• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.527-534
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• 1992

Raney nickel was used as catalyst in the hydrogen electrode for an alkaline fuel cell. The hydrogen electrode manufactured with the Raney nickel catalyst which was sintered at $700^{\circ}C$ was found to have the highest electrode performance. Using the Raney nickel powder of average particle size $90{\AA}$ for the electrode, the current density which had been measured was $450mA/cm^2$ at $80^{\circ}C$ using 6N KOH solution as an electrolyte. The effects of PTFE addition were investigated with CO-chemisorption, polarization curves and Tafel slope. CO-chemisorption had shown the optimum value when the Raney nickel was mixed with 5wt% of PTFE, but from the current density and Tafel slope at porous Raney nickel electrode, the appropriate value of PTFE addition was 10wt%. Recommendable Ni and Al portion for Raney nickel was 60 : 40 and loading amount was $0.25g/cm^2$. Also the influence of pressing pressure for manufacturing catalytic layer and for junction with gas diffusion layer was examined. The morphology of catalyst surface was investigated with SEM. The influence of reactivation time and heat-treatment temperature were also studied.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.444-452
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• 2020

This study investigated the cathode catalyst of direct borohydride/hydrogen peroxide fuel cells for space exploration. Various catalysts such as Au, Ag, and Ni were supported on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Various techniques, such as transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction were conducted to investigate the characteristics of the catalysts. Fuel cell tests were performed to evaluate the performance of the catalysts. Ag/MWCNTs exhibited better catalytic activity than the Ni/MWCNTs and better catalytic selectivity of the Au/MWCNTs. Ag/MWCNTs presented good catalytic activity and selectivity even at an elevated operating temperature. The performance of Ag/MWCNTs was also stable for up to 60 minutes.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.161-170
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• 2012

There are many factors to consider when attempting to improve the efficiency of fuel cell operation, such as the operation temperature, humidity, stoichiometry, operation pressure, geometric features, etc. In this paper, the effects of the operation pressure were investigated to find the current density and water saturation behavior on a cross section designated by the design geometry. A two-dimensional geometric model was established with a gas channel that can provide $H_2$ to the anode and $O_2$ and water vapor to the cathode gas diffusion layer (GDL). The results from this numerical modeling revealed that higher operation pressures would produce a higher current density than lower ones, and the water saturation behavior was different at operation pressures of 2 atm and 3 atm in the cathode GDL. In particular, the water saturation ratios are higher directly below the collector than in other areas. In addition, this paper presents the dependence of the velocity behavior in the cathode on pressure changes, and the velocity fluctuations through the GDL are higher in the output area than in inlet area. This conclusion will be utilized to design more efficient fuel cell modeling of real fuel cell operation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.375-381
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• 2010

In this paper, the heat-transfer characteristics of steam reforming in an annular reactor are presented. Heat is supplied by the catalytic combustion of syn-gas. The thermal behaviors of exothermic and endothermic reactions in a directly coupled concentric-tube packed-bed reactor were investigated experimentally. The gas mixture supplied for catalytic combustion consisted of the off-gas emitted from MCFC anode. Methane in steam at a suitable S/C (steam-to-carbon) ratio was used in the reforming reactions. On the basis of the experimental results, a simple simulation was performed to predict the temperature profile required in the reforming side of the reactor to achieve optimum hydrogen yield. The results of this study may be utilized as reference data in future studies for further development of coupled reactors.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.927-933
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• 1997

The effects of carbon black on the electrodes performance and on the structure of the catalyst layer in Raney nickel hydrogen electrodes for alkaline fuel cells were investigated by using electrochemical and nitrogen adsorption methods. The optimum content of carbon black in the catalyst layer of Raney nickel hydrogen electrode was 2wt%. The limiting current density was increased by the addition of carbon black due to the enlargement of gas-liquid interface area. The rate determining step at the limiting current density was supposed to be a step where hydrogen dissolves at gas-liquid interfaces.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.102-107
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• 2012

