• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 2011

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have many attractive features for widespread applications in generation systems. Recently, stainless steels have attractive materials for metallic bipolar plate because metallic bipolar plates have many benefits compared to others such as graphite and composite bipolar plates. SOFC operates on high temperature of about $800{\sim}1000^{\circ}C$ than other fuel cell systems. Thus, many studies have attempted to reduced the operation temperature of SOFC to about $600{\sim}800^{\circ}C$, which is the intermediate temperature (IT) of SOFC. Low cost and high-temperature corrosion resistance are very important for the practical applications of SOFC in various industries. In this study, two specimens, 304 and 430 stainless steels with and without different pre-surface treatments on the surface were investigated. And, specimens were exposed at high temperature in the box furnace under oxidation atmosphere of $800^{\circ}C$. Oxidation behavior have been investigated with the materials exposed at different times (100 hrs and 400 hrs) by SEM, EDS and XRD. By increasing exposure time, the amount of metal oxide increased in the order like; STS304 < STS430 and As-received < As-polished < Sand-blast specimens.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.245-255
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• 2021

Various studies about metallic bipolar plates have been conducted to improve fuel cell performance through flow field design optimization. These research works have been mainly focused on fuel cells for vehicle, but not fuel cells for building. In order to reduce the price and volume of fuel cell stacks for building, it is necessary to apply a metallic flow field, In this study, for a metallic flow field applied to a fuel cell for building, the effect of a change in the flow field shape on the performance of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell was confirmed using a model and experiments with a down-sizing single cell. As a result, the flow field using a metal foam outperforms the channel type flow field because it has higher internal differential pressure and higher reactants velocity in gas diffusion layer, resulting in higher water removal and higher oxygen concentration in the catalyst layer than the channel type flow field. This study is expected to contribute to providing basic data for selecting the optimal flow field for the full stack of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells for buildings.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.348-351
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• 2006

Bipolar plate, which forms about 50% of the stack cost, is an important core part with polymer electrolyte membrane in PEMFC. Bipolar plates have been commonly fabricated from graphite meterial having high electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance. Lately, many researchers have concentrated their efforts on the development of metallic bipolar plate and stainless steel has been considered as a potential material for metallic bipolar plate because of its high strength, chemical stability, low gas permeability and applicability to mass production. However, it has been reported that its inadequate corrosion behavior under PEMFC environment lead to a deterioration of membrane by dissolved metal ions and an increase in contact resistance by the growth of passive film therefore, its corrosion resistance as well as contact resistance must be improved for bipolar plate application. In this work, several types of coating were applied to 316L and their electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance were evaluated In the simulated PEMFC environment. Application of coating gave rise to low interfacial contact resistances below $19m{\Omega}cm^2$ under the compress force of $150N/cm^2$. It also made the corrosion potential to shift in the posit ive direct ion by 0.3V or above and decreased the corrosion current from ca. $9{\mu}A/cm^2$ to ca. $0.5{\mu}A/cm^2$ in the mixed solution of $0.1N\;N_2SO_4$ and 2ppm HF A coat ing layer under potentiostatic control of 0.6V and $0.75V_{SCE}$ for 500 hours or longer showed some instabilities, however, no significant change in coat Ing layer were observed from Impedance data. In addition, the corrosion current maintained less than $1{\mu}A/cm^2$ for most of time for potentiostatic tests. It indicates that high electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance can be obtained by application of coatings in the present work.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.1177-1182
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• 2012

The corrosion resistance of 316L stainless steel coated with NiO-YSZ (Ni added yttria stabilized zirconia) was examined in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) environment. The NiO-YSZ coating was carried out using a sol-gel dip coating method, and the corrosion resistance and interfacial contact resistance (ICR) were determined by the composition and morphology of the NiO-YSZ film. The corrosion resistance increased with increasing Ni content in the NiO-YSZ film, but rapid corrosion was observed when the YSZ film contained more than 15 wt % Ni due to surface cracks. The polarization resistance was improved by several orders of magnitude when 316L stainless steel was coated with a 15 wt % NiO-YSZ film compared to bare 316L. The ICR of the NiO-YSZ film was decreased to that of bare 316L when the YSZ film contained 25 wt % NiO, suggesting the possible application of NiO-YSZ coated stainless steel for a bipolar plate.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.41-44
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• 2008

