• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.45 no.12
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• pp.807-814
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• 2008

The Cu-Ni-YSZ cermet anodes for direct use of methane in solid oxide fuel cells have been fabricated by electroplating Cu into the porous Ni-YSZ cermet anode. The uniform distribution of Cu in the Ni-YSZ anode could be obtained via pulse electroplating in the aqueous solution mixture of $CuSO_4{\cdot}5H_{2}O$ and ${H_2}{SO_4}$ for 30 min with 0.05 A of average applied current. The power density ($0.17\;Wcm^{-2}$) of a single cell with a Cu-Ni-YSZ anode was shown to be slightly lower in methane at $700^{\circ}C$, compared with the power density ($0.28\;Wcm^{-2}$) of a single cell with a Ni-YSZ anode. However, the performance of the Ni-YSZ anode-supported single cell was abruptly degraded over 21 h because of carbon deposition, whereas the Cu-Ni-YSZ anode-supported single cell showed the enhanced durability upto 52 h.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.449-455
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• 2006

Ionic cluster mimic, polymer electrolyte membranes were prepared using polymer composites of crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with sulfated-${\beta}$-cyclodextrins (${\beta}-CDSO_3H$) or phosphated-${\beta}$-cyclodextrins (${\beta}-CDPO(OH)_2$). When Nafion, developed for a fuel cell using low temperature, polymer electrolyte membranes, is used in a direct methanol fuel cell, it has a methanol crossover problem. The ionic inverted micellar structure formed by micro-segregation in Nafion, known as ionic cluster, is distorted in methanol aqueous solution, resulting in the significant transport of methanol through the membrane. While the ionic structure formed by the ionic sites in either ${\beta}-CDSO_3H$ or ${\beta}-CDPO(OH)_2$ in this composite membrane is maintained in methanol solution, it is expected to reduce methanol transport. Proton conductivity was found to increase in PVA membranes upon addition of ionized cyclodextrins. Methanol permeability through the PVA composite membrane containing cyclodextrins was lower than that of Nafion. It is thus concluded that the structure and fixation of ionic clusters are significant barriers to methanol crossover in direct methanol fuel cells.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.218-221
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• 2009

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), as high-temperature fuel cells, have various advantages. In some merits of SOFCs, high temperature operation can lead to the capability for internal reforming, providing fuel flexibility. SOFCs can directly use CH4 and CO as fuels with sufficient steam feeds. However, hydrocarbons heavier than CH4, such as ethylene, ethane, and propane, induce carbon deposition on the Ni-based anodes of SOFCs. In the case of the ethylene steam reforming reaction on a Ni-based catalyst, the rate of carbon deposition is faster than among other hydrocarbons, even aromatics. In the reformates of heavy hydrocarbons (diesel, gasoline, kerosene and JP-8), the concentration of ethylene is usually higher than other low hydrocarbons such as methane, propane and butane. It is importatnt that ethylene in the reformate is removed for stlable operation of SOFCs. A new methodology, termed post-reforming was introduced for removing low hydrocarbons from the reformate gas stream. In this work, activity tests of some post-reforming catalysts, such as CGO-Ru, CGO-Ni, and CGO-Pt, are investigated. CGO-Pt catalyst is not good for removing ethylene due to low conversion of ethylene and low selectivity of ethylene dehydrogenation. The other hand, CGO-Ru and CGO-Ni catalysts show good ethylene conversion, and CGO-Ni catalyst shows the best reaction selectivity of ethylene dehydrogenation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.30 no.9 s.252
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• pp.850-857
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• 2006

Hydrogen production using current fueling facilities is essential for near-term applications of fuel cells. A preliminary process for developing a natural gas autothermal reforming (ATR) reactor for fuel cells is presented in this paper. A experimental reactor for methane ATR was constructed and used for characterization of Jin reactor. Temperature profiles of the reactor were observed, and reformed gas compositions were analyzed to evaluate efficiency, conversion and reaction heat with varying amounts of $O_2/CH_4$ at selected furnace temperature and $H_2O/CH_4$. The amount of $O_2/CH_4$ showed strong offsets on reactor temperature, efficiency and conversion indicating that $O_2/CH_4$ is a crucial operation condition. Operation conditions which result in thermal neutrality of ATR reactor system were determined for two cases of an ATR system based on the estimation of enthalpy difference between reactants of assumed inlet temperatures and the products from experimental results. The determined conditions for thermally neutral operations could be used for guidelines to design reformers and for determining the operation parameters of a self sustaining ATR reactor.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.46-52
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• 2008

