• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.318-323
• /
• 2015

For commercialization of fuel cell electric vehicles, one of the key objectives is to improve durability of MEA and electrocatalysts. Regarding electrocatalysts, the major issue is to reduce carbon corrosion and dissolution of Pt caused by harsh conditions, for example, SU/SD (Start-up/Shut-down). In this research, OER (Oxygen Evolution Reaction) catalyst has been developed improvement of durability. A modified polyol process is developed by controlling the pH of the solvent to synthesize the PtIr nanocatalysts on carbon supports. Each performance of the MEAs applying PtIr and Pt are equivalent because PtIrnanocatalysts have both ORR and OER activity. Breadboard test for catalyst durability in harsh conditions and high potentialsis found that the MEA applying PtIrnanocatalysts durability is improved more than the MEA applying Pt nanocatalysts.

• Advances in Energy Research
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.21-31
• /
• 2014

The use of a microporous membrane along with Au/C catalyst for direct glycerol alkaline fuel cell was investigated. In comparison with Nafion 112, the microporous Celgard 3401 membrane provides a better cell performance due to the lower ionic resistance as confirmed by impedance spectra. The single cell using Au/C as anode catalyst prepared by using PVA protection techniques provided a higher maximum power density than the single cell with commercial PtRu/C at $18.65mW\;cm^{-2}$ The short-term current decay studies show a better stability of Au/C single cell. The higher activity of Au/C over PtRu/C was owing to the lower activation loss of Awe. The magnitude of current decay indicates a low problem of glycerol crossover from anode to cathode side. The similar performance of single cell with and without humudification at cathode points out an adequate transport of water through the microporous membrane.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.31 no.10
• /
• pp.955-965
• /
• 2014

Transport phenomena of reactant and product are directly linked to intrinsic inhomogeneous random configurations of catalyst layer (CL) that consist of ionomer, carbon-supported catalyst (Pt/C), and pores. Hence, electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of Pt/C is dominated by geometrical morphology of mass transport path. Undoubtedly these ECSAs are key factor of total fuel cell efficiency. In this study, non-deterministic micro-scale CLs were randomly generated by Monte Carlo method and implemented with the percolation process. To ensure valid inference about Pt/C catalyst utilization, 600 samples were chosen as the number of necessary samples with 95% confidence level. Statistic results of 600 samples generated under particular condition (20vol% Pt/C, 30vol% ionomer, 50vol% pore, and 20nm particle diameter) reveal only 18.2%~81.0% of Pt/C can construct ECSAs with mean value of 53.8%. This study indicates that the catalyst utilization in fuel cell CLs cannot be identical notwithstanding the same design condition.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.46 no.6
• /
• pp.1142-1147
• /
• 2008

Nano-structured porous carbon fiber(PCF) for the catalyst supports of the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) were prepared from the mesophase pitch by using the nano-MgO powders. Specific surface area of the PCFs was $8{\sim}58m^2/g$ and surface pore structures had almost meso pore diameter of 10~20 nm which were depending on the amount of MgO spheres. Aqueous reduction method was used to load 60 wt% PtRu on the prepared PCF supports. The electro-oxidation activity and single cell performance of the 60 wt% Pt-Ru catalysts were measured by cyclic voltammetry and unit cell test. The performances of these catalysts increased by 5~10% compared with one of commercial catalyst.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.114-121
• /
• 2003

Hydrogen generation system using aqueous $NaBH_4$ solution was developed for feeding small polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Ru was selected as a catalyst with its high activity for the hydrogen generation reaction. Hydrogen generation rate was measured with changing the solution temperature, amount of catalyst loading, $NaBH_4$ concentration, and NaOH (a base-stabilizer) concentration. A passive air-breathing 2 W PEMFC stack was operated on hydrogen generated using $20wt%\;NaBH_4+5wt%$ NaOH solution and Ru catalyst.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.181-186
• /
• 2002

The displacement of carbon black to polypyrrole as a catalyst supporter in the fuel electrode of a direct methanol fuel cell was investigated. Polypyrrole was obtained as a black powder by the chemical polymerization of pyrrole with three different oxidants. The synthesized polypyrroles were pasted on carbon paper and transformed to the fuel electrodes with electrochemically deposited platinum. The prepared fuel electrode was assembled and mounted in a unit cell using a membrane and cathodic electrode film. In comparison with the carbon black fuel electrode, the performance of the unit cell was analyzed in relation to the state of the catalyst, the type of oxidant, and the morphology of the polypyrrole powder.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.256-263
• /
• 2012

We studied the degradation phenomenon of Pt catalyst in PEMFC. We used the electron microscope analysis technique including the ultra-microtome pretreatment method, FEG-SEM and TEM analysis methods for analysis of Pt nanoparticles. The Pt catalyst degradation is observed not only in electrode site but also in membrane site. We investigated these various degradation phenomena. The cathode electrode layer thickness is reduced. The size of the catalyst is increased much larger than initial size in membrane site. The catalyst moved from electrode layer to the electrolyte membrane. The rounded shape of catalyst was changed to the polygon. As a result, we found that the catalyst degradation processes of migration and coarsening occurred by the followings mechanisms; (1) dissolution of Pt ; (2) diffusion of Pt ion ; (3) Pt ion chemical reduction in membrane; (4) Coarsening of Pt particles (Ostwald ripening) ; (5) polygon shape change of Pt by {111} plane growth.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.59-64
• /
• 2004

The performance of fuel cell electrode depends on the characteristics of the catalyst support material. This paper deals with the use of CNF(carbon nanofibre) and CNT(carbon nanotube) as platinum catalyst support. The CNF and CNT were synthesized with catalyst treated by mechanochemical process and were prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The platinum supported on CNF and CNT for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) application. In result, the best I-V characteristic was verified by the prepared MEA(membrane electrode assembly) from twisted CNF that had a diameter of 65 nm.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.68-71
• /
• 2003

The performance of the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) using multi-layer electrode, which prepared by various anode catalysts and Nafion membranes, was studied for reducing the amount of the metal catalyst loaded in the MEA system. The amount of the catalyst used in this experiment was $3-4 mg/cm^2$ in cathode and $1-2 mg/cm^2$ in anode, respectively. The best performance was to be $230 mS/cm^2$ of MEA3 at $90^{\circ}C$ and 2 bar in this experiment. However, the overall performance of the DMFC was maintained almost the same compared to the general commercial catalyst systems.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 2012.05a
• /
• pp.791-792
• /
• 2012