Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society (전기화학회지)

The Korean Electrochemical Society (한국전기화학회)
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Electrochemical Characteristics of Electrode by Various Preparation Methods for Alkaline Membrane Fuel Cell

알칼리막 연료전지용 전극의 제조방법에 따른 전기화학적 특성 분석

  • Yuk, Eunsung (Fuel Cell Laboratory, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER)) ;
  • Lee, Hyejin (Fuel Cell Laboratory, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER)) ;
  • Jung, Namgee (Graduate School of Energy Science and Technology (GEST), Chungnam National Unuversity) ;
  • Shin, Dongwon (Fuel Cell Laboratory, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER)) ;
  • Bae, Byungchan (Fuel Cell Laboratory, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER))
  • 육은성 (한국에너지기술연구원연료전지연구실) ;
  • 이혜진 (한국에너지기술연구원연료전지연구실) ;
  • 정남기 (충남대학교에너지과학기술대학원) ;
  • 신동원 (한국에너지기술연구원연료전지연구실) ;
  • 배병찬 (한국에너지기술연구원연료전지연구실)
  • Received : 2021.08.26
  • Accepted : 2021.09.23
  • Published : 2021.11.30
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Abstract

Catalyst poisoning by ionomers in membrane electrode assemblies of alkaline membrane fuel cells has been reported recently. We tried to improve the membrane electrode assembly's performance by controlling the solvent's ratio during electrode manufacturing. 4 Different mixing ratios of N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and ethylene glycol (EG) gave four different cathode electrodes with platinum and Fuma-Tech ionomers. The electrode with higher EG improved polarization performance by about 36% compared to the NMP-based commercial ionomer. The dependence of the ionomer's dispersibility on the solvent seems responsible for the difference, which means that the non-uniform distribution of ionomers improves the performance of the electrode. High-frequency resistance, internal resistance corrected polarization curve, Tafel slope, mass activity, and impedance spectroscopy characterized the electrode. We can find that the existence of poor solvent improves cathode electrode performance. It seems to be the result of reduced poisoning of the catalyst according to the particle size distribution of the ionomer.

최근에 알칼리막연료전지의 막전극접합체에서 이오노머에 의한 촉매 피독에 대한 연구 결과들이 보고되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 이를 해결하기 위해서 전극 제조 시에 사용되는 유기용매의 성분을 조절하여 막전극접합체의 성능을 향상시키고자 하였다. Fuma-Tech사의 상용 이오노머를 사용하여 N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP)와 Ethylene glycol (EG)를 이용한 4가지의 혼합용매를 제조하였다. 혼합용액을 이용하여 제조된 캐소드 전극은 NMP기반의 상용 이오노머에 비해서 약 36%의 향상된 분극성능을 나타내었다. 이것은 용매의 종류에 따른 이오노머의 분산성 차이에 따른 결과로 추측되며 비균일성 분포의 이오노머가 전극의 성능을 향상시키는 것으로 관찰되었다. 이에 관한 원인분석을 위해서 막전극 접합체의 고주파 저항, 내부저항 보정 분극곡선, Tafel 기울기, Mass activity 및 임피던스 분광법을 사용하여 특성 분석을 실시하였다. 이오노머의 비용매의 비율 증가에 따라서 캐소드 전극 성능이 개선되는 것을 확인하였고, 이것은 이오노머의 입도 분포에 따라서 촉매의 피독이 감소되는 결과로 판단된다.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

본 연구(논문)은 2021년 한국에너지기술연구원 주요과제(C1-2489)의 지원을 받아 수행되었음.

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