• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.395-408
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• 2020

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have gained much attention as eco-friendly energy conversion devices without emission of environmental pollutant. Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) that can transfer proton from anode to cathode and also prevent fuel cross-over has been regarded as a key component of PEMFCs. Although perfluorinated polymer membranes such as Nafion® were already commercialized in PEMFCs, their high cost and toxic byproduct generated by degradation have still limited the wide spread of PEMFCs. To overcome these issues, development of hydrocarbon based PEMs have been studied. Incorporation of cross-linked structure into the hydrocarbon based PEM system has been reported to fabricate the PEMs showing both high proton conductivity and outstanding physicochemical stability. This study focused on the various cross-linking strategies to the preparation of cross-linked PEMs based on hydrocarbon polymers with ion conducting groups for application in PEMFCs.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.427-441
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• 2022

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) serving as a separator that can prevent the permeation of unreacted fuels as well as an electrolyte that selectively transports protons from the anode to the cathode has been considered a key component of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The perfluorinated sulfonic acid-based PEMs, represented by Nafion®, have been commercialized in PEMFC systems due to their high proton conductivity and chemical stability. Nevertheless, these PEMs have several inherent drawbacks including high manufacturing costs by the complex synthetic processes and environmental problems caused by producing the toxic gases. Although numerous studies are underway to address these drawbacks including the development of sulfonated hydrocarbon polymer-based PEMs (SHP-PEMs), which can easily control the polymer structures, further improvement of PEM performances and durability is necessary for practical PEMFC applications. Therefore, this study focused on the various strategies for the development of SHP-PEMs with outstanding performance and durability by 1) introducing cross-linked structures, 2) incorporating organic/inorganic composites, and 3) fabricating reinforced-composite membranes using porous substrates.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.142-142
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• 2007

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.325-343
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• 2023

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) have been attracting attention as energy conversion devices that can directly supply methanol liquid fuel without a fuel reforming process. The commercial polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) currently applied to DMFC are perfluorosulfonic acid ionomer-based PEMs, which exhibit high proton conductivity and physicochemical stability during the operation. However, problems such as high methanol permeability and environmental pollutants generated during decomposition require the development of PEMs for DMFCs using novel ionomers. Recently, studies have been reported to develop PEMs using hydrocarbon-based ionomers that exhibit low fuel permeability and high physicochemical stability. This review introduces the following studies on hydrocarbon-based PEMs for DMFC applications: 1) synthesis of grafting copolymers that exhibit distinct hydrophilic/hydrophobic phase-separated structure to improve both proton conductivity and methanol selectivity, 2) introduction of cross-linked structure during PEM fabrication to reduce the methanol permeability and improve dimensional stability, and 3) incorporation of organic/inorganic composites or reinforcing substrates to develop reinforced composite membranes showing improved PEM performances and durability.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.44-48
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• 2014

Sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone)-cerium composite membranes with improved oxidative stability were prepared for proton exchange membrane fuel cell application. Oxidative stability of the composite membranes changed depending on the amount of incorporated metal. Their water uptake, IEC and proton conductivity were also affected. ICP analysis confirmed trace of cerium ion in the composite membranes and $^1H$-NMR indicated successful coordination of sulfonic acid groups with the metal ions. Increasing amount of the cerium ion resulted in decrease in proton conductivities and water uptake, but enhanced oxidative stabilities. A hydrogen peroxide exposure equipment was used for the test of oxidative stability of the composite membranes, which enabled to mimic fuel cell operating condition compared with conventional Fenton's test.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.458-462
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• 2016

Saline water electrolysis, known as chlor-alkali (CA) membrane process, is an electrochemical process to generate valued chemicals such as chlorine, hydrogen and sodium hydroxide with high purities higher than 99%, using an electrolytic cell composed of cation exchange membrane, anode and cathode. It is necessary to reduce energy consumption per a unit chemical production. This issue can be solved by decreasing intrinsic resistance of the membrane and the electrodes and/or by reducing their interfacial resistance. In this study, the electron radiation grafting of a $Na^+$ ion-selective polymer was conducted onto a hydrocarbon sulfonated ionomer membrane with high chemical resistance. This approach was effective in improving electrochemical efficiency via the synergistic effect of relatively fast $Na^+$ ion conduction and reduced interfacial resistance.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2016

Fuel cells are regarded as a representative energy source expected to replace fossil fuels particularly used in internal combustion engines. One of the most important components is polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) acting as a proton conducting barrier to prevent fuel gas crossover. Since water channels act as proton pathways through PEMs, many researchers have been focused on the 'good phase-separation of hydrophilic moiety' which ensures high water retention under low humidity enough to keep the water channel for good proton conduction. Here, we summarized the strategies which have been adopted to synthesize sulfonated PEMs having high proton conductivities even under low humidified conditions, and hope this review will be helpful to design high performance hydrocarbon PEMs.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.246-251
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• 2017

To fabricate a hydrocarbon polymer electrolyte composite membrane incorporated with Pt nanoparticle, the polymer electrolyte membrane made of a sulfonated-fluorinated hydrophilic-hydrophobic block copolymer (SFBC) and sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) blend in the wight ratio of 1 : 1 was synthesized, and a simple drying process was used in order to incorporate Pt nanoparticle into the SFBC/SPEEK film by reducing platinum (II) bis (acetylacetonate), Pt $(acac)_2$. The distribution of the Pt nanoparticles was observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and mechanical and thermal properties were tested by universal testing machine (UTM) and thermogravimetry analyzer (TGA). Cation conductivity, ion exchange capacity (IEC) and I-V characteristics were estimated.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.182-188
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• 2017

Sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (SPAES)-3-mercaptopropyl silica gel (3MPTSG) composite membranes with improved oxidative stability were prepared for polymer electrolyte fuel cell application. It has been reported that ether part of main chain of aromatic hydrocarbon based membranes were weak to radical attack to decrease membrane durability. In this study, the hydrophilic inorganic particles were introduced by minimizing a decrease in ion conductivity and increasing an oxidative stability. The composite membranes were investigated in terms of ionic conductivity, ion exchange capacity (IEC), FT-IR, TGA and contact angle, etc. As a result, increasing amount of the 3MPTSG resulted in decrease in proton conductivities and water uptakes at 100% R.H. but enhanced thermal and oxidative stabilities.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.66-72
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• 2016

In this study, a sulfonated poly(arylene ether ketone) block copolymer was prepared from hydrophilic oligomer and hydrophobic oligomer. The structure of the prepared membrane was characterized by $^1H$-NMR, FT-IR and GPC. The $M_w$(weight-average molecular weights) of the polymer was $209,700g\;mol^{-1}$ and the molecular weight distribution($M_w/M_n$) of 1.25 was obtained. The prepared membrane showed excellent thermal stability with gradual weight loss up to $200^{\circ}C$. The proton conductivity of SPAEK block copolymer reached the maximum of $9.0mS\;cm^{-1}$ at $90^{\circ}C$ under 100% relative humidity (RH). From the observed results, it is necessary to do more aggressive attempt to study the possibility of application as an ion-conductive composite electrolyte.