• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.494-497
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• 2006

For commercialization of polymer electrolytemembrane fuel cell (PEMFC), durability of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) has to be improved. Especially, long-term stability of MEA is one of the most important issues for frequent shut-down and start-up processes of PEMFC. The degradation of MEA could be attributed to chemical attack of hydrogen peroxide radicals that are formed at high cell voltages without any special treatment to remove residual hydrogen from anode gas channel after shut-down of the fuel cell. In this study, we investigated the long-term stability of MEA under different on/off operation conditions. Residential hydrogen gas was removed from the anode flow channel by purging air or nitrogen. Also, a dummy resistance was applied to the fuel cell to exhaust residential hydrogen at the anode. In these cases, MEA showed much more stable durability. Electrochemical characteristics of the fuel cell were measured byrepeating the on/off cycles with the hydrogen removal processes. Also, degradation of MEA components was examined by SEM, TEM and XRD analyses.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.473-477
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• 2017

The polymer membrane of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has a great influence on PEMFC performance and durability. In this study, hydrogen permeability, fluorine emission rate (FER), lifetime, and performance of Nafion membranes with different thicknesses were measured to investigate the effect of thickness of polymer membrane on performance and durability. The relationship between membrane thickness and lifetime was obtained from the relationships between hydrogen permeability and membrane thickness, hydrogen permeability and FER, FER and lifetime. As the membrane became thicker, the hydrogen permeability and FER decreased and the lifetime increased. On the other hand, the performance decreased with increasing membrane resistance. The membrane thickness range satisfying both performance and durability was 25 to $28{\mu}m$.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.288-294
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• 2009

Various polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) startup procedures were tested to explore possible techniques for reducing performance decay and improving durability during repeated startup-shutdown cycles. The effects of applying a dummy load, which prevents cell reversal by consuming the air at the cathode, on the degradation of a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) were investigated via single cell experiments. The electrochemical results showed that application of a dummy load during the startup procedure significantly reduced the performance decay, the decrease in the electrochemically active surface area (EAS), and the increase in the charge transfer resistance ($R_{ct}$), which resulted in a dramatic improvement in durability. After 1200 startup-shutdown cycles, post-mortem analyses were carried out to investigate the degradation mechanisms via various physicochemical methods including FESEM, an on-line $CO_2$ analysis, EPMA, XRD, FETEM, SAED, FTIR. After 1200 startup-shutdown cycles, severe Pt particle sintering/agglomeration/dissolution and carbon corrosion were observed at the cathode catalyst layer when starting up a PEMFC without a dummy load, which significantly contributed to a loss of Pt surface area, and thus to cell performance degradation. However, applying a dummy load during the startup procedure remarkably mitigated such severe degradations, and should be used to increase the durability of MEAs in PEMFCs. Our results suggest that starting up PEMFCs while applying a dummy load is an effective method for mitigating performance degradation caused by reverse current under a repetition of unprotected startup cycles.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.253-260
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• 2024

Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is an efficient method for utilizing renewable energy sources such as wind and solar powers to produce green hydrogen. For PEMWE powered by renewable energy sources, its durability is a crucial factor in its performance since irregular and fluctuating characteristics of renewable energy sources, especially for wind power, can deteriorate the stability of PEMWE. Triangular voltage cycle is well able to simulate fluctuating wind power, but its effect on the durability has not been investigated extensively. In this study, the performance degradation of the PEMWE cell operated with the triangular voltage cycling was investigated at different ramping rates. The measured current responses during the cycling gradually decreased for both ramping rates, and I-V curve measurements before and after the cycling confirmed the degradation of the performances of PEMWE. For both measurements, the degradation rate was larger for 300 mV s^-1 than 30 mV s^-1, and they were determined as 0.36 and 1.26 mV h^-1 (at the current density of 2 A cm^-2) at the ramping rates of 30 and 300 mV s^-1, respectively. The comparison with other studies on triangular voltage cycling also indicate that an increase in the ramping rate accelerates the deterioration of the PEMWE performance. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy results showed that the Ir catalyst was oxidized and did not dissolve during the voltage cycling. This study suggests that the ramping rate of the triangular voltage cycling is an important factor for the evaluation of the durability of PEMWE cells.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2023

