• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.927-933
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• 1997

The effects of carbon black on the electrodes performance and on the structure of the catalyst layer in Raney nickel hydrogen electrodes for alkaline fuel cells were investigated by using electrochemical and nitrogen adsorption methods. The optimum content of carbon black in the catalyst layer of Raney nickel hydrogen electrode was 2wt%. The limiting current density was increased by the addition of carbon black due to the enlargement of gas-liquid interface area. The rate determining step at the limiting current density was supposed to be a step where hydrogen dissolves at gas-liquid interfaces.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.527-534
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• 1992

Raney nickel was used as catalyst in the hydrogen electrode for an alkaline fuel cell. The hydrogen electrode manufactured with the Raney nickel catalyst which was sintered at $700^{\circ}C$ was found to have the highest electrode performance. Using the Raney nickel powder of average particle size $90{\AA}$ for the electrode, the current density which had been measured was $450mA/cm^2$ at $80^{\circ}C$ using 6N KOH solution as an electrolyte. The effects of PTFE addition were investigated with CO-chemisorption, polarization curves and Tafel slope. CO-chemisorption had shown the optimum value when the Raney nickel was mixed with 5wt% of PTFE, but from the current density and Tafel slope at porous Raney nickel electrode, the appropriate value of PTFE addition was 10wt%. Recommendable Ni and Al portion for Raney nickel was 60 : 40 and loading amount was $0.25g/cm^2$. Also the influence of pressing pressure for manufacturing catalytic layer and for junction with gas diffusion layer was examined. The morphology of catalyst surface was investigated with SEM. The influence of reactivation time and heat-treatment temperature were also studied.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.97.1-97.1
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• 2011

저온에서 양이온 고분자막을 사용하는 고분자 연료전지의 경우 뛰어난 성능과 다양한 응용분야로 인해 많은 연구와 실증이 이루어지고 있지만 공기극에서의 느린 산소 환원반응으로 인해 백금과 같은 귀금속의 사용이 불가피하고 백금의 제한된 매장량과 높은 가격으로 인해 상용화가 늦어지고 있다. 그래서 많은 연구자들이 합금 촉매 또는 비귀금속 촉매를 이용한 전극 개발에 집중하고 있다. 알칼리 분위기에서 저가의 전이 금속들이 백금과 비슷한 활성을 보이고 고체 음이온 교환막이 개발됨에 따라 최근 알칼리 연료전지가 다시금 큰 주목을 받고 있다. 그러나 고분자 연료전지와는 달리 아직 촉매나 전해질막, 이오노머의 특성 및 메커니즘에 관해 별로 알려진 것이 없다. 본 연구에서는 직접 개발한 세공충진막 형태의 탄화수소계의 음이온 교환막과 비귀금속 공기극 촉매를 이용하여 막전극접합체(MEA)를 개발하였고 촉매 및 이오노머 함량과 같은 전극 조성, 막전극접합체의 제조 및 체결, 가습이나 가스조성 등의 단위전지 운전조건과 같은 다양한 변수에 대해에 최적 조건을 도출하고자 하였다. 공기극 촉매는 Cu-Fe/C를 이용한 상용 촉매를 이용하였고 이오노머의 경우는 탄화수소계의 상용 제품을 사용하였으며 음이온 교환막에 전극층을 형성하기 위해서는 스프레이 공정을 이용하였다. 단위전지를 통해 성능을 확인하였고 임피던스 및 CV를 통해 전기화학적인 특성을 규명하였다. 조건의 최적화를 통해 상당한 성능 향상을 이루었으나 추가적인 성능 향상 및 내구성 확보 등에 대해 계속적인 실험을 진행할 예정이다.

• Clean Technology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2008

There have been great attentions on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) due to their advantageous characteristics such as zero emission of hazardous pollutant and high energy density. In this work, we evaluated degradation phenomena and stability of single cell performance via one dimensional single cell modeling. Here, CO poisoning on anode on anode was considered for cell performance degradation. Modeling results showed that the performance and stability were highly degraded with CO concentration in fuel gas. In addition, cell performance was reduced by slow oxygen reduction on cathode in long term operation. In order to overcome, it is required to increase ratio o#hydrogen in the fuel gas of anode and high Pt loading contained in the cathodic catalyst layer.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.523-530
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• 2019

For the low-Pt electrodes for polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs), the optimization of ionomer content for anode catalyst layers was carried out. A commercial catalyst of 20 wt.% Pt/C was used instead of 50 wt.% Pt/C which is commonly used for PEMFCs. The ionomer content varies from 0.6 to 1.2 based on ionomer to carbon ratio (I/C) and the catalyst layer is formed over the electrolyte by the ultrasonic spray process. Evaluation of the prepared MEA in the unit cell showed that the optimal ionomer content of the air electrode was 0.8 on the I/C basis, while the hydrogen electrode was optimal at the relatively high ionomer content of 1.0. In addition, a large difference in cell performance was observed when the ionomer content of the hydrogen electrode was changed. Increasing the ionomer content from 0.6 to 1.0 by I/C in a hydrogen electrode with 0.05 mg/㎠ platinum loading resulted in more than double cell performance improvements on a 0.6 V. Through the analysis of various electrochemical properties in the single cell, it was assumed that the change in ionomer content of the hydrogen electrode affects the water flow between the hydrogen and air electrodes bounded by the membrane in the cell, which affects the overall performance of the cell. A more specific study will be carried out to understand the water flow mechanism in the future, and this study will show that the optimization process of hydrogen electrode can also be a very important cell design variable for the low-Pt and high-performance MEA.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.512-518
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• 2019

