• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2010.06a
• /
• pp.135.1-135.1
• /
• 2010

최근 고온에서 사용 가능한 PEMFC용 고분자전해질 막 개발에 대한 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. PEMFC가 고온에서 작동하게 되면 높은 성능과 많은 장점을 갖게 된다. PEMFC를 $100^{\circ}C$ 이상에서 운전하게 될 경우 백금 전극 반응을 향상시켜 고가의 백금 촉매 양을 줄일 수 있게 되고, 수소연료 속에 미량 포함된 CO에 의한 촉매표면 피독현상에 대한 내구성을 높일 수 있어 저 순도 수소연료 사용이 가능해 진다. 또한 가습장치와 수소 연료 개질장치의 부피를 줄일 수 있게 되어 전체적인 PEMFC 시스템이 단순화 된다. 현재 연료전지용 고분자 전해질막으로 DuPont사의 과-불소계 고분자 전해질막인 Nafion$^{(R)}$이 가장 널리 사용되고 있다. Nafion$^{(R)}$은 유연한 분자구조 안에 소수성이 강한 주사슬과 친수성을 나타내는 술폰산이 결합된 곁사슬이 존재하여 술폰화 곁사슬의 클러스터 둘레에는 친수성 영역이 형성이 되기때문에 소수/친수 상 분리가 잘되어 이온 클러스터 형성이 용이하지만 제조비용이 높은 단점을 갖고 있다. 특히, 전해질 막내에서 Bronsted base 역할을 하는 물에 의해 이온전도가 이루어지기 때문에 고온에서는 수분증발로 인해 성능이 급격히 감소된다. 따라서, 본 연구에서는 고온 저가습 조건에서 운전이 가능하고 Nafion이 갖는 문제점을 해결하고자, 내열특성이 뛰어나며 높은 수소이온 전도도 학보가 용이한 Sulfonated Poly(aryl ether)sulfone(SPAES) 고분자 전해질에, 고온에서도 수화성이 유지될 수 있도록 지르코니아를 황산화한 sulfated zirconia(s-$ZrO_2$)를 함침하여 복합 고분자전해질막을 제조하여 고온 저가습 조건에서의 수소이온 전도 특성에 관한 연구를 수행하였다. 개발된 막의 물리/화학적 특성은 water content(Wup%), 이온교환 용량(IEC, meq $g^{-1}$), 수소이온전도도(s $cm^{-1}$) 열 중량 분석(TGA), X선 회절분석(XRD) 등을 통하여 분석 및 관찰하였다. 내화학 및 열적 특성분석 결과, 황산화 반응공정으로 $ZrO_2$에 술폰산기가 안정적으로 결합하고 있음이 관찰되었으며, 본 연구에서 개발된 유 무기 복합막이 $250^{\circ}C$이상 열적안정성을 확보하고 있는 것으로 판단되었다. $100^{\circ}C$ 이하의 저온 영역에서, 일정 비율의 s-$ZrO_2$/SPAES막에서 이온교환용량(IEC)이 순수 SPAES 막보다 낮음에도 불구하고, water uptake가 증가함과 동시에 수소이온 전도도가 향상된 것을 관찰하였다. 또한, 고온에서는 수소이온이 자유롭게 이동할 수 있는 water channel을 형성하는 free water는 증발 하지만 s-$ZrO_2$와 SPAES의 술폰산기 사이에 강력하게 결합하고 있는 bound Water는 $100^{\circ}C$ 이상의 고온 영역에서도 존재하여, 비록 무가습 조건에서도 일정 비율의 s-$ZrO_2$/SPAES50 전해질 막의 경우, 높은 전도도를 나타냄을 관찰할 수 있었다. 따라서 본 연구를 통해 저가습 고온 적용을 목적으로 개발된 s-$ZrO_2$/SPAES50막은 우수한 내열 특성을 나타냄과 동시에 저가습 고온 영역($120^{\circ}C$, $50RH{\downarrow}$)에서 높은 수소이온 전도도를 유지하여, 고온 저가습 연료전지 운전에 적합할 것으로 사료된다.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2012.05a
• /
• pp.57.2-57.2
• /
• 2012