The recovery of a Pt anode in a PEMFC through 30 ppm $H_2S/H_2$ exposure was evaluated by using a cyclic voltametry(CV) scan. First, the PEMFC unit cell performanc loss was measured three times under an anode feeding with 30 ppm $H_2S/H_2$ for 1hr at $0.5A/cm^2$ of current density. The initial cell performance was $1.16A/cm^2$ at 0.6 V without $H_2S$ poisoning. After first poisoning step for 1hr the cell performance was decrease to $0.77A/cm^2$, and the further poisoning steps decreased up 0.57 V. Finally, the recovery of the cell performance of $H_2S$ poisoned PEMFC was achieved up to 90.3% by applying CV scan. Moreover, we also found out that another possible approach for over 80% recovery of the cell performance of $H_2S$ poisoned anode Pt catalyst layer was to just inject fresh hydrogen into the anode feeding stream.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.701-709
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• 1992

Silver particles were impregnated on carbon black with colloidal method and used as catalyst for oxygen electrode in alkaline fuel cell. With the addition of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate in $AgNO_3$ and $NaBH_4$solution, colloidal solution was made and confirmed with electrophoresis test. Effects of particle size on electrode performance were studied and $200{\AA}$ of silver particle size shown the highest value of mass activity. The aggromeration of silver particle was Influenced with surfactant amount, stirring time and heat treatment. Considering the increase of particle size caused of operating temperature, recommendable particle size of silver catalyst for manufacturing the electrode was $100{\AA}$. Dispersity of carbon black was investigated and reagglomeration was appeared after homogenizing 30 sec.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.583-591
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• 2008

Recently, as a demand for the portable device is surged, there are needs to develop a new fuel cell system for replacing the conventionally used secondary battery. For this purpose, it becomes important to develop direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC) that uses formic acid as a fuel. The formic acid can offer typical advantages such as excellent non-toxicity of the level to be used as food additive, smaller crossover flux through electrolyte, and high reaction capability caused by high theoretical electromotive force (EMF). With the typical merits of formic acid, the efforts for optimizing reaction catalyst and cell design are being made to enhance performance and long term stability of DFAFC. As a result, to date, the DFAFC having the power density of more than $300mW/cm^2$ was developed. In this paper, basic performing theory and configuration of DFAFC are initially introduced and future opportunities of DFAFC including the development of catalyst for the anode electrode and electrolyte, and design for the optimization of cell structure are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.118-123
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• 2006

Degradation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) that is facilitated by on/off cycles is one of the most important issues for commercialization of fuel cell vehicles. When a PEMFC stack is shut down, residual hydrogen and induce high voltage equivalent to open circuit voltage to the cathode side that might cause sintering of Pt catalyst and facilitate formation of hydrogen peroxide at the anode side that might decompose $Nafionc\'{A}$ membrane. In this study, degradation of PEMFC exposed to repetitive on/off cycles was investigated by measuring i-V characteristics, ac impedance, cyclic voltammograms, gas leak, cross-sectional SEM images, and TEM images. To prevent degradation of PEMFC caused by the residual gases, hydrogen was removed from anode gas channel by gas-purging and by using a dummy resistance, that were found to be a very effective method.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.132.1-132.1
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• 2010

Anode off-gas of high temperature fuel cells such as MCFC still contain combustible components such as hydrogen, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon. Thus, it's very important to fully burn anode off-gas and use the generated heat in order to increase system efficiency. In the present study, catalytic combustors have been applied to high temperature MCFC system so that the combustion of anode-off gas can be boosted up. Since the performance of catalytic combustor directly depends on the combustion catalyst, this study has been focused on the experimental investigation on the combustion characteristics of multiple commercial catalysts having different structures and compositions. In order to determine the design conditions of the catalytic combustor, parameters such as inlet temperature, space velocity and excess air ratio have been varied and optimized for combustor design. Results show that $H_2$ in off-gas assists $CH_4$ combustion in a way that it decreases minimum inlet temperature limit and increases maximum space velocity while keeping high fuel conversion efficiency.