• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.508-513
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• 2021

In order to improve the durability of a proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), it is essential to improve the durability of the polymer membrane. In order to improve the durability of the membrane, an e-PTFE support and a radical scavenger are added. In this study, the chemical durability of the reinforced membrane with ePTFE support and the non-reinforced membrane was compared by Fenton reaction. In the Fenton experiment of the polymer membrane without the addition of a radical scavenger, the absorption rate of hydrogen peroxide solution and iron ions through the cross section of the specimen cut into small pieces was higher in the reinforced membrane, so that the fluorine outflow concentration was higher. According to the type and amount of radical scavenger added, the fluorine outflow concentration of the reinforced membrane has a large difference of more than 3 times, indicating that the effect of the radical scavenger was stronger than that of the support.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.333-338
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• 2021

The durability of the PEMFC stack for large commercial vehicles should be more than 5 times that for passenger vehicles. If the Chemical Accelerated Stress Test (AST) of PEMFC(Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells) membrane for passenger cars is applied as it is for large commercial vehicles, there is a problem that the AST time becomes more than 2,500 hours. In order to shorten the AST time of DOE (Department of Energy), the chemical durability of the polymer membrane was evaluated using oxygen instead of air as a cathode gas. In this study, Nafion XL was used as a polymer membrane to evaluate accelerated durability under OCV, 90?, RH 30%, H₂/(air or oxygen) conditions. Among the DOE membrane durability target criteria, the decrease rate of short resistance was the fastest. By using oxygen instead of air, the degradation rate of the polymer membrane was accelerated while being less affected by electrode deterioration, reducing the polymer membrane durability evaluation time to less than half.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.433-442
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• 2020

In this study, in order to build a molecular dynamics simulation model of ionomer for water electrolysis, an ionomer model that reflects the characteristics of a water electrolysis system in which excess water molecules exist was compared to an ionomer built according to the conventional simulation method of the fuel cells membrane. The final ionomer MD models have a strong phase separation and water channel that is one of the important characteristics of the perfluorinated ionomer, and are stable and water-insoluble under excessive water and high temperature conditions. In the ionomer MD models built in this study, the excess water molecules decrease an ion conductivity due to the dilution of ions, but increase a hydrogen diffusivity. Therefore, it is necessary to design the molecular structure of ionomers for water electrolysis in experimental studies as well as molecular dynamics studies according to the characteristics of the water electrolysis system reported in this study.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.175-181
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• 2009

Mechanical properties and precipitation behavior of backward extruded 6061 Al alloy for pressure vessel were investigated using tensile test, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). In this study, solution heat treatment (SHT) was performed at $535^{\circ}C$ for 30~90 min and aging treatment was conducted at 177 and $190^{\circ}C$ for 1~7 h. Maximum tensile strength of $36.6kgf/mm^2$ and yield strength of $33.29kgf/mm^2$ were achieved at the aging time of 5 h at $190^{\circ}C$. TEM observation showed that fine needle-like ${\beta}^{{\prime}{\prime}}$ phase which has 35~45 nm of length was uniformly distributed in the aged 6061 Al alloy specimen. From tensile test, TEM and DSC analysis, it is expected that aging time of 2~5 h at $190^{\circ}C$ is suitable for the extruded A6061 used as pressure vessels.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.8
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• pp.508-515
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• 2009

Ti-6Al-4V biomaterial is widely used as a bone alternative. However, Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy suffers from numerous problems such as a high elastic modulus and high toxicity. Therefore, non-toxic biomaterials with low elastic moduli need to be developed. Ti-HA(hydroxyapatite) composites were fabricated in the present work by pulsed current activated sintering (PCAS) at $1000^{\circ}C$ under 60 MPa using mixed Ti and HA powders. The effects of HA content on the physical and mechanical properties of the sintered Ti-HA composites have been investigated. X-ray diffraction(XRD) analysis of the Ti-HA composites, including Ti-40 wt%HA in particular, revealed new phases, $Ti_{2}O$, CaO, $CaTiO_3$, and TixPy, formed by chemical reactions between Ti and HA during sintering. The hardness of the Ti-HA composites decreased with an increase in HA content. The corrosion resistance of these composites was observed to be an excellent candidate as a commercial Ti-6Al-4 V ELI alloy. A Ti-5 wt%HA composite fabricated by PCAS is recommended as a new biomaterial, because it offers good corrosion resistance, compressive strength, wear resistance, and biocompatibility, and a low Young's modulus.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.9
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• pp.685-690
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• 2012

