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

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.155-162
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• 2012

Sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning. The nanofibrous membrane for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) was fabricated by compression molding. The maximum degree of sulfonation was 95% and the initial thermal degradation temperature was $280^{\circ}C$ and it's value was lower than that of PEEK. The contact angle of SPEEK increased with decreasing the degree of sulfonation. The optimum voltage, flow rate, tip to collector distance (TCD) and concentration of electrospinning conditions were 22 kV, 0.3 mL/hr, 15 cm, and 23 wt%, respectively. The average nanofibrous diameter was 47.6 nm. The water uptake and ion exchange capacity of SPEEK nanofibrous membrane increased with increasing the sulfonation time and the amount of sulfonating agent. The electrical resistance and proton ionic conductivity of SPEEK membrane increased with decreasing and increasing the sulfonation time, respectively. Their values were 0.58~0.06 ${\Omega}{\cdot}cm^2$and 0.099 S/cm.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.17-21
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• 2019

The redox flow battery (RFB) is a large-capacity energy storage equipment, and the vanadium redox flow cell is a typical RFB, but VRFB is expensive. Iron-chrome RFBs are economical because they use low-cost active materials, but their low performance is an urgent problem. One of the reasons for the low performance is the crossover of the active materials. In this study, the sulfonated Poly (ether ether ketone) (sPEEK) membrane, which is a hydrocarbon membrane, was used instead of the fluorine membrane to reduce the crossover of the active materials. The chromium ion permeability of the sPEEK membrane was $1.8{\times}10^{-6}cm^2/min$, which was about 1/33 of that of the Nafion membrane. Thus, it was shown that the use of the sPEEK membrane instead of the fluorine membrane could solve the high active material crossover problem. The activation energy of iron diffusion through the sPEEK membrane was 24.9 kJ/mol, which was about 66% of Nafion membrane. And that the e-PTFE support in the polymer membrane reduces the active material crossover through Iron-Chrome Redox Flow Battery (ICRFB).

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.487-488
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• 2006

Novel bisphenol-based wholly aromatic poly(ether sulfone-ketone) copolymer containing pendant sulfonate groups were prepared by direct aromatic nucleophilic substitution polycondensation of 4,4-difluorobenzophenone, 2,2'-disodiumsulfonyl-4,4'-fluorophenylsulfone (40mole% of bisphenol A) and bisphenol A. Polymerization proceeded quantitatively to high molecular weight in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone at $180^{\circ}C$. Organic-inorganic composite membranes were obtained by mixing organic polymers with hydrophilic $SiO_2$ (ca. 20nm) obtained by sol-gel process. The polymer and a series of composite membranes were studied by FT-IR, $^1HNMR$, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermal stability. The proton conductivity as a function of temperature decreased as $SiO_2$ content increased, but methanol permeability decreased. The nano composite membranes were found to posse all requisite properties; Ion exchange capacity (1.2meq./g), glass transition temperatures $(164-183\;^{\circ}C)$, and low affinity towards methanol $(4.63-1.08{\times}10^{-7}\;cm^2/S)$.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.3306-3310
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• 2011

A series of novel linear aromatic ether ketone polymers containing triazole units were synthesized by click chemistry and their structures and properties were characterized by FT-IR, $^1H$ NMR, GPC, TGA, DSC and WAXD. The results showed that these polymers exhibited relatively small molecular weights distributions, good thermal stability and solvent-repelling which could have potential applications as engineering thermoplastic.

• 한국전기화학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.07a
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• pp.83-86
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• 2005

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.206-218
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• 2005

Structural studies of series of 'as spun' and drawn PEEK fibers have been carried out using X-ray diffraction and optical microscopy techniques. The analysis of results suggest that fibers produced at a constant draw ratio with increasing draw temperatures show enhanced orientation and crystalline behaviour. The resolved equatorial and meridional traces provide additional structural parameters in terms of crystallinity, crystallite size, and crystallite thickness. It is concluded that drawing at a temperature below $T_g(i.e.,\;144^{\circ}C)$ results in poorly oriented non-crystalline materials, whereas drawing above $T_g$ results in highly oriented semi crystalline materials. Additional drawing proved to increase the overall orientation with slight improvements in lateral order of the chain molecules. Quantitative analysis revealed that the crystallite size increases with increasing drawing temperature. The results also revealed the increased crystallite size upon additional drawing. Crystalline orientation parameter, $_c$, suggests almost perfect orientation. In all cases, the amorphous orientation is found to be lower than the overall orientation parameter obtained from the optical birefringence. As a result of additional drawing, crystalline orientation was found to increase slightly but the increase in the orientation of non-crystalline material was found to be substantial. An average crystalline density was determined from the orthorhombic unit cell dimensions. It was found to vary as a result of processing conditions. It was also found that the value of the maximum birefringence shows heavy dependence on the chain conformation.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.433-439
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• 2017

The high temperature performance of PEM type electrolyser at $120^{\circ}C$ based on covalently cross-linked sulfonated poly ether ether ketone (SPEEK) composie membrane was investigated. Ion conductivity and other properties of SPEEK membrane were improved by adding heteropoly acid and Ceria. The membrane electrode assemblies were prepared using commercial PtC and nano-sized $IrRuO_2$ catalyst by electro-spraying and decal process. Voltage efficiency of MEA equipped with SPEEK membrane was slightly better than that of $Nafion^{(R)}$ membrane, due to its higher proton conductivity at high temperature. The cell performance of MEA with CL-SPEEK/Cs-TSiA/Ceria is 1.71 V at $1A/cm^2$ and $120^{\circ}C$.

• KIEE International Transactions on Electrophysics and Applications
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• v.5C no.4
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• pp.165-170
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• 2005

A series of inorganic-organic hybrid membranes were prepared with a systematic variation of titanium dioxide nanoparticle content. Their water uptake, methanol permeability and proton conductivity as a function of temperature were investigated. The results obtained show that the inorganic oxide network decreases the proton conductivity and water swelling. It is also found that increase in inorganic oxide content leads to decrease of methanol permeability. In terms of the morphology, membranes are homogeneous and exhibit good adhesion between inorganic domains and the polymer matrix. The properties of the composite membranes are compared with the standard nafion membrane.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.391-395
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• 2007

A new electrode binder mixed with sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (sPEEK) and Nafion is prepared and investigated as an anode binder for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The mixed binder (95 wt% sPEEK/5 wt% Nafion) shows high proton conductivity and methanol transport rate as well as no dissolution and brittleness. The effect of content as an anode binder on the performance of the cell with the given cathode is investigated. The unit cell with the anode containing 10wt% mixed binder showed the highest cell performance.