availability of fossil fuel and increasing energy demands have stimulated intense research on energy conversion and storage systems. Fuel cells have received considerable attention among the many choices of energy storage systems, owing to their remarkable potential energy density and environmental issues.
Electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction are critical components that may dramatically enhance the performance of fuel cells, which are perceived to be the power for future electric vehicles. For more economical fuel cells, engineers need fast and efficient electrocatalysts which split hydrogen gas to make electricity.
The UNIST research team led by Prof. Byeong-Su Kim from the Interdisciplinary School of Green Energy, UNIST, presented a unique design and characterization of new heteroatom-doped graphene nanosheets prepared through the covalent functionalization of various small organic molecules with a subsequent thermal treatment. This work was proposed and carried out by undergraduate student Minju Park from the Interdisciplinary School of Green Energy, UNIST.
There are many available methods to prepare nitrogen-doped (N-doped) graphene. These approaches successfully introduce nitrogen atoms within the graphene framework. However, many of them require toxic gas precursors, and are unable to control the degree of doping and type of nitrogen functionality.
Herein the UNIST Research team presented a simple approach for chemical functionalization toward heteroatom-dope graphene nanosheets with small organic molecules for use as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction.
Here is how the material has been prepared: Graphite oxide powder was prepared from graphite powder with oxidation and exfoliated to give a brown dispersion of graphene oxide (GO) under ultra sonication. Graphene oxide nanosheets have various functional groups on the edge such as carboxylic (-COOH), hydroxyl (-OH), and epoxy (-C-O-C).
When the GO suspension reacted with amines in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC), a water soluble carbodiimide was usually obtained as the hydrochloride, carboxylic group in GO reacted with amine and formed an amide group. The research team defined it as 'NGOn', which was chemically functionalized graphene oxide. NGOn suspensions were annealed at 800 ℃ for 1h under an argon atmosphere with tube furnace, and nitrogen was doped into the graphene oxide nanosheets with removing oxygen named 'NRGOn'.
Further the UNIST research team demonstrated how the electrochemical performance can be improved by varying the degree and configurations of the nitrogen dopant. Further, they extended the approach toward the introduction of other heteroatoms, such as boron and sulfur, into the graphene nanosheet.
"Nitrogen-doped graphene nanosheets showed superior stability compared to commercial Pt/C catalysts. This approach has also been successfully extended to other heteroatoms such as boron and sulfur on the graphene nanosheets," said Minju Park.
"We envision this study will offer opportunities and insights for further development of hybrid electrocatalysts," said Prof. Kim, presenting future research possibilities.
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- 2013년도 추계 대한화학회