• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.146-151
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• 2016

Sulfonated poly (arylene ether sulfone) (SPAES) random copolymers have merits such as high proton conductivity, relatively low production cost, and thermochemical resistance when applied as polymer electrolyte membranes for fuel cells. However, it is difficult to directly employ SPAES copolymers into practical fuel cell membrane applications owing to their low chemical stability and dimensional instability under harsh operation conditions. A plausible solution is to impregnate SPAES copolymers into support films (e.g., electrospun polyimide support) with interconnected pore structures and high thermochemical toughness. In this study, a SPAES copolymer with a swivel group, which induces high free volume for fast ion transport, is chosen as ionomers to prepare pore-filling membranes (PFMs). The feasibility of the resulting membranes is evaluated via membrane characterizations.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.110-112
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• 2006

Membrane electrode assembly (MEA) for polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) are commonly prepared in the research laboratory by spraying, screen-printing and brushing catalyst slurry onto membrane or other support material like carbon paper or polyimide film in a batch style. These hand applications of the catalyst slurry are painstaking process with respect to precision of catalyst loading and reproducibility. It has been generally mentioned that the adoption of continuous process is very helpful to develop the reliable product. In the present work, we report the results of using continuous type coater with doctor-blade to coat catalyst slurry for preparing the MEA catalyst layers In a faster and highly reproducible fashion. We show that while expectedly faster than batch style, the machine coater requires the use of slurry of appropriate composition and a properly selected transfer decal material in order to achieve superior MEA plat lnw loading reproducibility. To make highly viscous catalyst slurry that is imperative for using coater, we use 40wt.% Nafion solution and minimize the content of organic solvent. And the choice of proper high surface area catalyst is important in the viewpoint of making well-dispersed slurry. After catalyst coating onto the support material, we transferred the catalyst layer to both sides of Nafion membrane by hot-pressing In this case, the degree of transfer was Influenced by hot-pressing condition including temperature, pressure, and time. To compare the transferring ability, we compared so many films and detaching papers. And among the support, polyethylene terephthalate(PET) film shows the prominent result.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.223-229
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• 2013

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is a power generation system to convert chemical energy of fuels and oxidants to electricity directly by electrochemical reactions. As a catalyst support for PEMFCs, carbon black has been generally used due to its large surface area and high electrical conductivity. However, under certain circumstances (start up/shut down, fuel starvation, ice formation etc.), carbon supports are subjected to serve corrosion in the presence of water. Therefore, it would be desirable to switch carbon supports to corrosion-resistive support materials such as metal oxide. $TiO_2$ has been attractive as a support with its stability in fuel cell operation atmosphere, low cost, commercial availability, and the ease to control size and structure. However, low electrical conductivity of $TiO_2$ still inhibits its application to catalyst support for PEMFCs. In this paper, to explore feasibility of $TiO_2$ as a catalyst support for PEMFCs, $TiO_2$ nanofibers were synthesized by electrospinning and calcinated at 600, 700, 800 and $900^{\circ}C$. Effects of calcination temperature on crystal structure and electrical conductivity of electrospun $TiO_2$ nanofibers were examined. Electrical conductivity of $TiO_2$ nanofibers increased significantly with increasing calcination temperature from $600^{\circ}C$ to $700^{\circ}C$ and then increased gradually with increasing the calcination temperature from $700^{\circ}C$ to $900^{\circ}C$. It was revealed that the remarkable increase in electrical conductivity could be attributed to phase transition of $TiO_2$ nanofibers from anatase to rutile at the temperature range from $600^{\circ}C$ to $700^{\circ}C$.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2024

The durability of the catalyst support has a significant effect on the durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). The accelerated durability evaluation of the catalyst support is performed at a high voltage (1.0 to 1.5 V), and the catalyst and ionomer binder in the catalyst layer are also deteriorated, hindering the evaluation of the durability of the support. The existing protocol (DOE protocol) was improved to find conditions in which the support, which is a durability evaluation target, deteriorates further. A protocol (MDOE) was developed in which the relative humidity was lowered by 35% and the number of voltage changes was reduced. After repeating the 1.0 ↔ 1.5 V voltage change cycle, the catalyst mass activitiy (MA), electrochemical active area (ECSA), electrical double layer capacity (DLC), Pt dissolution and particle growth were analyzed. Reaching 40% reduction in mass activity, the MDOE protocol took only 500 cycles, reducing the number of voltage changes compared to the DOE method and increasing the degradation of the carbon support by 50% compared to the DOE protocol.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.2222-2227
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• 2007

