• Membrane Journal
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.276-285
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• 2006

Acid-doped sulfonated poly(aryl ether benzimidazole) (S-PAEBI) copolymers were synthesized by a direct polymerization technique and a doping with phosphoric acid as a dopant, and the polymer electrolyte membranes were fabricated from them by a solution casting method. To optimize the reaction condition, the degree of sulfonation and doping level were varied in the ranges of $0{\sim}60%\;and\;0.7{\sim}5.7$, respectively. Physiochemical properties of the doped membranes were investigated by AFM, TGA and the measurement of proton conductivity. It was found that proton conductivities depend on doping levels of membranes. Conductivity determined at the condition of $130^{\circ}C$ and no humidity was $7.3{\times}10^{-2}S/cm$ for the $H_3PO_4$-doped PAEBI membrane with a doping level of 5.7.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.578-586
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• 2018

In this study, we prepared the modified PBI random copolymer to reduce the problems of the pristine PBI about low solubility and proton conductivity. The random copolymer was synthesized from suberic acid, 5-aminoisophthalic acid, and 3,3'-diaminobenzidine to obtain $X_1Y_9$, $X_1Y_1$, $X_9Y_1$. Then, the membrane was fabricated by using solvent casting method with methanesulfonic acid at $140^{\circ}C$. Subsequently, the membrane was doped with phosphoric acid at $40^{\circ}C$. The chemical structure of the polymers was characterized by FT-IR. In addition, the physiochemical properties of the PBI were investigated by TGA, oxidative stability, acid uptake. Finally, the proton conductivity was measured at $100-180^{\circ}C$ without humidification. As the result, $X_1Y_9$ PBI random copolymer membrane showed higher conductivity.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.471-480
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• 2017

A proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) operated at $150^{\circ}C$ was evaluated by a controlling different amount of phosphoric acid (PA) to a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) without humidification of the cells. The effects on MEA performance of the amount of PA in the cathode are investigated. The PA content in the cathodes was optimized for higher catalyst utilization. The highest value of the active electrochemical area is achieved with the optimum amount of PA in the cathode confirmed by in-situ cyclic voltammetry. The current density-voltage experiments (I-V curve) also shows a transient response of cell voltage affected by the amount of PA in the electrodes. Furthermore, this information was compared with the production variables such as hot pressing and vacuum drying to investigate those effect to the electrochemical performances.

• 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.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.89-95
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• 2009

A comb-like copolymer consisting of a poly(vinyl chloride) backbone and poly(hydroxy ethyl acrylate) side chains, i.e. PVC-g-PHEA, was synthesized through atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). This comb-like copolymer was crosslinked with 4,5-imidazole dicarboxylic acid (IDA) via the esterification of the -OH groups of PHEA in the graft copolymer and the -COOH groups of IDA. Upon doping with phosphoric acid (PA, $H_3PO_4$) to form imidazole-PA complexes, the proton conductivity of the membranes continuously increased with increasing PA content. A maximum proton conductivity of 0.011 S/cm was achieved at $100^{\circ}C$ under anhydrous conditions. The PVC-g-PHEA/IDA/PA complex membranes exhibited good mechanical properties, i.e. 575 MPa of Young's modulus, as determined by a universal testing machine (UTM). Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) shows that the membranes were thermally stable up to $200^{\circ}C$.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2012

Phosphoric acid-doped poly (2,5-benzimidazole) (DABPBI) was prepared by condensation polymerization of 3,4-diaminobenzoic acid for high temperature proton electrolyte membrane fuel cells. The membranes were casted directly using a hot-press unit and characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, conductivity measurement, scanning electron microscopy and tensile test. The proton conductivities of DABPBI are observed to be 0.062 and 0.018 $S{\cdot}cm^{-1}$ under 30 and 1% relative humidity, respectively at a temperature of $120^{\circ}C$ which is appreciably higher than that of Nafion 115 under similar conditions. The DABPBI membrane has demonstrated excellent thermo- mechanical properties and proton conductivity suggesting its suitability as a high temperature membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.302-309
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• 2009

A block copolymer of polystyrene-b-poly (hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate), PS-b-PHEMA, was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and crosslinked with 4,5-imidazole dicarboxylic acid (IDA) via esterification of the -OH groups of PHEMA in the block copolymer and the -COOH groups of IDA. Upon doping with $H_3PO_4$ to form imidazole-$H_3PO_4$ complexes, the proton conductivity of the membranes continuously increased as the content of $H_3PO_4$ increased. In addition, both the tensile strength and the elongation at break increased with IDA content. A proton conductivity of 0.01 S/cm at $100^{\circ}C$ was obtained for the PS-b-PHEMA/IDA/$H_3PO_4$ membrane with [HEMA]:[IDA]:[$H_3PO_4$] = 3:4:4 under anhydrous conditions. All of the PS-b-PHEMA/IDA/$H_3PO_4$ membranes were thermally stable up to $350^{\circ}C$, as revealed by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA).

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.36-44
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• 2015

This article describes synthesis and electrochemical properties of layer-by-layer self-assembled multilayer film composed of polyaniline (PANi), graphene oxide (GO) and phytic acid (PA), whereby the GO was electrochemically reduced to ERGO, resulting in $(PANi/ERGO/PANi/PA)_{10}$ film electrode. Especially, we examined the possibility to improve the volumetric capacitive property of $(PANi/ERGO)_{20}$ film electrode via combining a spherical hexakisphosphate PA nanoparticle into the multilayer film that would dope PANi properly and also increase the porosity and surface area of the electrode. The electrochemical performances of the multilayer film electrodes were investigated using a three-electrode configuration in 1 M $H_2SO_4$ electrolyte. As a result, the $(PANi/ERGO)_{20}$ electrode showed the volumetric capacitance of $666F/cm^3$ at a current density of $1A/cm^3$, which was improved to the volumetric capacitance of $769F/cm^3$ for the $(PANi/ERGO/PANi/PA)_{10}$ electrode, in addition to the cycling stability maintained to 79.3% of initial capacitance after 1000 cycles. Thus, the electrochemical characteristics of the $(PANi/ERGO)_{20}$ electrode, which was densely packed by ${\pi}-{\pi}$ stacking between the electron-rich conjugate components, could have been improved through structural modification of the multilayer film via combining a spherical hexakisphosphate PA nanoparticle into the multilayer film.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.228-236
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• 2009

ABA type triblock copolymer of poly(hydroxyl ethyl acrylate )-b-polystyrene-b-poly(hydroxyl ethyl acrylate), i.e. PHEA-b-PS-b-PHEA, was synthesized throughatom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). This block copolymer was thermally crosslinked with 4,5-imidazole dicarboxylic acid (IDA) via the esterification between the -OH groups of PHEA in block copolymer and the -COOH groups of IDA. Upon doping with ${H_3}{PO_4}$ to form imidazole-${H_3}{PO_4}$ complexes, the proton conductivity of membranes continuously increased with increasing ${H_3}{PO_4}$ content. The PHEA-b-PS-b-PHEA/IDA/${H_3}{PO_4}$ polymer membrane with [HEA]:[IDA]:[${H_3}{PO_4}$]=3:4:4 exhibited a maximum proton conductivity of 0.01 S/cm at $100^{\circ}C$ under anhydrous conditions. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) shows that the PHEA-b-PS-b-PHEA/IDA/${H_3}{PO_4}$ complex membranes were thermally stable up to $350^{\circ}C$, indicating their applicability in fuel cells.