산소 이온 전도성 세라믹을 이용한 고체 산화물 연료전지의 전극은 원활한 전기화학반응을 위해, 이온 전도도, 전자 전도도 및 전기화학적 활성을 동시에 가지고 있어야 한다. 이를 위해 복합체 전극을 사용하며, 특히 음극의 경우 니켈(Nickel)과 Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ)로 이루어진 복합체 전극을 혼합 및 소결을 통해 제조하여 사용하였다. 하지만, 니켈의 경우 탄화 수소 연료에서의 탄소 침적 문제와 열악한 산화환원 안정성(redox stability)등의 문제점을 가지고 있다. 따라서 니켈대신 전도성 세라믹을 사용한 세라믹 복합체 음극 개발이 활발히 이루어지고 있으며, 그 중 침투법(infiltration method)을 이용한 복합체 전극 제조 방법을 소개한다. 실제로 니켈 금속과 유사한 높은 전기 전도도를 갖는 Sr-doped Lanthanum Vanadate (LSV)을 이용해, YSZ-LSV 복합체 전극을 침투법을 이용해 제조하고, 소량의 촉매을 첨가하여, 이온전도도, 전자 전도도 및 촉매 활성을 갖는 복합체 음극을 제조하였다. 이 복합체 음극의 탄화수소에서의 연료전지 성능 및 redox stability을 측정하였다.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.144-149
• /
• 2005

Sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) was blended with poly(ether sulfone) (PES) at various compositions. To investigate the possibility of using the blend membranes as polymer electrolyte membranes for direct methanol fuel cell, the blend membranes were characterized in terms of methanol permeability, proton conductivity, ion exchange capacity, and water content. Both proton conductivity and methanol permeability of SPEEK were relatively high. As the amount of PES increased, methanol permeability decreased more rapidly compared to proton conductivity. The experimental results indicated that the blend membrane with 40 wt% PES was the best choice in terms of the ratio of proton conductivity to methanol permeability.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.21 no.5
• /
• pp.514-521
• /
• 2010

A new one-shot process was employed to fabricate proton exchange membranes (PEMs) over conventional solvent-casting process. Here, PEMs containing nano-dispersed silica nanoparticles were fabricated using one-shot process similar to the bulk-molding compounds (BMC). Different components such as reactive dispersant, urethane acrylate nonionmer (UAN), styrene, styrene sulfuric acid and silica nano particles were dissolved in a single solvent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) followed by copolymerization within a mold in the presence of radical initiator. We have successfully studied the water-swelling and proton conductivity of obtained nanocomposite membranes which are strongly depended on the surface property of dispersed silica nano particles. In case of dispersion of hydrophilic silica nanoparticles, the nanocomposite membranes exhibited an increase in water-swelling and a decrease in methanol permeability with almost unchanged proton conductivity compared to neat polymeric membrane. The reverse observations were achieved for hydrophobic silica nanoparticles. Hence, hydrophilic and hydrophobic silica nanoparticles were effectively dispersed in hydrophilic and hydrophobic medium respectively. Hydrophobic silica nanoparticles dispersed in hydrophobic domains of PEMs largely suppressed swelling of hydrophilic domains by absorbing water without interrupting proton conduction occurred in hydrophilic membrane. Consequently, proton conductivity and water-swelling could be freely controlled by simply dispersing silica nanopartilces within the membrane.

• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.149-153
• /
• 2004

The cesium hydrogen sulfate (CsHSO$_4$) crystal is a superprotonic conductor above 140$^{\circ}C$ and possesses protonic conductivity three to low orders of magnitude higher than that at room temperature. Recently, the possibility of it as an electrolyte material for fuel cell system draws much attention. However, its plasticity and absorption of humidity place a limitation on its application. In this study, composites consisting of CsHSO$_4$ and polyacrylonitrile were prepared, and their phase transition properties and the ionic conductivities were evaluated. When the content of CsHSO$_4$ was about 80 vol%, a mechanically strong film with the protonic conductivity of 1${\times}$10$\^$-3/ Scm$\^$-1/ were made.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.53 no.3
• /
• pp.345-354
• /
• 2009