Decalcomania is a new method for SOFCs (solid oxide fuel cells) unit cell fabrication. A tight and dense $5{\mu}m$ Yttria-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) electrolyte layer on anode substrate was fabricated by the decalcomania method. After 8YSZ as the electrolyte starting material was calcined at $1200^{\circ}C$, the particle size was controlled by the attrition mill. The median particle size (D50) of each 8YSZ was $39.6{\mu}m$, $9.30{\mu}m$, $6.35{\mu}m$, and $3.16{\mu}m$, respectively. The anode substrate was coated with decalcomania papers which were made by using 8YSZ with different median particle sizes. In order to investigate the effect of median particle sizes and sintering conditions on the electrolyte density, each sample was sintered for 2, 5 and 10 h, respectively. 8YSZ with a median particle size of $3.16{\mu}m$ which was sintered at $1400^{\circ}C$ for 10 had the highest density. With this 8YSZ, a SOFCs unit cell was manufactured with a $5{\mu}m$ layer by the decalcomania method. Then the unit cell was run at $800^{\circ}C$. The Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) and Maximum power density (MPD) was 1.12 V and $650mW/cm^2$, respectively.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.18-29
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• 2021

Platinum group metals (PGMs) are used in a wide range of application fields such as catalysts, electronic devices, electrodes, electrical devices, fuel cells and high temperature materials due to their excellent electrical and thermal conductivity as well as chemical resistivity. Platinum group elements are generally associated with nickel-copper sulfides in magmatic rocks. Depending on the relative concentrations of the PGMs, they are produced either as the primary products or as by-products of the nickel and copper. However, PGMs natural resource deposits are strictly limited in countries such as South Africa and Russia. The annual supply of PGMs is only under 500 t. Considering the limited supply of PGMs, there will be a noticeable increase in the supply risk associated with PGMs in the near future. Therefore, it is extremely important to recover PGMs from secondary resources such as spent catalysts. This paper reviews on overview of PGMs extraction and recycling processes.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.49-53
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• 2021

The Fenton reaction is often used to evaluate the chemical durability of polymer membranes of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC). However, due to the violent reaction between hydrogen peroxide and iron ions, it is difficult to compare experimental data because of low reproducibility. In this study, we tried to find the reaction conditions to improve the reproducibility of the durability test of the membrane by the Fenton reaction. The hydrogen peroxide concentration was fixed at 30%, the iron ion concentration, temperature, stirring speed, and sample size were varied, and the fluorine ion concentration of the Nafion polymer membrane deteriorated by radicals was measured. When the iron ion concentration was increased or the membrane sample size was increased, and the reaction temperature was increased to 80 ℃, the experimental deviation increased, so an iron ion concentration of 10 ppm, a temperature of 70 ℃, and a sample size of 0.5 ㎠ were suitable.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.151-158
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• 2022

Iron and nitrogen coordinated carbon catalyst (Fe-N-C) is the most promising non-precious metal catalyst (NPMC) studied to alternate the Pt-group oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst. In this work, Fe/N/C type catalysts are prepared by four different nitrogen precursors; N, N, N', N'-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA), 1,2-ethylenediamine (EDA), m-dicyanobenzene (DCB), dicyandiamide (DCDA) which can chelate a transition metal; In addition, the catalysts conducted the pyrolysis process at four different temperatures of 700, 800, 900, 1000 ℃ to investigate the ORR activities depend on pyrolysis temperature and to find an appropriate temperature. The characterizations of catalysts were investigated by scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and element analysis (EA). The electrocatalytic activity was measured by ORR polarization, also the electron transfer number was calculated from the slope of the K-L plot. The FeNC-EDA-800 which were prepared at pyrolysis temperature of 800 ℃ with EDA showed better ORR activity than the other catalysts.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.7-19
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• 2022

Hydrogen purification is generally performed through chemical and physical methods. Among various types of purification method PSA(Pressure Swing Adsorption) is widely used with its purification capacity and economic efficiency. In Korea, most of the hydrogen used in automobiles and power generation fuel cells is purified using PSA. Hydrogen produced in petrochemical complexes has difficulties in transportation. The government is planning to install hydrogen extractors that produce hydrogen directly from consumers in connection with the city gas supply chain, and companies are also installing related research and demonstration facilities one after another. Europe and others have recently established safety standards related to PSA and are making efforts for systematic safety management at the construction and operation stage, but domestic safety standards related to PSA are still insufficient. This study aims to identify problems of existing facilities through surveys and risk assessment by companies operating existing PSA, and to prepare domestic technical standards including them in overseas technical standards to promote the safety of new and existing PSA systems.