• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.131-135
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• 2011

It is, in general, believed that during the activation process, the proton conductivity increases due to wetting effect and the electrochemical resistance reduction, resulting in an increase in the fuel cell performance with time. However, until now, very scant information is available on the understanding of activation processes. In this study, dominant variables that effect on the performance increase of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) during the activation process were investigated. Wetting, pore restructuring and active metal utilization were analyzed systematically. Unexpectedly, the changes for both ohmic and reaction resistance characterized by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) after initial wetting process were much smaller when considering the degree of cell performance increases. However, the EIS spectra represents that the pore opening of electrode turns into gas transportable structure more easily. The increase in the performance with activation cycles was also investigated in a view of active metals. Though the particle size was grown, the number of effective active sites might be exposed more. The impurity removal and catalytic activity enhancement measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV) could be a strong evident. The results and analysis revealed that, not merely wetting of membrane but also restructuring of electrodeand catalytic activity increase are important factors for the fast and efficient activation of the polymer electrolyte fuel cells.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.439-445
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• 2007

Proton exchange membrane Fuel Cells(PEMFCs) have been spotlighted because of their broad potential application for potable electrical devices, automobiles and residential usages. However, their utilization is limited to low temperature operation due to the electrolyte dehydration at high temperature. High temperature PEMFC operation offers high CO tolerance and easy water management. This review presents development of high temperature($120{\sim}200^{\circ}C$) PEMFC. Especially, PEMFC which is based on acid-doped PBI membrane is discussed.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.19-22
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• 2007

In this study, we investigated operating characteristics of natural gas fuel processor for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The fuel processor consists of a natural gas reformer, a water-gas shift reactor, a heat-exchanger and a burner, in which the overall integrated volume is exactly(exceptionally) small, namely, about 10L except outer insulation. The producted hydrogen is $1Nm^3/hr$ and the maximum thermal efficiency is ${\sim}76%$(low heating value) at full operating load. A compact and highly efficient $1Nm^3/hr$ class natural gas fuel processor was developed at UNISON is an advantage for application in residential PEMFCs co-generation systems.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.241-246
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• 2023

Fuel cells are one of the renewable energy sources that have sparked a lot of scientific attention for solving problems related to the energy crisis and environmental pollution. One of the most crucial subjects concerning the utilization of fuel cells is modeling. Therefore, an analytical steady-state and dynamic fuel cell model was described in this study. The parameter for the identification process was investigated, and the MATLAB/Simulink implementation was demonstrated. A 15-W proton exchange membrane fuel cell was used to apply the suggested modeling methodology. Comparing experimental and simulation findings indicated that the model error was constrained to 3%. This study showed that temperature and humidity affect fuel cell performance.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.170-179
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• 2005

Electrolyte loss is considered as one of the major obstacles limiting the life time of molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs). Unit cells with an effective area of 100 $cm^2$ were prepared and were operated to determine the optimum matrix thickness which contains the maximum amount of electrolyte without serious preformance loss caused by high resistance. Matrices with different thickness, 1.45, 1.8, and 2.3 mm, were used in unit cells and those cells were operared about 5000, 10000, and 4000 hrs. The unit cell used 1.8 mm thick matrix showed 0.85 V (at 150 mA/$cm^2$) as the intial performance and this cell voltage is not lower than the cell voltage obtained in the cell with 1 mm thick matrix. This cell was operated for 10000 hrs. The cell used 1.45 mm thick matrices showed 16.6 % in the electrolyte loss after 5000 hr operation. In the case of the cell with 2.3 mm thick matrix, the initial cell voltage was below 0.80 V (at 150 mA/$cm^2$). For thermal cycle test, the gas crossover amount of unit cell used 1.8 mm thick matrix was much less than that of the cell with 1.0 mm thick matrix.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.183-196
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• 2017

The research efforts directed at advancing water electrolysis technology continue to intensify together with the increasing interest in hydrogen as an alternative source of energy to fossil fuels. Among the various water electrolysis systems reported to date, systems employing a solid polymer electrolyte membrane are known to display both improved safety and efficiency as a result of enhanced separation of products: hydrogen and oxygen. Conducting water electrolysis in an alkaline medium lowers the system cost by allowing non-platinum group metals to be used as catalysts for the complex multi-electron transfer reactions involved in water electrolysis, namely the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions (HER and OER, respectively). We briefly review the anion exchange membranes (AEMs) and electrocatalysts developed and applied thus far in alkaline AEM water electrolysis (AEMWE) devices. Testing the developed components in AEMWE cells is a key step in maximizing the device performance since cell performance depends strongly on the structure of the electrodes containing the HER and OER catalysts and the polymer membrane under specific cell operating conditions. In this review, we discuss the properties of reported AEMs that have been used to fabricate membrane-electrode assemblies for AEMWE cells, including membranes based on polysulfone, poly(2,6-dimethyl-p-phylene) oxide, polybenzimidazole, and inorganic composite materials. The activities and stabilities of tertiary metal oxides, metal carbon composites, and ultra-low Pt-loading electrodes toward OER and HER in AEMWE cells are also described.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.526-532
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• 2010

The anode may inevitably undergo a number of reduction.oxidation (redox) cycles during solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) operation. The re-oxidation of Ni to NiO causes significant mechanical stress to be developed across the anode, which may destroy the integrity of the whole cell. In this study, the redox behavior of Ni-YSZ composite was examined at $800^{\circ}C$ using various characterization techniques.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2010

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have been under development for a variety of power generation applications. Power system sizes considered range from small watt-size units (e.g., 50-W portable devices) to very large multi-megawatt systems (e.g., 500-MW base load power plants). Because of the reversibility of its operation, the SOFC has also been developed to operate under reverse or electrolysis mode for hydrogen production from steam (In this case, the cell is referred to as solid oxide electrolysis cell or SOEC.). Potential applications for the SOEC include on-site and large-scale hydrogen production. One critical requirement for practical uses of these systems is long-term performance stability under specified operating conditions. Intrinsic material properties and operating environments can have significant effects on cell performance stability, thus performance degradation rate. This paper discusses potential applications of the SOFC/SOEC, technological status and current research and development (R&D) direction, and certain aspects of long-term performance degradation in the operation of SOFCs/SOECs for power generation/hydrogen production.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.70-73
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• 2004

Fuel Cells are clean and efficient electrochemical devices that convert the chemical energy stored in a fuel with oxygen from air directly into usable electricity without using a conventional combustion process. Because of the great importance of proton conducting membranes in fuel cells for certain applications as mobile power generators, significant research efforts have been devoted to these membranes during the last 30 years.(omitted)

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.3849-3850
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• 2011