• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.69-74
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• 2001

Films of TiO$_2$/SiO$_2$ were deposited on the inner surface of the porous glass support tubes by decomposition of tetraisopropyl titanate (TIPT) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) at atmospheric pressure. Dense and hydrogen -permselective membranes were formed at 400-600$\^{C}$. The permeation rates of H$_2$ through the membrane at 600$\^{C}$ were 0.2-0.4 ㎤(STP)/min-㎠ atm and H$_2$:N$_2$permeation ratios were above 1000. The permeation properties of the membranes were investigated at various deposition temperatures and TIPT/TEOS concentrations. Decomposition of TIPT alone at temperatures above 400$\^{C}$ produced porous crystalline TiO$_2$ films and they were not H7-selective. Decomposition of TEOS produced H$_2$-permeable SiO$_2$ films at 400-600$\^{C}$ but film deposition rate was very low. Addition of TIFT to the TEOS stream significantly accelerated the deposition rate and produced highly H$_2$-selective films. Increasing the TIPT/TEOS concentration ratio increased the deposition rate. The TiO$_2$/SiO$_2$ membranes formed at 600 $\^{C}$ have the permeation properties comparable to those of SiO$_2$ membranes produced from TEOS.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.45-49
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• 2016

In order to mitigate oxidative degradation of polymer membrane during fuel cell operation, an organic radical quencher was introduced. Rutin was selected as a radical quencher and mixed with sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) to prepare composite membrane. Physicochemical properties of the composite membranes such as water uptake and proton conductivity were characterized. Hydrogen peroxide exposure experiment, which can mimic accelerated oxidative stability test during fuel cell operation, was adopted to evaluate the oxidative stability of the membranes. The composite membranes containing Rutin showed similar proton conductivity and enhanced oxidative stability compared to pristine ones.

• 한국전기화학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.07a
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• pp.169-171
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• 2003

Organic/inorganic hybrid membranes have been prepared and evaluated as polymer electrolytes in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Previously, partially fluorinated poly (arylenether) was synthesized and the polymer was sulfonated by fuming sulfuric acid$(30\%\;SO_3)$. Modification of these polymers with coupling agent and inorganic materials was carried out to prepare membranes. Membranes cast from these materials were investigated in relation to the proton conductivity and weight loss at the room temperature. It was found that these membranes had a higher conductivity of $10^{-2}\;Scm^{-1}$ at the room temperature. But inorganic materials have leaked out from the hybrid membrane. If this problem is resolved, organic/inorganic hybrid membranes will become satisfactory Polymer electrolytes for the PEMFC.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.44-48
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• 2014

Sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone)-cerium composite membranes with improved oxidative stability were prepared for proton exchange membrane fuel cell application. Oxidative stability of the composite membranes changed depending on the amount of incorporated metal. Their water uptake, IEC and proton conductivity were also affected. ICP analysis confirmed trace of cerium ion in the composite membranes and $^1H$-NMR indicated successful coordination of sulfonic acid groups with the metal ions. Increasing amount of the cerium ion resulted in decrease in proton conductivities and water uptake, but enhanced oxidative stabilities. A hydrogen peroxide exposure equipment was used for the test of oxidative stability of the composite membranes, which enabled to mimic fuel cell operating condition compared with conventional Fenton's test.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.459-464
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• 2007

Polymer electrolyte membranes, featuring ionic channels, were prepared from sulfonated dextran/ poly(vinyl alcohol) (sD/PVA) membranes. A stiff sulfated dextran was chosen as the route for ionic transport, since ionic sites are located along the stiff dextran main chain. The sD/PVA blend membranes were annealed and then chemically crosslinked. The characteristics of the crosslinked sD/PVA membranes were investigated to determine their suitability as proton exchange membranes. The proton conductivity was found to increase with increasing amounts of sD inside the membrane, which reached a maximum and then decreased when the sD content exceeded 30 wt%, while the methanol permeability increased with increasing sD content. The good dispersion of sD inside the membrane, which serves as an ionic channels mimic, played a significant role in proton transportation.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.18-24
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• 2003

