• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.664-670
• /
• 2021

Stainless steel was applied as bipolar plate (BP) of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) due to high mechanical strength, electrical conductivity, and good machinability. However, stainless steel was corroded and increased contact resistance resulting PEMFC performance decrease. Although the corrosion resistance could be improved by surface treatment such as noble metal coating, there is a disadvantage of cost increase. The stainless steel corrosion behavior and passive layer influence on PEMFC performance should be studied to improve durability and economics of metal bipolar plate. In this study, SUS316L bipolar plate of 25 cm² active area was manufactured, and experiments were conducted for corrosion behavior at an anode and cathode. The influence of SUS316L BP corrosion on fuel cell performance was measured using the polarization curve, impedance, and contact resistance. The metal ion concentration in drained water was analyzed during fuel cell operation with SUS316L BP. It was confirmed that the corrosion occurs more severely at the anode than at the cathode for SUS316L BP. The contact resistance was increased due to the passivation of SUS316L during fuel cell operation, and metal ions continuously dissolved even after the passive layer formation.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.187-191
• /
• 2019

Perovskite-type oxides have consistently attracted considerable attention for their applications in high-temperature electrochemical devices, such as electrolytes and electrodes of solid oxide fuel cells, oxygen permeating membranes and sensors etc. Among them, the electrical conductivity of 10 % Sr and 10 % Mg doped $LaAlO_3$ (LSAM9191) was measured using impedance spectroscopy and 4-probe d.c. method. Below $550^{\circ}C$, the grain boundary resistance mostly determined the overall conductivity; however, it nearly disappeared above $800^{\circ}C$. Using the defect model and curve fitting, the ionic and electronic conductivity contributions were also separated. In the temperature region where the sample resistance is mostly determined by the grain volume property, LSAM9191 was an oxygen ion conductor at low $Po_2$ and a mixed conductor at high $Po_2$. With increasing temperature, the ionic conduction region only slightly increased. Thus, LSAM9191 is a promising material as an oxygen ion conductor at high temperature and in low $Po_2$.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.768-776
• /
• 2021

Current protection-coordination methods use the reverse time characteristics of the T-C curve, which is not effective for a LVDC distribution system because the protective operation time of converters and DC circuit breakers is much faster than AC protection devices. Therefore, an algorithm is proposed for fault-section isolation using the fault current slope to minimize the blackout region and coordinate between converters and protection devices in a rapid and accurate manner. The method deals with the slope characteristics of a fault current, which may depend on the fault location in an LVDC distribution system. Thus, an LVDC distribution system can be operated in a stable manner by isolating the fault section selectively before the shutdown of the main converter using slope characteristics, which change in proportion to the line impedance and fault location. A 1.5-kV LVDC distribution system was modeled to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm using PSCAD/EMTDC. The system is composed of a distribution substation, LVDC converter, and distribution lines. The simulation results confirm that the proposed algorithm is a useful tool for minimizing the fault section in an LVDC distribution system.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.106-112
• /
• 2021

Catalyst poisoning by ionomers in membrane electrode assemblies of alkaline membrane fuel cells has been reported recently. We tried to improve the membrane electrode assembly's performance by controlling the solvent's ratio during electrode manufacturing. 4 Different mixing ratios of N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and ethylene glycol (EG) gave four different cathode electrodes with platinum and Fuma-Tech ionomers. The electrode with higher EG improved polarization performance by about 36% compared to the NMP-based commercial ionomer. The dependence of the ionomer's dispersibility on the solvent seems responsible for the difference, which means that the non-uniform distribution of ionomers improves the performance of the electrode. High-frequency resistance, internal resistance corrected polarization curve, Tafel slope, mass activity, and impedance spectroscopy characterized the electrode. We can find that the existence of poor solvent improves cathode electrode performance. It seems to be the result of reduced poisoning of the catalyst according to the particle size distribution of the ionomer.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.60 no.4
• /
• pp.588-593
• /
• 2022

Terephthalaldehyde (TPA) is introduced as a cross liker to enhance electron transfer of hemin-based cathodic catalyst consisting of polyethyleneimine (PEI), carbon nanotube (CNT) for hydrogen peroxide reduction reaction (HPRR). In the cyclic voltammetry (CV) test with 10 mM H₂O₂ in phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.4), the current density for HPRR of the suggested catalyst (CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/TPA) shows 0.2813 mA cm^-2 (at 0.2 V vs. Ag/AgCl), which is 2.43 and 1.87 times of non-cross-linked (CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI) and conventional cross liker (glutaraldehyde, GA) used catalyst (CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/GA), respectively. In the case of onset potential for HPRR, that of CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/TPA is observed at 0.544 V, while those of CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI and CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/GA are 0.511 and 0.471 V, respectively. These results indicate that TPA plays a role in facilitating electron transfer between the electrodes and substrates due to the π-conjugated cross-linking bonds, whereas conventional GA cross-linker increases the overpotential by interrupting electron and mass transfer. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results also display the same tendency. The charge transfer resistance (R_ct) of CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/TPA decreases about 6.2% from that of CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI, while CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/GA shows the highest R_ct. The polarization curve using each catalyst also supports the superiority of TPA cross liker. The maximum power density of CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/TPA (36.34±1.41 μWcm^-2) is significantly higher than those of CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI (27.87±0.95 μWcm^-2) and CNT/PEI/hemin/PEI/GA (25.57±1.32 μWcm^-2), demonstrating again that the cathode using TPA has the best performance in HPRR.