• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.54 no.2
• /
• pp.181-186
• /
• 2016

Recently, there are many efforts focused on development of more economical non-fluorinated membranes for use in PEMFCs (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells). In this study, characteristics of sulfonated Poly(ether ether ketone) (sPEEK) were compared according to degrees of sulfonation (DS), relative humidity, cell temperatures at PEMFC operation condition. I-V polarization curve, hydrogen crossover, electrochemical surface area, membrane resistance and charge transfer resistance were measured. sPEEK membrane showed high performance at high DS, high temperature and high relative humidity, in particular, performance of sPEEK membrane decreased largely due to low ionic conductivity at low DS and low relative humidity.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2011.05a
• /
• pp.98.2-98.2
• /
• 2011

For optimal performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) requires hydration, and the membrane's conductivity depends on water content. A humidifier is required to ensure that the reactant gas, usually hydrogen and air, is hydrated before entering the fuel cell. Dry membrane operation or improper hydration causes performance degradation. Typically, the humidification of a fuel cell is carried out by means of an internal or external humidifier. A membrane humidifier is applied to the external humidification of transportation or residential power generation fuel cell due to its convenience and high performance. In this study, The experiments were constructed with a plate-type membrane humidifier in terms of geometric parameters and operating parameters. The results show that the temperature and pressure, the channel length, the membrane thickness and gas flow rate are critical parameters affecting the performance of the humidifier.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.233-239
• /
• 2009

The electrocatalytic behavior of the PtCo catalyst supported on the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) has been evaluated and compared with commercial Pt/C catalyst in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell(PEMFC). A PtCo/MWNTs electrocatalyst with a Pt:Co atomic ratio of 79:21 was synthesized and applied to a cathode of PEMFC. The structure and morphology of the synthesized PtCo/MWNTs electrocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. As a result of the X-ray studies, the crystal structure of a PtCo particle was determined to be a face-centered cubic(FCC) that was the same as the platinum structure. The particle size of PtCo in PtCo/MWNTs and Pt in Pt/C were 2.0 nm and 2.7 nm, respectively, which were calculated by Scherrer's formula from X-ray diffraction data. As a result we concluded that the specific surface activity of PtCo/MWNTs is superior to Pt/C's activity because of its smaller particle size. From the electrochemical impedance measurement, the membrane electrode assembly(MEA) fabricated with PtCo/MWNTs showed smaller anodic and cathodic activation losses than the MEA with Pt/C, although ohmic loss was the same as Pt/C. Finally, from the evaluation of cyclic voltammetry(CV), the unit cell using PtCo/MWNTs as the cathode electrocatalyst showed slightly higher fuel cell performance than the cell with a commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2010.06a
• /
• pp.146.2-146.2
• /
• 2010

PEMFC를 구성하는 여러 부품 중 핵심부품은 MEA(Membrane Electrode Assembly)으로서 실제 연료전지 반응이 일어나며 연료전지의 성능을 결정하는 부품이다. 그러나 PEMFC의 특성 상 촉매로 귀금속인 Pt가 사용됨에 따라 경제성이 확보된 MEA의 성능을 얻기 위해선 현재 Pt 담지량을 0.3mg/$cm^2$ 이하로 크게 감소시키면서 Pt촉매의 고분산화와 미반응 사이트의 감소가 필요하다. 본 연구에서는 Pt 촉매의 미반응 사이트를 줄이고자 전기영동법에 의해 카본전극(carbon black + GDL) 상에 Pt 나노입자를 직접 석출시켜 Pt/C 촉매 전극을 제조 하였다. 본 실험에서는 가장 좋은 Pt 나노입자의 석출거동을 나타낸 30mA/$cm^2$, pH 2, duty cycle 25% 조건을 기준으로 하여 electro-deposition time을 통한 석출량 제어와 carbon paper의 wet proofing 정도에 따른 Pt의 석출거동을 조사하였으며, 종래의 방법으로 제조한 Pt/C 촉매전극의 전기화학적 특성과 비교 분석하였다. 전기영동 석출법에 사용된 Pt나노입자는 $H_2PtCl_6{\cdot}6H_2O$로부터 화학적 환원법으로 합성한 2~3nm 입경을 갖는 Pt콜로이드를 사용하였으며, magnetic stirring과 항온 ($20^{\circ}C$)을 유지하여 실험하였다. 전기영동 석출량 제어는 electro-deposition time을 5~25분까지 5분 간격으로 나누어 실험하였고 카본전극을 구성하는 carbon paper의 wet proofing 정도가 Pt 나노입자 석출거동에 미치는 영향을 조사하기 위하여 20, 40, 60%의 서로 다른 wet proofing 값을 갖는 carbon paper를 사용하여 Pt/C 촉매 전극을 제조하였다. 전기영동법으로 석출된 카본블랙 전극 상 Pt나노입자의 분산도와 담지량는 각각 FE-SEM과 TGA 장비를 사용하여 측정하였고, 제조된 Pt/C 촉매 전극의 전기화학적 촉매 특성은 cyclic voltammetry(CV)법으로 측정하였다.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.31-39
• /
• 2005

Direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is considered as a candidate for portable power sources, that could overcome the disadvantages of lithium battery. But in order to attain commercial viability the long term stability of the DMFC should be achieved. Understanding the long-term behavior of membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) is a prerequisite to this purpose and the optimization of the MEA is also needed. In this study we have investigated the changes in performance and electrochemical properties of the MEA during extended operation and the effects of heat treatment of MEA on the long-term performance. The MEAs have been treated in an autoclave with saturated water vapor at 120$^{\circ}C$, vacuum oven at 140$^{\circ}C$ and boiling in organic solvents. The autoclaved MEA was found to be have the best long term performance. The on-off operation mode also increased the performance probably due to effective removal of products from the electrodes. Physical and electrochemical analyses using a scanning electron microscope, impedance analyser and half-cell technique have been done to characterize the MEAs.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.68-74
• /
• 2021

Gas diffusion layer (GDL) compression is important parameter of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) performance to have an effect on contact resistance, reactants transfer to electrode, water content in membrane and electrode assembly (MEA). In this study, the effect of GDL compression on fuel cell performance was investigated for commercial products, JNT20-A3. Polarization curve and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was performed at different relative humidity and compression ratio using electrode area of 25 ㎠ unit cell. The contact resistance was reduced to 8, 30 mΩ·㎠ and membrane hydration was increased as GDL compression increase from 18.6% to 38.1% at relative humidity of 100 and 25%, respectively. It was identified through ohmic resistance change at relative humidity conditions that as GDL compression increased, water back-diffusion from cathode and electrolyte membrane hydration was increased because GDL porosity was decreased.

• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.540-546
• /
• 2010

In this manuscript, in order to reduce methanol permeability and, at the same time, to increase proton conductivity THS-PSA containing silica compound, responsible for methanol permeability reduction, and sulfonic acid, responsible for proton conductivity enhancement, was applied onto PVA/PSSA-MA membranes. And in order to improve durability, the resulting membranes, PVA/PSSAMA/THS-PSA, were exposed to 500ppm F2 gas at varying reaction times. The surface-fluorinated membranes were characterized through the measurement of contact angles, thermo-gravimetric analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to observe the physico-chemical changes. For the evaluation of the electro-chemical changes in the resulting membranes, its water contents, ion exchange capacity, proton conductivity, and methanol permeability were measured and then compared with the commercial membrane, Nafion 115. Finally, the membran electrode assembly(MEA) was prepared and the cell voltage against the current density was measured. As fluorination time increased, the contents of F2 increased up to maximum 4.3% and to depth of 50 nm. At 60 min of fluorination, the proton conductivity was 0.036 S/cm, larger than Nafion 115 at 0.024 S/cm, and the methanol permeability was $9.26E-08cm^2/s$, less than Nafion 115 at $1.17E-06cm^2/s$.

• Carbon letters
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.303-307
• /
• 2008

The studies on integrated operation of fuel cell with fuel processor are very essential prior to its commercialization. In this study, Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) was operated with a fuel processor, which is mainly composed of two parts, methanol steam reforming reaction and preferential oxidation (PROX). In fuel processor, ICI 33-5 (CuO 50%, ZnO 33%, $Al_2O_3$ 8%, BET surface area: $66\;m^2g^{-1}$) catalyst and CuO-$CeO_2$ catalyst were used for methanol steam reforming, preferential oxidation (PROX) respectively. PEMFC was operated by hydrogen fuel generated from fuel processor. The resulting gas from PROX reactor is used to operate PEMFC equipped with our prepared anode and cathode catalyst. PtRu/C catalyst gives more tolerance to CO.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.391-398
• /
• 2007

The covalently cross-linked sulfonated polyetheretherketone (CL-SPEEK) membrane was prepared by four-step synthesis of sulfonation-sulfochlorination, partial reduction, lithiation, and cross-linking, and its electrochemical and mechanical properties were investigated for water electrolysis application. The prepared ion exchange membranes showed good electrochemical and mechanical properties; proton conductivity of 0.116 S/cm at $80^{\circ}C$, water uptake of 44.6%, ion exchange capacity of 1.75 meq/g-dry-memb., tensile strength of 64.25 MPa and elongation of 61.11%. The membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with homemade membranes were prepared by non-equilibrium impregnation-reduction (I-R) method. Especially, the electrochemical surface area (ESA) and roughness factor of CL-SPEEK electrolyte by cyclic voltammetry method were 23.46 $m^2/g$ and 307.3 $cm^2-Pt/cm^2$, respectively. The prepared MEA was used in the unit cell of water electrolysis and the cell voltage was 1.81 V at 1 A/$cm^2$ and $80^{\circ}C$, with platinum loadings of 1.31 mg/$cm^2$.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.21-26
• /
• 2007

DMFC(Direct Methanol Fuel Cell) has been considered as an attractive option to produce electric power in many application. In this study, in order to estimate the effects of the methanol concentration, wind velocity and temperature on the performance of DMFC, a physical prototype of DMFC was designed and manufactured, and the stack voltage of DMFC was measured during the operation of DMFC. Expecially, the experimental results showed that a low stack temperature, a low wind velocity and an excess methanol concentration lead to the increase of the time to reach the maximum stack voltage.