In order to improve the durability of the PEMFC(Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells) polymer membrane, a radical scavenger and a support are used. In this study, the durability of membranes containing fucoidan extracted from seaweeds and tannic acid serving as a crosslinking agent is evaluated to improve chemical and physical durability. Physical durability is evaluated by measuring tensile strength, and chemical durability is measured by Fenton experiment. Membrane and electrode assembly (MEA) is prepared and mechanical and chemical durability are measured through accelerated durability evaluation in the cell. The tensile strength measurement showed that fucoidan and tannic acid can improve the mechanical durability of the membrane by improving the strain rate and yield strength. It is shown in Fenton experiment that fucoidan acts as a radical scavenger. As a result of the accelerated durability test in the unit cell, fucoidan improved both chemical and mechanical durability, increasing the accelerated durability evaluation time by 38.1% compared to the additive-free membrane. When tannic acid is added, the durability of the polymer membrane is improved by 13.9% by improving the mechanical durability.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.96-110
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• 2024

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are green energy conversion devices, for which commercial markets have been established, owing to their application in fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). Development of cathode electrocatalysts, replacing commercial Pt/C, plays a crucial role in factors such as cost reduction, high performance, and durability in FCVs. PtNi octahedral catalysts are promising for oxygen reduction reactions owing to their significantly higher mass activity (10-15 times) than that of Pt/C; however, their application in membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) is challenged by their low stability. To overcome this durability issue, various approaches, such as third-metal doping, composition control, halide treatment, formation of a Pt layer, annealing treatment, and size control, have been explored and have shown promising improvements in stability in rotating disk electrode (RDE) testing. In this review, we aimed to compare the features of each strategy in terms of enhancing stability by introducing a stability improvement factor for a direct and reasonable comparison. The limitations of each strategy for enhancing stability of PtNi octahedral are also described. This review can serve as a valuable guide for the development of strategies to enhance the durability of octahedral PtNi.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.659-666
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• 2019

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) generate electricity by electrochemical reactions of hydrogen and oxygen. PEMFCs are expected to alternate electric power generator using fossil fuels with various advantages of high power density, low operating temperature, and environmental-friendly products. PEMFCs have widely been used in a number of applications such as fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) and stationary fuel cell systems. However, there are remaining technical issues, particularly the long-term durability of each part of fuel cells. Degradation of a carbon supported-platinum catalyst in the anode and cathode follows various mechanistic origins in different fuel cell operating conditions, and thus accelerated stress test (AST) is suggested to evaluate the durability of electrocatalyst. In this article, comparable protocols of the AST durability test are intensively explained.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2015.11a
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• pp.111-112
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• 2015

There is high possibility of steel corrosion on the reinforced concrete exposed to marine environment by chloride ion penetration. And it show a big difference of concrete durability under conditions of splash zone, tidal zone, and immersion zone. Therefore, in this paper, half-cell potential and chloride ion penetration depth was measured to evaluate the durability of slag concrete by marine exposure experiment. As a result, SC70 specimen showed no steel corrosion, regardless of the marine exposed conditions. Also, a deterrent effect on chloride ion penetration by replacement of slag in tidal zone and immersion zone could be confirmed.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1996.04a
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• pp.348-353
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• 1996

This study addresses the evaluation of the durability of reinforced concrete marine structures subjected to fatigue loading. The laboratory investigation was carried out on full and half size reinforced concrete specimens with three different water cement ratios (0.3, 0.4, and 0.56), static and fatigue loading conditions, and epoxy-coated and regular black steel reinforcements. The marine tidal zone was simulated by alternate filling and draining of the tank (wet and dry cycled), and a galvanostatic corrosion technique to accelerate corrosion of reinforcement was used. Half-cell potentials and changes of crack width were measured periodically during the exposure and followed by ultimate strength testing. The significant findings include adverse effect of fatigue loading, existence of an explicit size effect, poor performance of epoxy coated steel, and negative effect of increasing water/cement ratio.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.556-566
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• 2019

Recently, as the supply of residential polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) increases, the durability and lifetime of the PEMFC system are becoming important. The related studies have been mainly focused on the durability and lifetime of materials while the research on the durability and maintenance of the system level is insufficient. In this paper, a model-based fault detection method is developed considering an air supply system that is dominant to the system performance and efficiency. A commercial 1 kW residential fuel cell system is built, and experiments are conducted under various operation loads and states (normal, 6 faults). From the experimental data, nominal models and residuals are generated. With the residual pattern obtained from real-time data, the detection and classification of various faults can be possible. The technical importance of this paper is to minimize extra sensor installation by using the empirical model rather than a complex mathematical model, and to decrease the number of models by using the applicable model at three loads. Finally, the model-based fault detection method for the air supply system of a PEMFC is established and is expected to be applicable to other subsystems.