Korean Chemical Engineering Research

The Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers (한국화학공학회)
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Durability Test of PEMFC Membrane by the Combination of Chemical/Mechanical Degradation

화학적/기계적 열화 병행방법에 의한 PEMFC 고분자막 내구성 평가

  • Lim, Daehyeon (Department of Chemical Engineering, Sunchon National University) ;
  • Oh, Sohyeong (Department of Chemical Engineering, Sunchon National University) ;
  • Jung, Sunggi (SANG-A FRONTEC CO.Ltd) ;
  • Jeong, Jihong (SANG-A FRONTEC CO.Ltd) ;
  • Park, Kwonpil (Department of Chemical Engineering, Sunchon National University)
  • Received : 2021.02.27
  • Accepted : 2021.05.25
  • Published : 2021.08.01
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Abstract

In order to improve the PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell) durability, it is important to accurately evaluate the durability of the membrane in a short time. Recently, DOE (Department of Energy) reported a protocol that combines the chemical and mechanical durability of membranes to evaluate them effectively. This protocol applies chemical/mechanical deterioration to the membrane by repeating wet/dry while OCV (Open Circuit Voltage) holding. The problem of this protocol is that it is highly affected by electrode degradation due to change cycles in OCV and that the evaluation time is long. By using oxygen instead of air as the cathode gas while leaving the other conditions of the DOE protocol as it is, the durability evaluation time could be reduced from 408 hours to 144 hours. By reducing the number of voltage change cycles to 1/3, the electrode degradation due to the voltage change cycle was reduced to 1/12 when oxygen was used compared to air at the end, thereby enabling more accurate evaluation of polymer membrane durability.

고분자 전해질 연료전지(Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell, PEMFC) 내구성 향상을 위해서 고분자막의 내구성을 짧은 시간에 정확히 평가하는 것은 중요하다. 최근에 미국 에너지부(Department of Energy, DOE)에서 고분자막의 화학적 내구성과 기계적 내구성을 결합해 평가하는 프로토콜을 보고하였다. 이 프로토콜은 개회로전압(Open Circuit Voltage, OCV) 유지 상태에서 가습/건조를 반복함으로써 화학적/기계적 열화를 고분자막에 가한다. OCV 변화 반복에 따른 전극 열화의 영향을 많이 받고 평가시간이 장시간인 점들이 이 프로토콜의 문제점이다. 본 연구에서 DOE 프로토콜의 다른 조건들은 그대로 두고 양극(Cathode) 가스로 공기 대신 산소를 사용함으로써 내구평가 시간을 408시간에서 144시간으로 단축시킬 수 있었다. 전압변화 사이클 횟수를 1/3로 감소시킴으로써 전압변화 사이클에 의한 전극열화는 종료 시점에서 공기에 비해 산소 사용 시 1/12로 감소시켜서, 고분자막 내구 평가를 보다 정확히 할 수 있게 하였다.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

본연구는 산업통상자원부의권역별신산업육성사업(P0000269)의 일환으로 수행되었습니다.

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