To develop a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with lower Pt loading and higher performance in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), it is an important research issue to understand interfacial structure of Pt/C catalyst and ionomer and design the catalyst layer structure. In this study, we prepared short-side-chain Nafion-based ionomer dispersion using propylene glycol (PG) as a solvent instead of water which is commonly used as a solvent for commercially available ionomers. Cathode catalyst layers with different ionomer content from 20 to 35 wt% were prepared using the ionomer dispersion for the fabrication of four different MEAs, and their fuel cell performance was evaluated. As the ionomer content increased to 35 wt%, the performance of the prepared MEAs increased proportionally, unlike the commercially available water-based ionomer, which exhibited an optimum at about 25 wt%. Small size micelles and slow evaporation of PG in the ionomer dispersion were effective in proton transfer by inducing the formation of a uniformly structured catalyst layer, but the low oxygen permeability problem of the PG-based ionomer film should be resolved to improve the MEA performance.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.102-107
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• 2012

The recovery of a Pt anode in a PEMFC through 30 ppm $H_2S/H_2$ exposure was evaluated by using a cyclic voltametry(CV) scan. First, the PEMFC unit cell performanc loss was measured three times under an anode feeding with 30 ppm $H_2S/H_2$ for 1hr at $0.5A/cm^2$ of current density. The initial cell performance was $1.16A/cm^2$ at 0.6 V without $H_2S$ poisoning. After first poisoning step for 1hr the cell performance was decrease to $0.77A/cm^2$, and the further poisoning steps decreased up 0.57 V. Finally, the recovery of the cell performance of $H_2S$ poisoned PEMFC was achieved up to 90.3% by applying CV scan. Moreover, we also found out that another possible approach for over 80% recovery of the cell performance of $H_2S$ poisoned anode Pt catalyst layer was to just inject fresh hydrogen into the anode feeding stream.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.161-170
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• 2012

There are many factors to consider when attempting to improve the efficiency of fuel cell operation, such as the operation temperature, humidity, stoichiometry, operation pressure, geometric features, etc. In this paper, the effects of the operation pressure were investigated to find the current density and water saturation behavior on a cross section designated by the design geometry. A two-dimensional geometric model was established with a gas channel that can provide $H_2$ to the anode and $O_2$ and water vapor to the cathode gas diffusion layer (GDL). The results from this numerical modeling revealed that higher operation pressures would produce a higher current density than lower ones, and the water saturation behavior was different at operation pressures of 2 atm and 3 atm in the cathode GDL. In particular, the water saturation ratios are higher directly below the collector than in other areas. In addition, this paper presents the dependence of the velocity behavior in the cathode on pressure changes, and the velocity fluctuations through the GDL are higher in the output area than in inlet area. This conclusion will be utilized to design more efficient fuel cell modeling of real fuel cell operation.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.594-598
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• 2012

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) performance degrades seriously when sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are contaminated in the fuel gas at anode and air source at cathode, respectively. This paper reveals the effect of the combined sulfur impurity poisoning on both PEMFC cathode and anode parts through measuring electrical performance on single FC operated under 1 ppm to 10 ppm impurity gases. The severity of $SO_2$ and $H_2S$ poisoning depended on concentrations of impurity gases under optimum operating conditions($65^{\circ}C$ of cell temperature and 100 % relative humidity). Sulfur adsorption occured on the surface of Pt catalyst layer on MEA. In addition, MEA poisoning by impurity gases were cumulative. After four consecutive poisonings with 1, 3, 5 to 10 ppm, the fuel cell performance of PEMFC was decrease upto 0.54 V(76 %) from 0.71 V.

• Clean Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.329-335
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• 2020

Methanol synthesized from renewable hydrogen and captured CO2 has recently attracted great interest as a sustainable energy carrier for large-scale renewable energy storage. In this study, molten carbonate fuel cell's performance was investigated with the direct conversion of methanol into syngas inside the anode chamber of the cell. The internal reforming of methanol may significantly improve system efficiency since the heat generated from the electrochemical reaction can be used directly for the endothermic reforming reaction. The porous Ni-10 wt%Cr anode was sufficient for the methanol steam reforming reaction under the fuel cell operating condition. The direct supply of methanol into the anode chamber resulted in somewhat lower cell performance, especially at high current density. Recycling of the product gas into the anode gas inlet significantly improved the cell performance. The analysis based on material balance revealed that, with increasing current density and gas recycling ratio, the methanol steam reforming reaction rate likewise increased. A methanol conversion more significant than 90% was achieved with gas recycling. The results showed the feasibility of electricity and syngas co-production using the molten carbonate fuel cell. Further research is needed to optimize the fuel cell operating conditions for simultaneous production of electricity and syngas, considering both material and energy balances in the fuel cell.