In order to improve the mechanical properties of the sulfonated polysulfone (SPSf) membranes previously synthesized in our laboratory, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was blended which is well known as the excellent physical and chemical properties. The resulting membranes blended with several molecular weight of PVA varying from 13,000 to 124,000 have been characterized to investigate the effect of PVA molecular weight in terms of ion conductivities, methanol permeabilities, water contents and ion exchange capacities for both heat treated and untreated membranes at 150$^{\circ}C$. The proton conductivity is decreased as the molecular weight of PVA increases. The plain SPSf-6.0 showed the proton conductivity of 0.078 S/cm whereas the blended membrane with M.W. 31,000 PVA indicated 0.04 S/cm. For methanol permeabilities, when PVA is added to SPAf-6.0, methanol crossover is increased because of the gain of the hydrophilicity from 3.4 to 6.5${\times}$10$\^$-6/ $\textrm{cm}^2$/s. For the annealed blended membranes (with M.W. 31,000 PVA), both the methanol corssover and proton conductivity showed very consistent values, about 2.3${\times}$10$\^$-6/ $\textrm{cm}^2$/s and 0.036 S/cm, respectively.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.458-465
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• 2018

This study reports the fabrication of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) containing two kinds of functional groups: i) trimethylphosphite (TMP) and ii) trimethylamine (TMA). We carried out the synthesis of polymers to enhance thermal stability and ion conductivity. The alternative polymer was prepared using 2,2-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methylphenyl)propane and decafluorobiphenyl. The membrane was fabricated by solution casting method. The thermal stability of membranes was examined by TGA. The physiochemical properties of membranes were also investigated in terms of water uptake, swelling ratio, ion exchange capacity, and ion conductivity. The hydroxide ion conductivity of the membranes reached about 20.2 mS/cm for quaternary ammonium poly(arylene ether) (QA-PAE) containing TMA moiety and 5.1 mS/cm for quaternary phosphonium PAE (QP-PAE) containing TMP moiety at $90^{\circ}C$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Biophysical Society Conference
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• 1999.06a
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• pp.28-28
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• 1999

The movement of water across cell plasma membranes occurs in all cell types but is particularly rapid in erythrocytes, renal tubular cells. In principle, osmotic/oncotic gradients and hydrostatic pressure difference can drive water across a cell layer by transcellular or paracellular pathways. The aquaporin family of molecular water channels, which now number 10 in mammals and many more in plants and lower organism, are likely to provide a molecular pathway for water transport in some cell membranes.(omitted)

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.4
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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).

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1763-1770
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• 2013

A series of the block copolymers were successfully synthesized from post-sulfonated hydrophilic and hydrophobic macromers via three-step copolymerization. The degrees of sulfonation (DS) of the copolymers (10%, 30%, or 50%) were controlled by changing the molar ratio of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts. The resulting block copolymers were characterized by $^1H$ NMR and other technologies. The membranes were successfully cast using dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solution at $100^{\circ}C$. The copolymers were characterized to confirm chemical structure by $^1H$ NMR and FT-IR. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) demonstrated that all sulfonated block copolymers exhibited good thermal stability with an initial weight loss at temperatures above $240^{\circ}C$. The membranes showed acceptable ion exchange capacity (IEC) and water uptake values in accordance with DS. The maximum proton conductivity was 184 mS $cm^{-1}$ in block copolymer-50 at $60^{\circ}C$ and 100% relative humidity, while the conductivity of Nifion-115 was 160 mS $cm^{-1}$ under the same measurement conditions. AFM images of the block copolymer membranes showed well separated the hydrophilic and hydrophobic domains. From the observed results it is that the prepared block membranes can be considered as suitable polymer electrolyte membranes for the application of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC).