• Polymer(Korea)
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.45-51
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• 2010

This study focuses on the investigation of the possibility of the crosslinked poly (vinyl alcohol) membranes with both poly (acrylic acid-co-maleic acid) (PAM) and 3-(trihydroxysilyl)-1-propane-sulfonic acid (THS-PSA) for the direct methanol fuel cell application. In order to characterize the prepared membranes, the water content, the thermal gravimetric analysis, the ion exchange capacity, the ion conductivity and the methanol permeability measurements were carried out and then compared with the existing Nafion 115 membrane. The ion exchange capacity of the resulting membranes showed 1.6~1.8 meq./g membrane which was improved than Nafion 115, 0.91 meq./g membrane. In the case of the proton conductivity, the THS-PSA introduced membranes gave more excellent $0.042{\sim}0.056\;S{\cdot}cm^{-1}$ than Nafion 115, $0.024\;S{\cdot}cm^{-1}$. On the other hand, the methanol permeability was increased more than Nafion 115 for all the range of THA-PSA concentration.

• Macromolecular Research
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• 제13권4호
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• pp.314-320
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• 2005

Crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes were prepared at various crosslinking temperatures using poly(acrylic acid-co-maleic acid) (PAM) containing different PAM contents. The thermal properties of these PVA/PAM membranes prepared at various reaction temperatures were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The proton conductivity and methanol permeability of PVA/PAM membranes were then investigated as PAM content was varied from 3 to 13 wt%. It was found that the proton and methanol transport were dependent on PAM content in their function both as crosslinking agent and as donor of hydrophilic -COOH groups. Both these properties decreased monotonously with increasing PAM concentration. The proton conductivities of these PVA/PAM membranes were in the range from $10^{-3}\;to\;10^{-2}S/cm$ and the methanol permeabilities from $10^{-7}\;to\;10^{-6}cm^{2}/sec$. In addition, the effect of operating temperature up to $80^{\circ}C$ on ion conductivity was examined for three selected membranes: 7, 9 and 11 wt% PAM membranes. Ion conductivity increased with increasing operating temperature and showed and S/cm at $80^{\circ}C$, respectively. The effects of crosslinking and ionomer group concentration were also examined in terms of water content, ion exchange capacity (IEC), and fixed ion concentration. In addition, the number of water molecules per ionomer site was calculated using both water contents and IEC values. With overall consideration for all the properties measured in this study, $7{\sim}9\;wt%$ PAM membrane prepared at $140^{\circ}C$ exhibited the best performance. These characteristics of PVA/PAM membranes are desirable in applications related to the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC).

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2011년도 추계학술대회 초록집
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• pp.81.2-81.2
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• 2011

The gas diffusion layer (GDL) consists of two main parts, the GDL backing layer, called as a substrate and the micro porous layer (MPL) coated on the GDBL. In this process, carbon particles of MPL penetrates to the GDBL consequently forms MPL penetration part. In this study, the micro porous layer (MPL) penetration thickness is determined as a design parameter of the GDL which affect pore size distribution profile through the GDL inducing different mass transfer characteristics. The pore size distribution and water permeability characteristics of the GDL are investigated and the cell performance is evaluated under fully/low humidification conditions. Transient response and voltage instability are also studied. In addition, to determine the effects of MPL penetration on the degradation, the carbon corrosion stress test is conducted. The GDL that have deep MPL penetration thickness shows better performance in high current density region because of enhanced water management, however, loss of penetrated MPL parts is shown after aging and it induces worse water management characteristics.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 한국분말야금학회 2006년도 Extended Abstracts of 2006 POWDER METALLURGY World Congress Part 1
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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 $(4.63-1.08{\times}10^{-7}\;cm^2/S)$.

• Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering
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• 제35권11호
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• pp.2290-2295
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• 2018

An acceleration stress test (AST) was performed to evaluate the durability of a polymer membrane in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) for 500 hours. Previous studies have shown that hydrogen crossover measured by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) increases when the polymer membrane deteriorates in the AST process. On the other hand, hydrogen crossover of the membrane often decreases in the early stages of the AST test. To investigate the cause of this phenomenon, we analyzed the MEA operated for 50 hours using the AST method (OCV, RH 30% and $90^{\circ}C$). Cyclic voltammetry and transmission electron showed that the electrochemical surface area (ECSA) decreased due to the growth of electrode catalyst particles and that the hydrogen crossover current density measured by LSV could be reduced. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis showed that -S-O-S- crosslinking occurred in the polymer after the 50 hour AST. Gas chromatography showed that the hydrogen permeability was decreased by -S-O-S- crosslinking. The reduction of the hydrogen crossover current density measured by LSV in the early stages of AST could be caused by both reduction of the electrochemical surface area of the electrode catalyst and -S-O-S- crosslinking.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• 제57권4호
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• pp.512-518
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• 2019

To develop a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with lower Pt loading and higher performance in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), it is an important research issue to understand interfacial structure of Pt/C catalyst and ionomer and design the catalyst layer structure. In this study, we prepared short-side-chain Nafion-based ionomer dispersion using propylene glycol (PG) as a solvent instead of water which is commonly used as a solvent for commercially available ionomers. Cathode catalyst layers with different ionomer content from 20 to 35 wt% were prepared using the ionomer dispersion for the fabrication of four different MEAs, and their fuel cell performance was evaluated. As the ionomer content increased to 35 wt%, the performance of the prepared MEAs increased proportionally, unlike the commercially available water-based ionomer, which exhibited an optimum at about 25 wt%. Small size micelles and slow evaporation of PG in the ionomer dispersion were effective in proton transfer by inducing the formation of a uniformly structured catalyst layer, but the low oxygen permeability problem of the PG-based ionomer film should be resolved to improve the MEA performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• 제2권4호
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• pp.1-8
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• 1999

Forest devastation in Korea was caused by several factors such as internal factors from geological features and external factors from artificial forest damages including fuel wood collection from forests, forest fires, shifting cultivations and so on. According to the reports of 1935, lots of forest devastation in Kyungpook province area occurred around the main and branch stream of Nakdong river. Main factors of occurring forest devastation in 1935 were investigated by the methods of forest devastation rate and the population density at the basin of Nakdong river. But based on our study, forest devastation mainly occurred in rock zones of granite and granite gneiss, next to Nakdong formation but scarcely occurred in Hayang formation. Clay of the weathered soils of granite and granite gneiss was lost by rainfall, but remaining coarse-sandy soils(or grits) have poored conditions in vegetation's growth, which are due to high level of water permeability, lack of water-holding capacity and dried conditions. Generally, pine forests are mainly growing up in these regions. It is supposed that forest devastation was accelerated due to long periods of natural regeneration and no ability of natural regeneration by sprout after frequent collections of fuel wood and cuttings from pine forest on those grit areas. These results indicated that the high rate of forest devastation occurred around the basin with the high resident population density, which was partly due to forest damages by fuel collection. Moreover, both geological features and number of residents had much influence on forest devastation. Forest devastation was positively correlated with those variables(r=+0.73).

• Clean Technology
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.229-234
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• 2015

Recently, there are increasing numbers of study regarding hydrogen fuels but researches on desulfurization of diesel are rare. In this study, we performed diesel desulfurization reactor design by computation fluid dynamics simulation. By analyzing the change in flow and sulfur concentration at the outlet according to the changes in flow rate, reactor length, and reactor diameter, we have found the minimum catalyst performance for the given flow rate condition and the relation between the reactor performance and the reactor size and shape. We also studied the effects of permeability of the packed bed on the flow and sulfur concentration distribution. The present work can be utilized to design a diesel desulfurization reactor for a fuel cell used in ships. Furthermore, the present work also can be used to design low sulfur diesel supply in oil refineries and therefore contribute to the development of clean petrochemical technology.

• Membrane Journal
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.141-145
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• 2016

Polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) are key components to determine electrochemical fuel cell performances, in addition to electrode materials. The PEMs need to satisfy selective transport behaviors to small molecules including gases and protons; the PEMs have to transport protons as fast as possible, while they should act as hydrogen barriers, since the permeated gas induces the thermal degradation of cathode catalyst, resulting in rapid electrochemical reduction. To date, limited tools have been used to measure how fast hydrogen gas permeates through PEMs (e.g., Constant volume/variable Pressure (time-lag) method). However, most of the measurements are conducted under vacuum where PEMs are fully dried. Otherwise, the obtained hydrogen permeance is easily changeable, which causes the measurement errors to be large. In this study, hydrogen permeation properties through Nafion212 used as a standard PEM are evaluated using an in-situ measurement system in which both temperature and humidity are controlled at the same time.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• 제50권3호
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• pp.556-561
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• 2012

In this study, the effect of properties of gas diffusion layer (GDL) on the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) was investigated using the numerical simulation. The multi-phase mixture ($M^2$) model was used to calculate liquid water saturation and oxygen concentration in GDL. GDL properties, which were contact angle, porosity, gas permeability and thickness, were changed to investigate the effect of GDL properties on the performance of PEMFC. The results demonstrated that performance of PEMFC was increased with increasing contact angle and porosity of GDL, but decreased with increasing thickness of GDL. The liquid water saturation was decreased but oxygen concentration was increased at the GDL-catalyst layer interface, because the mass transfer resistance decreased as the porosity and contact angle increased. On the other hands, as the thickness of GDL increased, pathway for liquid water and oxygen gas became longer, and then mass transfer resistance increased. For this reason, performance of PEMFC decreased with increasing thickness of GDL.