Sulfonated poly(ether sulfone)s (PESs) with a network structure were prepared by heat-induced crosslinking of the allyl-terminated telechelic sulfone polymers using a bisazide and their structure was analyzed by $^1H$ NMR. Having both uniform distribution of the hydrophilic conductive sites and controlled hydrophobic nature by minimized crosslinking, the crosslinked polymer (PES-60) membrane offered excellent proton conductivity at high temperature with a good thermal stability. In addition, selectivity of the crosslinked membrane (PES-60) was more than three times than that of Nafion$^{(R)}$.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.59 no.5
• /
• pp.413-422
• /
• 2015

Proton exchange membrane (PEM), which transfers proton from the anode to the cathode, is the key component of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Nafion is widely used as PEM due to its high proton conductivity as well as excellent chemical and physical stabilities. However, its high cost and the environmental hazards limit the commercial application in PEMFCs. To overcome these disadvantages, various alternative polymer electrolytes have been investigated for fuel cell applications. We used densely sulfonated polymers to maximize the ion conductivity of the corresponding membrane. To overcome high swelling, dipole-dipole interaction was used by introducing nitrile groups into the polymer backbone. As a result, physically-crosslinked membranes showed improved swelling ratio despite of high water uptake. All the membranes with different hydrophilic-hydrophobic compositions showed higher conductivity, despite their lower IEC, than that of Nafion-117.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.290-296
• /
• 2013

Poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-chlorotrifluoroethylene) P(VDF-co-CTFE) polymer was attached to methacrylic acid (MAA) in the presence of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5,4,0]undec-7-ene(DBU) catalyst to prepare P(VDF-co-CTFE)-MAA copolymer. The modified P(VDF-co-CTFE)-MAA was polymerized with 2-sulfoethyl methacrylate (SEMA) monomer in the presence of 4',4'-azobis(4-cyanovaleric acid(ACVA) initiator by free radical polymerization to form the proton conducting membrane. The ratio of the SEMA was increased in the membrane to increase the presence of the acidic group. The maximum IEC value that was observed at 50% SEMA was around 0.82 meq/g, which is consistent with the water uptake value. The highest proton conductivity achieved by P(VDF-co-CTFE)-MAA/SEMA membrane with 50% SEMA was approximately 0.041 S/cm. This indicates that the available ionic group for the proton conduction increases with the increase in the SEMA in the membrane.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.311-317
• /
• 2007

Proton conducting crosslinked membranes have been prepared by polymer blending, which consist of poly(vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene) (PVA-co-PE) and poly(styrene sulfonic acid-co-maleic acid) (PSSA-co-PMA) at 50 : 50 wt ratio. Two kinds of PSSA-co-PMA copolymer with 3 : 1 and 1 : 1 the molar ratio of PSSA to PMA wereused as a proton conducting source. The ethylene content of PVA-co-PE was also changed as 0, 27 and 44 mol%. The membranes were thermally crosslinked via the esterification reaction between -OH of PVA and -COOH of PMA, as demonstrated by FT-IR spectroscopy (PVA-co-PE)/(PSSA-co-PMA) membranes with 3 : 1 the molar ratio of PSSA to PMA showed higher ion exchange capacity (IEC), lower water uptake and higher proton conductivity than those with 1 : 1 molar ratio. As the PE concentration increased, the IEC values, water uptake and proton conductivities decreased continuously. These properties were elucidated in terms of competitive effect between the concentration of sulfonic acid, hydrophilicity and the crosslinked structure of membranes.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.30-38
• /
• 2011

Composite membranes based on sulfonated poly(aryl ether) sulfone (SPAES) with different sulfated zirconia nanoparticles ($s-ZrO_2$) ratio are synthesized and investigated for the improvement of the hydration and the proton conductivity at high temperature and no humidification for fuel cell applications. X-ray diffraction technique is employed to characterize the structure and the size of $s-ZrO_2$ nanoparticles. The sulfation effect of $s-ZrO_2$ nanoparticles is verified by FT-IR analysis. The properties of the SPAES composite membranes with the various $s-ZrO_2$ ratio are evaluated by ion exchange capacity and water content. The proton conductivities of the composite membranes are estimated at room temperature with full hydration and at the various high temperature without external humidification. The composite membrane with 5 wt% $s-ZrO_2$ shows the highest proton conductivity. The proton conductivities are $0.9292\;S\;cm^{-1}$ at room temperature with full hydration and $0.0018\;S\;cm^{-1}$ at $120^{\circ}C$ without external humidification, respectively.