Newly structured metal-supported solid oxide fuel cell was fabricated and characterized by impedance analysis and galvanodynamic experiment. Using a cermet adhesive, thin ceramic layer composed of anode(Ni/YSZ) and electrolyte(YSZ) was joined with STS430 metal support of which flow channel was fabricated. $La_{0.8}Sr_{0.2}Co_{0.4}Mn_{0.6}O_3$ perovskite oxide was used as cathode material. Single cell performance was increased and saturated at operating time to 300hours at 800$^{\circ}C$ because of cathode sintering effect. The sintering effect was reinvestigated by half cell test and exchange current density was measured as 0.005A/$cm^2$. Maximum power density of the cell was 0.09W/$cm^2$ at 800$^{\circ}C$. Numerical analysis was carried out to classify main factors influencing the single cell performances. Compared to experimental IV curve, simulated curve based on experimental parameters such as exchange current density was in good agreement.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.767-772
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• 2012

In support of optimizing electrorefining technology for treating spent nuclear fuel, lithium drawdown has been investigated for separating actinides from molten salt electrolyte. Drawdown reaction selectivity is a major issue that requires investigation, since the goal is to remove actinides while leaving the fission products and other components in the salt. A series of lithium drawdown tests with surrogate fission product chlorides was run to obtain selectivity data with non-radioactive salts, develop a predictive model, and draw conclusions about the viability of using this process with actinide-loaded salt. Results of tests with CsCl, $LaCl_3$, $CeCl_3$, and $NdCl_3$ are reported here. Equilibrium was typically achieved in less than 10 hours of contact between lithium metal and molten salt under well-stirred conditions. Maintaining low oxygen and water impurity concentrations (<10 ppm) in the atmosphere was observed to be critical to minimize side reactions and maintain stable salt compositions. An equilibrium model has been formulated and fit to the experimental data. Good fits to the data were achieved. Based on analysis and results obtained to date, it is concluded that clean separation between minor actinides and lanthanides will be difficult to achieve using lithium drawdown.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.480-486
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• 2013

In this study, tubular SOFC unit cell with advanced anode current collector was fabricated to improve the cell performance. First, we prepared two types of single cells having the same manufacture processes such as the same electrolyte, electrode coating condition and sintering processes. And then to compare the developed single cell performance with conventional cells, we changed the anode current collecting methods. From the impedance analysis and I-V curve analysis, the cell performance of advanced cell is much higher than that of conventional cell.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.183-186
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• 2003

In a PEM fuel cell electrode, backing layer has tremendous impact on electrode performance. The backing layer provides structural support for the porous electrode, distributes the reactants to the other layers and acts as a current collector. It has major influence on the water management in a PEM fuel cell. Selection of suitable backing layer material for the fabrication of electrode is thus very important to achieve high performance. In this paper we have compared the performance of PEM fuel cell electrodes fabricated using carbon paper EC-TPI-060T, carbon cloth EC-CCI-060T, (ElectroChem Inc.USA) and Carbon cloth from Textron, USA (CPW 003 grade). Mass transport problem was observed under non-pressurized condition, at high current densities, in the caie of EC-CC1-060T carbon cloth electrode (at $50^{\circ}C$), due to its higher thickness. The performance of carbon paper electrode was higher than EC-CCI-060T carbon cloth electrode. The performance of Textron carbon cloth was comparable to EC-TPI -060T carbon paper.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.574-590
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• 2013

A new solid complexes of Ti(IV), Y(III) and Ce(IV) have been synthesized with ofloxacin. The formulae and structure of the complexes have been proposed in the light of analytical, spectral ($^1H$ NMR, IR and UV-Visible), magnetic, molar conductivities and thermal studies. The complexes are soluble in DMSO-$d_6$ and DMF. The measured molar conductance values indicate that, the three complexes are electrolyte in nature. The results support the formation of the complexes and indicated that ofloxacin reacts as a bidentate ligand chelate to the metal ion through the pyridone oxygen and one carboxylato oxygen. The kinetic parameters of thermogravimetric and its differential have been evaluated by using Coats Redfern (CR) and Horowitz-Metzeger (HM) methods. The thermodynamic data reflect the thermal stability for all complexes. The metal- ligand binding of the Ti(IV), Y(III) and Ce(IV) complexes is predicted using density funcational theory at the B3LYP-CEP-31G level of theory and total energy, dipole moment estimation of different Ti(IV), Y(III) and Ce(IV) ofloxacin structures. The biological activities of the ofloxacin, inorganic salts and their metal complexes were assayed against different bacterial species.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.257-268
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• 2024

Hydrogen serves as a clean energy source with potential applications across various sectors including electricity, transportation, and industry. In terms of policy and economic support, governmental policy backing and economic incentives are poised to accelerate the commercialization and expansion of hydrogen energy technologies. Hydrogen energy is set to become a cornerstone for a sustainable future energy system. Additionally, when constructing hydrogen production plants, economic aspects must be considered. The essence of hydrogen production plants lies in the electrolysis of water, a process that separates water into hydrogen and oxygen using electrical energy. The initial capital expenditure (CAPEX) for hydrogen production plants can vary depending on the electrolysis technology employed. This study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of hydrogen production technologies as well as to propose a method for predicting the CAPEX of hydrogen production plants.