본 연구에서는 고분자 전해질 연료전지용 금속분리판의 전기화학적 부식을 방지하기 위한 금속 첨가 DLC(Diamond-like-carbon) 표면처리 방법을 개발하였으며, stainless steel 304를 모재로 하여 텅스텐 첨가 DLC, 티타늄 첨가 DLC, 몰리브덴 첨가 DLC 금속분리판을 제작하였다. 제작된 금속분리판을 이용하여 내구성 평가,전기화학적 부식 특성, 성능평가 및 접촉저항 특성 등을 평가하였다. 전기화학적 부식특성의 경우 각각의 분리판에 대해 6.69, 1.2, 1.0 ${\mu}A/cm^2$로 모재인 STS 304의 25 ${\mu}A/cm^2$의 부식전류밀도에 비해 우수한 부식특성을 보였다. 또한 초기 성능에서 몰리브덴 첨가 DLC 분리판의 경우 300 mA/$cm^2$에서 0.757 V로 측정되었으며, 이는 graphite 분리판 측정 결과인 0.758 V와 유사한 성능을 보였다. 또한 내구성 평가에서 초기 성능 대비 성능 감소율이 10% 감소하는데 소요된 시간은 graphite 분리판의 경우 2,000시간으로 나타났으며, 몰리브덴 첨가 DLC 분리판의 경우 1,700시간으로 측정되었다. 1,500시간 까지의 성능 감소율은 grphite,텅스텐 첨가DLC,티타늄 첨가DLC, 몰리브덴 첨가 DLC 분리판 순으로 각각에 대해 37.7, 60.3, 92.8, 45.7 ${\mu}V$/hr로 나타났다.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.187-193
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• 2010

Chromium nitride (CrN) samples with two different layer structures (multilayer and single layer) were coated on bipolar plates of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) using the reactive sputtering method. The effects with respect to layer structure on corrosion resistance and overall cell performance were investigated. A continuous and thin chromium nitride layer ($Cr_{0.48}\;N_{0.52}$) was formed on the surface of the SUS 316L when the nitrogen flow rate was 10 sccm. The electrochemical stability of the coated layers was examined using the potentiodynamic and potentiostatic methods in the simulated corrosive circumstances of the PEMFC under $80^{\circ}C$. Interfacial contact resistance (ICR) between the CrN coated sample and the gas diffusion layer was measured by using Wang's method. A single cell performance test was also conducted. The test results showed that CrN coated SUS316L with multilayer structure had excellent corrosion resistance compared to single layer structures and single cell performance results with $25\;cm^2$ in effective area also showed the same tendency. The difference of the electrochemical properties between the single and multilayer samples was attributed to the Cr interlayer layer, which improved the corrosion resistance. Because the coating layer was damaged by pinholes, the Cr layer prevented the penetration of corrosive media into the substrate. Therefore, the CrN with a multilayer structure is an effective coating method to increase the corrosion resistance and to decrease the ICR for metallic bipolar plates in PEMFC.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.341-347
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• 2012

The metallic bipolar plates of the molten carbonate fuel cell(MCFC) are composed of shielded slot plates and a center-plate. The shielded slot plates support the center-plate and the membrane electrode assembly. Compressive forces are applied to the shielded slot plate in order to increase the contact area between shielded slot plates and the membrane electrode assembly (MEA). In the design of the shielded slot plate, it is necessary to predict the mechanical behavior of the shielded slot plate. The shielded slot plates are manufactured by a three-stage forming process consisting of slitting, preforming and the final forming process. The mechanical behavior of the shielded slot plate is largely affected by the forming process. In this study, the simulation of the three-stage forming process was used to predict the mechanical behavior of the shielded slot plate. The present simulation approach showed good agreements with the experimental results.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.585-592
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• 2011

The enhancement of the cold-start capability of polymer electrolyte fuel cells is of great importance in terms of the durability and reliability of fuel-cell vehicles. In this study, vanadium oxide films deposited onto the flat surface of metallic bipolar plates were synthesized to investigate the feasibility of their use as an efficient self-heating source to expedite the temperature rise during startup at subzero temperatures. Samples were prepared through the dip-coating technique using the hydrolytic sol-gel route, and the chemical compositions and microstructures of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy. In addition, the electrical resistance hysteresis loop of the films was measured over a temperature range from -20 to $80^{\circ}C$ using a four-terminal technique. Experimentally, it was found that the thermal energy (Joule heating) resulting from self-heating of the films was sufficient to provide the substantial amount of energy required for thawing at subzero temperatures.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.481-491
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• 2017

In this study, we developed 300 W lightweight DMFC system for charging secondary battery in small unit military operation. In order to reduce the volumetric shape and weight of the system considering the environment of the individual soldier's, the arranging of system components has been optimized. A metal bipolar plates made of STS-470FC have been implemented to the DMFC stack to meet the weight demand of the system. As a result of the performance test of the stack, the target value was satisfied by outputting 561 W exceeding 24% of the stack output 450 W required to output 300 W required for the entire system. Moreover, 2,655 hours exceeding 1,000 hours also has been satisfied. To ensure good robustness of the metallic bipolar plate based DMFC stack, finite element method based simulations are conducted using a commercial ANSYS Fluent software.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.68-73
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• 2011

A Ni-W thin-film was synthesized by electrodeposition, and its corrosion resistance and electrical surface conductivity were investigated. Amount of tungsten in the Ni-W thin-film increased linearly with current density during the electrodeposition, and crack-free and low-crystalline Ni-21 at.%W coating layer was obtained. Corrosion resistances of the Ni-W thin-films were examined with an anodic polarization method and a storage test in a strong sulfuric acid solution. As a result, the Ni-21 at.%W thin-film exhibited the greatest corrosion resistance, and maintained the electrical surface conductivity even after the severe corrosion test, which could be applicable as a surface treatment for advanced metallic bipolar plates in fuel cell or redox flow battery systems.