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Physical and electrochemical qualities were analyzed after KOH activation of a direct methanol fuel cell using needle coke as anode supporter. The results of research on support loaded with platinum-ruthenium suggest that an activated KOH needle coke container has the lowest onset potential and the highest degree of catalyst activity among all commercial catalysts. Through an analysis of the CO stripping voltammetry, we found that KOH activated catalysis showed a 21% higher electrochemical active surface area (ECSA), with a value of 31.37 m2/g, than the ECSA of deactivated catalyst (25.82 m2/g). The latter figure was 15% higher than the value of one specific commercial catalyst (TEC86E86).

Spinnable pitches and carbon fibers were successfully prepared from petroleum or coal pyrolysis residues. After pyrolysis fuel oil (PFO), slurry oil, and coal tar were simply filtered to eliminate the solid impurities, the characteristics of the raw materials were evaluated by elemental analysis, 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MALDI-TOF-MS), and so on. Spinnable pitches were prepared for melt-spinning carbon fiber through a simple distillation under strong nitrogen flow, and further vacuum distillation to obtain a high softening point. Carbon fibers were produced from the above pitches by single-hole melt spinning and additional heat treatment, for oxidization and carbonization. Even though spinnable pitches and carbon fibers were processed under the same conditions, the melt-spinning and properties of the carbon fiber were different depending on the raw materials. A fine carbon fiber could not be prepared from slurry oil, and the different diameter carbon fibers were produced from the PFO and coal tar pitch. These results seem to be closely correlated with the initial characteristics of the raw materials, under this simple processing condition.

This paper reports the effect of adding reduced graphene oxide (RGO) as a conductive material to the composition of an electrode for capacitive deionization (CDI), a process to remove salt from water using ionic adsorption and desorption driven by external applied voltage. RGO can be synthesized in an inexpensive way by the reduction and exfoliation of GO, and removing the oxygen-containing groups and recovering a conjugated structure. GO powder can be obtained from the modification of Hummers method and reduced into RGO using a thermal method. The physical and electrochemical characteristics of RGO material were evaluated and its desalination performance was tested with a CDI unit cell with a potentiostat and conductivity meter, by varying the applied voltage and feed rate of the salt solution. The performance of RGO was compared to graphite as a conductive material in a CDI electrode. The result showed RGO can increase the capacitance, reduce the equivalent series resistance, and improve the electrosorption capacity of CDI electrode.

Understanding the exact structure and surface characteristics of carbon materials is very important for design, synthesis, and utilization of the best carbon form with particular functions and high performance for practical applications such as selective adsorption adsorbents, energy storage materials, catalysts or catalyst supports, etc. This review paper focuses on carbon surface properties and the interaction between gaseous or liquid substances and carbon surface. Catalytic functions of carbon materials are reviewed including recent progress in synthesis and applications of nano-carbons. Keywords : Carbon catalysts, Catalyst supports, Adsorption, Surface properties

Carbon nanofiber (CNF) grown catalytically was chemically activated with KOH to attain structural change of CNF. The structural changes of CNF through KOH activation were investigated by using BET and SEM. From the results of BET, it was found that KOH activation was effective to develop particular sizes of pores on the CNF surface, increasing the surface area of CNF. Activated CNF was applied as an anode catalyst support of fuel cell. The effects of different activation conditions including the activation temperature and the activation time on the specific surface area of the CNF activated with KOH were investigated to obtain appropriate structure as a catalyst support. The 60 wt% Pt-Ru catalyst prepared was observed by using TEM and XRD.