Optimization of ionomer solution was conducted in order to improve the performance of MEAs in PEMPC. The interface between membrane and electrodes in MEAs is crucial region determining fuel cell performance as well as ORR reaction at cathode. Through the modification of Nafion ionomer content at the interface between membrane and electrodes, an optimal content was obtained with Nafion 115 membranes. Two times higher current density was obtained with the outer Nafion sprayed MEA compared with the non-sprayed one. In addition, the symmetrical impedance spectroscopy mode (SM) exhibited that the resistances of membrane area, proton hydration, and charge transfer decreased as the outer Nafion is sprayed. From the polarization curves and SM, the highest current density and the lowest resistance was obtained at the outer ionomer content of $0.15\;mg\;cm^{-2}$.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2009.04b
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• pp.266-268
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• 2009

In this paper, authors deal with a power conditioning system (PCS) of high efficiency for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) generation system. Fuel cells are a direct current (DC) power generators. They generate electricity through an electrochemical process that converts the energy stored in a fuel directly into electricity. Fuel cells have many benefits, which produce no particulate matter, nitrogen or sulfur oxides. And they have few moving parts and produce little or no noise. When fueled by hydrogen, they yield only heat and water as byproducts. Their wide application can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and foreign sources of petroleum. This paper studies on a novel PCS circuit topology of high efficiency using in PEMFC generation system The controlling switches in the PCS is operated to soft switching. Some digital simulation results and experimental results for the proposed PCS is confirmed to the validity of the analytical results.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.52-57
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• 2018

Most current ships have adopted on-board diesel generators to produce electricity, but the overall efficiency of equipment is down to about 50% due to thermal losses from operations such as exhaust gas, jacket water cooler, scavenge air cooler, etc. Recently, fuel cells have been highlighted as a promising technology to reduce the effect on the environment and have a higher efficiency. Therefore, this paper suggested a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)-gas turbine (GT) using waste heat from a SOFC and SOFC-GT-steam turbine (ST) with Rankine cycle. To compare both configurations, the fuel flow rate, current density, cell voltage, electrical power, and overall efficiency were evaluated at different operating loads. The overall efficiency of both SOFC hybrid systems was higher than the conventional system.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.387-391
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• 2019

A highly porous Ni@MIL-101catalyst for urea oxidation was synthesized by anchoring Ni into a Cr-based metal-organic framework, MIL-101, particles. The morphology, structure, and composition of as synthesized Ni@MIL-101 catalysts were characterized by X-Ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The electro-catalytic activity of the Ni@MIL-101catalysts towards urea oxidation was investigated using cyclic voltammetry. It was found that the structure of Ni@MIL-101 retained that of the parent MIL-101, featuring a high BET surface area of $916m^2g^{-1}$, and thus excellent electro-catalytic activity for urea oxidation. A $urea/H_2O_2$ fuel cell with Ni@MIL-101 as anode material exhibited an excellent performance with maximum power density of $8.7mWcm^{-2}$ with an open circuit voltage of 0.7 V. Thus, this work shows that the highly porous three-dimensional Ni@MIL-101 catalysts can be used for urea oxidation and as an efficient anode material for urea fuel cells.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.298-303
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• 2011

Mg-23.5 wt%Ni-xwt%Cu (x = 2.5, 5 and 7.5) samples for hydrogen storage were prepared by melt spinning and crystallization heat treatment from a Mg-23.5 wt%Ni-5 wt%Cu alloy synthesized by the gravity casting method. They were then ground under $H_2$ to obtain a fine powder. Among these samples the Mg-23.5Ni-2.5Cu sample had the highest hydriding and dehydriding rates after activation. The Mg-23.5Ni-2.5Cu sample absorbed 3.59 and 4.01 wt%H for 10 and 60 min, respectively, at 573K under 12 bar $H_{2}$. The activated 88(87.5Mg-10Ni-2.5Cu)-$5Nb_{2}O_{5}-7NbF_{5}$ sample absorbed 2.93 wt%H for 10 min, and 3.14 wt%H for 60 min at 573K under 12 bar $H_{2}$.