• Membrane Journal
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.239-245
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• 2003

The origin of large difference of selectivity of $C_3H_6$ over $C_3H_8$ between pure gas and mixed gas through silver polymer electrolyte membranes is investigated. Firstly, the effect of feed condition on the permeance of mixture gas ($C_3H_6/C_3H^8$) and the separation performance is examined. Upon decrease of the $C_3\;H_6$ concentration, the $C_3H_6$ permeance decreased whereas the permeance of $C_3H_8$ increased, resulting in the decrease of the selectivity of $C_3H_6/C_3H_8/.$ This result is ascribed to the $C_3H_6$-induced plasticization of membranes. Experimental results were validated by means of mathematical modeling, where pressure independent permeabilities were used.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.292-303
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• 2022

An eco-friendly energy conversion device without the emission of pollutants has gained much attention due to the rapid use of fossil fuels inducing carbon dioxide emissions ever since the first industrial revolution in the 18th century. Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) that can produce water during the reaction without the emission of carbon dioxide are promising devices for automotive and residential applications. As a key component of PEMFCs, polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) need to have high proton conductivity and physicochemical stability during the operation. Currently, perfluorinated sulfonic acid-based PEMs (PFSA-PEMs) have been commercialized and utilized in PEMFC systems. Although the PFSA-PEMs are found to meet these criteria, there is an ongoing need to improve these further, to be useful in practical PEMFC operation. In addition, the well-known drawbacks of PFSA-PEMs including low glass transition temperature and high gas crossover need to be improved. Therefore, this review focused on recent trends in the development of high-performance PFSA-PEMs in three different ways. First, control of the side chain of PFSA copolymers can effectively improve the proton conductivity and thermal stability by increasing the ion exchange capacity and polymer crystallinity. Second, the development of composite-type PFSA-PEMs is an effective way to improve proton conductivity and physical stability by incorporating organic/inorganic additives. Finally, the incorporation of porous substrates is also a promising way to develop a thin pore-filling membrane showing low membrane resistance and outstanding durability.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.63-71
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• 2009

In this study, polysulfone which has excellent mechanical and thermal stability with low cost was used for preparing a non-conducting polymer matrix as a reinforced composite membrane for fuel cell application. The membranes were prepared by phase separation method. Polymer concentration and retention time were controlled to investigate the effects on the membrane morphology. The resaltant membranes showed all sponge-like structure independent of polymer concentration. The mechanical and thermal stability were improved with increasing polymer concentration in contrast to the membrane porosity. As a result, the membranes prepared with the retention time for 2 mins using 20 wt% of polymer solution was suitable for a fuel cell compositite membrane providing optimum properties such as approximately 80% of high porosity, 1.3 MPa of tensile strength, and less than 1% of thermal shrinkage both machine and transverse direction.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.442-455
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• 2022

High-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) has been studied as an alternative to low-temperature PEMFC due to its fast activation of electrodes and high resistance to electrode poisoning by carbon monoxide. It is highly required to develop stable PEMs operating at high temperatures even doped by ion-conducting materials for the development of high-performance and durable HT-PEMFC systems. A number of studies have been conducted to develop polybenzimidazole (PBI)-based PEMs for applications in HT-PEMFC due to their high interaction with doped ion-conducting materials and outstanding thermomechanical stability under high-temperature operation. This review focused on the development of PBI-based PEMs showing high performance and durability. Firstly, the characteristic behavior of PBI-based PEMs doped with various ion-conducting materials including phosphoric acid was systematically investigated. And then, a comparison of the physicochemical properties of the PEMs according to the different membrane manufacturing processes was conducted. Secondly, the incorporation of porous polytetrafluoroethylene substrate and/or inorganic composites to PBI matrix to improve the membrane performances was studied. Finally, the construction of cross-linked structures into PBI-based PEM systems by polymer blending method was introduced to improve the PEM properties.

• Polymer Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.447-457
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• 2005

• Membrane Journal
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.274-281
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• 2008

Covalent-crosslinked sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (SPAES) copolymers were synthesized copolymerization technique and additionally crosslinked with divinylbenzene (DVB). To optimize the reaction condition, a concentration of crosslinking agent and a reaction time were varied in the ranges of $30{\sim}90\;v/v%$ and $30{\sim}720\;min$. The properties of the crosslinked membranes were investigated by SEM, TGA and the measurement of proton conductivity. It was found that the proton conductivity of crosslinked membranes decreased depending on a degree of crosslinking while water uptake and methanol permeability reduced.

• Proceedings of the Korean Fiber Society Conference
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• 1992.06b
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• pp.49-49
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• 1992

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.135.1-135.1
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• 2010

최근 고온에서 사용 가능한 PEMFC용 고분자전해질 막 개발에 대한 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. PEMFC가 고온에서 작동하게 되면 높은 성능과 많은 장점을 갖게 된다. PEMFC를 $100^{\circ}C$ 이상에서 운전하게 될 경우 백금 전극 반응을 향상시켜 고가의 백금 촉매 양을 줄일 수 있게 되고, 수소연료 속에 미량 포함된 CO에 의한 촉매표면 피독현상에 대한 내구성을 높일 수 있어 저 순도 수소연료 사용이 가능해 진다. 또한 가습장치와 수소 연료 개질장치의 부피를 줄일 수 있게 되어 전체적인 PEMFC 시스템이 단순화 된다. 현재 연료전지용 고분자 전해질막으로 DuPont사의 과-불소계 고분자 전해질막인 Nafion$^{(R)}$이 가장 널리 사용되고 있다. Nafion$^{(R)}$은 유연한 분자구조 안에 소수성이 강한 주사슬과 친수성을 나타내는 술폰산이 결합된 곁사슬이 존재하여 술폰화 곁사슬의 클러스터 둘레에는 친수성 영역이 형성이 되기때문에 소수/친수 상 분리가 잘되어 이온 클러스터 형성이 용이하지만 제조비용이 높은 단점을 갖고 있다. 특히, 전해질 막내에서 Bronsted base 역할을 하는 물에 의해 이온전도가 이루어지기 때문에 고온에서는 수분증발로 인해 성능이 급격히 감소된다. 따라서, 본 연구에서는 고온 저가습 조건에서 운전이 가능하고 Nafion이 갖는 문제점을 해결하고자, 내열특성이 뛰어나며 높은 수소이온 전도도 학보가 용이한 Sulfonated Poly(aryl ether)sulfone(SPAES) 고분자 전해질에, 고온에서도 수화성이 유지될 수 있도록 지르코니아를 황산화한 sulfated zirconia(s-$ZrO_2$)를 함침하여 복합 고분자전해질막을 제조하여 고온 저가습 조건에서의 수소이온 전도 특성에 관한 연구를 수행하였다. 개발된 막의 물리/화학적 특성은 water content(Wup%), 이온교환 용량(IEC, meq $g^{-1}$), 수소이온전도도(s $cm^{-1}$) 열 중량 분석(TGA), X선 회절분석(XRD) 등을 통하여 분석 및 관찰하였다. 내화학 및 열적 특성분석 결과, 황산화 반응공정으로 $ZrO_2$에 술폰산기가 안정적으로 결합하고 있음이 관찰되었으며, 본 연구에서 개발된 유 무기 복합막이 $250^{\circ}C$이상 열적안정성을 확보하고 있는 것으로 판단되었다. $100^{\circ}C$ 이하의 저온 영역에서, 일정 비율의 s-$ZrO_2$/SPAES막에서 이온교환용량(IEC)이 순수 SPAES 막보다 낮음에도 불구하고, water uptake가 증가함과 동시에 수소이온 전도도가 향상된 것을 관찰하였다. 또한, 고온에서는 수소이온이 자유롭게 이동할 수 있는 water channel을 형성하는 free water는 증발 하지만 s-$ZrO_2$와 SPAES의 술폰산기 사이에 강력하게 결합하고 있는 bound Water는 $100^{\circ}C$ 이상의 고온 영역에서도 존재하여, 비록 무가습 조건에서도 일정 비율의 s-$ZrO_2$/SPAES50 전해질 막의 경우, 높은 전도도를 나타냄을 관찰할 수 있었다. 따라서 본 연구를 통해 저가습 고온 적용을 목적으로 개발된 s-$ZrO_2$/SPAES50막은 우수한 내열 특성을 나타냄과 동시에 저가습 고온 영역($120^{\circ}C$, $50RH{\downarrow}$)에서 높은 수소이온 전도도를 유지하여, 고온 저가습 연료전지 운전에 적합할 것으로 사료된다.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.333-341
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• 2020

In this study, the optimum design conditions of a polymer electrolyte membrane for application to a flexible electrochromic device (ECD) were tried to be derived. Polyvinyl butyral (PVB) with excellent adhesive property and transparency was selected as the base polymer for the preparation of the electrolyte membrane, and adipate-based polymer was used as the plasticizer. As a result, it was confirmed that the most influential factors on the ECD performance were the ionic conductivity and permeability of the electrolyte membrane. In addition, it was found that the factor has a close relationship with the dissociation property of the lithium salt. Overall, the optimal ECD performance was achieved when LiTFSI salt having a large anion size among various lithium salts was dissolved in a content of about 25 wt.%.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.51-54
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• 2003