• Membrane Journal
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.155-170
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• 2012

Fuel cells have been considered as alternative power generation system in the twenty-first century because of eco-friendly system, high power density and efficiency compare with petroleum engine system. Proton exchange membranes (PEMs) are the key components in fuel cell system. Currently, Nafion has been used in fuel cell system. However, Nafion has disadvantages such as low conductivity at high temperature and high cost. The researchers have focused to reach the high properties such as high proton conductivity, low permeability to fuel, good chemical/thermal stability, good mechanical properties and low manufacturing cost. Various methods have been developed for preparation of proton exchange membrane with high performance and commercialization of fuel cell system. The hybrid organic/inorganic membrane has the potentials to provide a unique combination of organic and inorganic properties with improved proton conductivity and mechanical property at high temperatures. So, this paper presents an overview of research trend for the composite membranes prepared by organic/inorganic system using various inorganic materials.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.201-202
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• 2008

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.270-276
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• 2011

A nascent membrane was prepared by using the solution evaporation method with a solution of sPEEK, EdAn (cross-linking reagent), and PEA (grafting reagent) in DMAc. Then, after the imination and sulfonation process the cross-linked and grafted ion-exchange membrane, CG-sPEEK, was obtained. The sulfonation and imination reactions were confirmed by FTIR analysis. In order to evaluate the possibility of prepared membrane for the use of an ion-exchange membrane in PEMFC, proton conductivity, water uptake and volume change were measured and compared with a commercial membrane, Nafion 115. It was revealed that since the proton conductivity (0.17 S/cm) of prepared membrane were much higher than those of Nafion 115 (0.10 S/cm) the prepared membrane could be used for the ion-exchange membrane in PEMFC. However, the high water uptake (130%) of CG-sPEEK should be reduced for the dimension stability.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.68 no.2
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• pp.74-81
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• 2024

A sulfonic acid-water-silanol system in SO₃H-functionalized MCM-41 was investigated using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. The proton exchange rate between a water molecule and a silanol group in the S-PE-MCM-41 was determined by analyzing the 1D proton spectra, the proton EXSY spectrum, and ²H spin-lattice relaxation data under various hydration levels. Two kinds of water-bounding sites were found in the S-PE-MCM-41: weakly and strongly bound sites. Over several hours, water molecules bound to the weakly bound sites at the low hydration level migrated to the strongly bound sites. At high temperature, the S-PE-MCM-41 easily lost water molecules weakly bound to the silanol, while the strongly bound water molecules survived. Water molecules that participated in the hydration of the phenethyl sulfonate were involved in the hydrogenbonded silanol mechanism of proton conductivity. This phenomenon contributes higher proton conductivity to the S-PE-MCM-41 by the cooperation of sulfonyl and silanol groups in the proton transfer process, even at higher temperature.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2012

The composite membranes using Nafion as matrix and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate (EMITCB) as ion-conducting medium in replacement of water were prepared and characterized. The amount of EMITCB in Nafion varied from 30 to 50wt%. The composite membranes are characterized by ion conductivity, thermogravitational analyses (TGA) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The composite membranes containing EMITCB of 40wt% showed the maximum ionic conductivity which was ~0.0146 S $cm^{-1}$ at 423.15 K. It is inferred that the decrease in ionic conductivity of all the composite membranes might be due to the decomposition of a tetracyanoboric acid formed in the composite membranes. The results of SAXS indicated that the ionic clusters to conduct proton in the composite membranes were successfully formed. In accordance with the results of ionic conductivity as a function of a reciprocal temperature, SAXS showed a proportional decrease in scattering maximum $q_{max}$ as the amount of EMITCB increases in the composite membranes, which results in the increase in ionomer cluster size. The TGA showed no significant decomposition of the ionic liquid as well as the composite membranes in the range of operating temperature ($120-150^{\circ}C$) of high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HTPEMFC). As a result, EMITCB is able to play an important role in transferring proton in the composite membranes at elevated temperatures with no external humidification for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.24-29
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• 2017

A fluorinated polybenzimidazole (FPBI) was synthesized from 3,3-diaminobenzidine (DAB) of tetraamine, 2,2-bis(4-carboxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane of aromatic biscarboxylic acid, and 4,4-sulfonyldibenzoic acid of aromatic biscarboxylic acid in polyphosphoric acid (PPA). A FPBI was easily cast and made into clear films. The structure of condensation polymers and corresponding membranes were analyzed using GPC (gel permeation chromatography), $^1H$-NMR ($^1H$ nuclear magnetic resonance) and FT-IR (fourier transform infrared). TGA (thermogravimetric analysis) analysis showed that the prepared membranes were thermally stable, so that elevated temperature fuel cell operation would be possible. The proton conductivity of the FPBI membranes increased with increasing temperatures in the polymer. A FPBI membrane has a maximum ion conductivity of 45 mS/cm at $90^{\circ}C$ and 100% relative humidity.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05b
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• pp.65-68
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• 2004

Proton-exchange membranes have attracted much attention in the past few decades due to their important application in fuel cell systems. The mainly used proton-exchange membranes are perfluoropolymers such as DuPont's Nafion$^{(R)}$ and Asahi Chemical's Aciplex$^{(R)}$ because of their high performance including high proton conductivity ＆ mechanical strength, and excellent thermal ＆ chemical stability.(omitted)ted)

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.29-32
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• 2004

Reduction of methanol crossover in proton exchange membranes (PEMs) can be achieved by 1) the selection of materials, 2) the morphology control, and 3) the adequate crosslinking [1, 2]. The selection of polymer matrix of PEM for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) is very important because the proton conductivity and methanol permeability are largely dependent upon the properties of polymers.(omitted)

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.76.2-76.2
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• 2010

The gas diffusion layer is the key component of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell because it directly affect to the mass transport mechanism and dynamic behavior of the cell. In this study, the effects of GDL aging on the transient response of the PEM fuel cell is systematically investigated using current step transient response analysis under different stoichiometric ratios and humidity conditions. With GDLs aged by the accelerated stress test, the effects of hydrophobicity and structural changes due to carbon loss in the GDL on the transient response of PEM fuel cells are determined. The degraded GDLs that had uneven hydrophobicity distributions cause local water flooding inside the GDL and induce lower and unstable voltage responses after load changes.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1201-1208
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• 2002

A numerical flow-field analysis is performed to investigate flow configurations in the anode, cathode and cooling channels on the bipolar plates of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Continuous open-faced flow channels are formed on the bipolar plate surface to supply hydrogen, air and water. In this analysis, two types of channel pattern are considered: serpentine and spiral. The averaged pressure distribution and velocity profiles of the hydrogen, air and water channels are calculated by two-dimensional flow-field analysis. The equations for the conservation of mass and momentum in the two-dimensional fluid flow analysis are slightly modified to include the characteristics of the PEMFC. The analysis results indicate that the serpentine flow-fields are locally unstable (because two channels are cross at right angles). The spiral flow-fields has more stable than the serpentine, due to rotational fluid-flow inertia forces. From this study, the spiral channel pattern is suggested for a channel pattern of the bipolar plate of the PEMFC to obtain better performance.