• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.288-294
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• 2009

Various polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) startup procedures were tested to explore possible techniques for reducing performance decay and improving durability during repeated startup-shutdown cycles. The effects of applying a dummy load, which prevents cell reversal by consuming the air at the cathode, on the degradation of a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) were investigated via single cell experiments. The electrochemical results showed that application of a dummy load during the startup procedure significantly reduced the performance decay, the decrease in the electrochemically active surface area (EAS), and the increase in the charge transfer resistance ($R_{ct}$), which resulted in a dramatic improvement in durability. After 1200 startup-shutdown cycles, post-mortem analyses were carried out to investigate the degradation mechanisms via various physicochemical methods including FESEM, an on-line $CO_2$ analysis, EPMA, XRD, FETEM, SAED, FTIR. After 1200 startup-shutdown cycles, severe Pt particle sintering/agglomeration/dissolution and carbon corrosion were observed at the cathode catalyst layer when starting up a PEMFC without a dummy load, which significantly contributed to a loss of Pt surface area, and thus to cell performance degradation. However, applying a dummy load during the startup procedure remarkably mitigated such severe degradations, and should be used to increase the durability of MEAs in PEMFCs. Our results suggest that starting up PEMFCs while applying a dummy load is an effective method for mitigating performance degradation caused by reverse current under a repetition of unprotected startup cycles.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.374-380
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• 2011

Carbon coils could be synthesized on nickel catalyst layer-deposited silicon oxide substrate using $C_2H_2$ and $H_2$ as source gases and $SF_6$ as an additive gas under thermal chemical vapor deposition system. The characteristics (formation density and morphology) of as-grown carbon coils according to the injection stage of $SF_6$ gas incorporation were investigated. A continuous injecting of $SF_6$ gas flow could give rise to many types of carbon coils-related geometries, namely linear tub, micro-sized coil, nano-sized coil, and wave-like nano-sized coil. However, the limitation of the geometry as the nano-sized geometries of carbon coils could be achieved by the incorporation of $SF_6$ in a short time (1 min) during the initial deposition stage. A delayed injection of a short time $SF_6$ gas flow can deteriorate the limitation of the geometries. It confirms that the injection time and its starting point of $SF_6$ gas flow would be very important to determine the geometries of carbon coils.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.532-537
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• 2011

Thermally stable $TiO_2$/Pt/$SiO_2$ core-shell nanocatalyst has been synthesized by chemical processes. Citrated capped Pt nanoparticles were deposited on amine functionalized silica produced by Stober process. Ultrathin layer of titania was coated on Pt/$SiO_2$ for preventing sintering of the metal nanoparticles at high temperatures. Thermal stability of the metal-oxide hybrid catalyst was demonstrated heating the sample up to $600^{\circ}C$ in air and by investigating the morphology and integrity of the structure by transmission electron spectroscopy. The surface analysis of the constituent elements was performed by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy. The catalytic activity of the hybrid catalysts was investigated by CO oxidation reaction with oxygen as a model reaction.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.241.1-241.1
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• 2011

Numerous possible applications for $ZrO_2$ nanotubes exist such as for catalyst support structures, for sensing or for applications as a solid state electrolyte. Especially, because of a large specific surface area, high efficiency for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) application at low temperature can be expected for nanotublar structures in even small size. A zirconium precursor, Tetrakis (ethylmethylamino) zirconium, TEMAZr and $H_2O$ oxidant were used to deposit$ZrO_2$ thin films on an anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) templates having sub-100nm cylindrical pores by atomic layer deposition (ALD) in the temperature range of 150~250$^{\circ}C$. The crystalline structures of as-prepared and post-annealed $ZrO_2$ nanotubes were characterized by x-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The as-prepared samples at $150^{\circ}C$ and $200^{\circ}C$ were showed amorphous, whereas a mixed phase of tetragonal, monoclinic and amorphous polymorph was observed at $250^{\circ}C$. In the bulk, zirconia remains monoclinic phase up to $1,175^{\circ}C$, however, $ZrO_2$ nanotubes were showed tetragonal phase upon post thermal treatments merely at $400^{\circ}C$. This trend may be indicative of high-curvature surfaces of nanotubes and thereby the presence of intrinsic compressive strain. The amount of amorphous structures in the mixed phase as well as as-grown $ZrO_2$ nanotubes were also gradually decreased by subsequent heat treatment.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.41-55
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• 2018

General polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEMFC) operates at less than $80^{\circ}C$. Therefore liquid phase water resulting from electrochemical reaction accumulates and floods the cell which in turn increases the mass transfer loss. To prevent the flooding, it is common to employ serpentine flow channel, which can efficiently export liquid phase water to the outlet. The major drawback of utilizing serpentine flow channel is the large pressure drop that happens between the inlet and outlet. On the other hand, in the high temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell (HT-PEMFC), since the operating temperature is 130 to $180^{\circ}C$, the generated water is in the state of gas, so the flooding phenomenon is not taken into consideration. In HT-PEMFCs parallel flow channel with lower pressure drop between the inlet and outlet is employed therefore, in order to circulate hydrogen and air in the cell less pumping power is required. In this study we analyzed HT-PEMFC's different flow channels by parallel computation using previously developed 3-D isothermal model. All the flow channels had an active area of $25cm^2$. Also, we numerically compared the performance of HT-PEMFC parallel flow channel with different manifold area and Rib interval against the original serpentine flow channel. Results of the analysis are shown in the form of three-dimensional contour polarization curves, flow characteristics in the channel, current density distribution in the Membrane, overpotential distribution in the catalyst layer, and hydrogen and oxygen concentration distribution. As a result, the performance of a real area fuel cell was predicted.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.9
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• pp.885-894
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• 2012

A numerical study of a microchannel steam methane reforming reactor has been performed to understand the characteristics of heat and mass transfer. The integration of Rh-catalyzed steam methane reforming and Pt-catalyzed methane combustion has been simulated. The reaction rates for chemical reactions have been incorporated into the simulation. This study investigated the effect of contact time, flow pattern (parallel or counter), and channel size on the reforming performance and temperature distribution. The parallel and counter flow have opposite temperature distribution, and they show a different type of reaction rate and species mole fraction. As the contact time decreases and channel size increases, mass transfer between the catalyst layer and the flow is limited, and the reforming performance is decreased.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.232-236
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• 2020

Three-dimensional (3D) multilayered Pt electrodes were fabricated to develop a porous electrode using a pattern-transfer printing process. The Pt thin films were deposited using a transferred sputtering pattern having a 250 nm line width on the substrate, and the uniform line patterns were efficiently transferred using our proposed method. Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) analyses were used to evaluate the porosity of the electrodes. It was possible to distinguish between two resolved maxima at 168 and 227 ℃, which could be described in terms of desorption reactions on the Pt (111) planes. The results of the TPD analysis of the 3D and multilayered Pt electrodes prepared through transfer printing were compared to those of an electrode fabricated through screen printing using a commercial Pt-carbon paste commonly used as porous electrodes. It was confirmed that the 3D multilayered electrodes exhibited a desorption concentration approximately 100 times higher than that of the Pt-carbon composite electrode, and the desorption concentration increased by approximately 0.02 mg/mol per layer. The 3D multilayered electrode effectively functions as a porous electrode and a catalyst.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2006

In semiconductor industries, dissolved oxygen is one of the most undesirable contaminants of ultrapure water. A method for dissolved oxygen removal (DOR) consists in the use of polymeric hollow fibres, loaded with a catalyst and fed with a reducing agent such as hydrogen. In this work, PVDF hollow fibres loaded with Pd were characterized by means of perporometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The hollow fibre analyzed shows a five-layer structure with remarkable morphological differences. An estimation of pore diameters and their distribution was performed giving a mean pore diameter of 100 nm. The permeance and selectivity of the fibres were measured using $H_2,\;N_2,\;O_2$ as single gases, at different operating conditions. An $H_2$ permeance of $37 mmol/m^2s$ was measured and $H_2/O_2$ and $H_2/N_2$ selectivities of ca. 3 were obtained. $H_2$ permeance was 1/3 when a water stream flows in the shell side. Catalytic fibrebehaviour was simulated using a mathematical model for a loop membrane reactor, considering only $O_2$ and $H_2$ diffusive transport inside the membrane and their catalytic reaction. Dimensionless parameters such as the Thiele modulus are employed to describe the system behaviour. The model agrees well with the experimental reaction data.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.594-598
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• 2012

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) performance degrades seriously when sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are contaminated in the fuel gas at anode and air source at cathode, respectively. This paper reveals the effect of the combined sulfur impurity poisoning on both PEMFC cathode and anode parts through measuring electrical performance on single FC operated under 1 ppm to 10 ppm impurity gases. The severity of $SO_2$ and $H_2S$ poisoning depended on concentrations of impurity gases under optimum operating conditions($65^{\circ}C$ of cell temperature and 100 % relative humidity). Sulfur adsorption occured on the surface of Pt catalyst layer on MEA. In addition, MEA poisoning by impurity gases were cumulative. After four consecutive poisonings with 1, 3, 5 to 10 ppm, the fuel cell performance of PEMFC was decrease upto 0.54 V(76 %) from 0.71 V.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.445-449
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• 2012

The activation process of the membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) is important for the mass production of the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. The conventional activation process for the MEA requires excessive time and hydrogen gas and it might become the barrier for the commercialization of the fuel cell. The conventional activation process is based on hydrolysis of ion conducting membrane. In the study, we suggest the cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique as an on-line activation process and the CV activation process consists of two steps : 1) the humidification of the polymer electrolyte membrane and the electrode with 100% RH humidified nitrogen ($N_{2}$) gas, and 2) the removal step of the oxide layer on the surface of the Pt catalyst with CV cycling. The cycling reduces the activation time of the MEA by 2.5 h and use of hydrogen gas by 1/4.