• New & Renewable Energy
• /
• v.5 no.4
• /
• pp.75-78
• /
• 2009

The performances of proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis depend on many factors such as materials, geometries, fabrication methods, operating conditions, and so forth. The fabrication method is concerned, membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) are a most important part to show different performances by different fabrication methods. The performance change of PEM water electrolysis was experimentally measured according to the fabrication differences of the anode electrodes. One point of view is the catalyst intrusion rate to the anode gas diffusion layer (GDL), and the other point of view is the catalyst loading distribution in depth of the anode GDL. Results show that the performances of MEA with deep intrusion of the catalysts are better in the range of low current densities but worse at higher current densities. The catalyst loading distribution does not affect significantly to the performance of PEM water electrolyser.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.309-316
• /
• 2009

The effect of gas diffusion layers (GDLs) on the freeze/thaw condition durability in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) were investigated. For this purpose, three kinds of GDLs, such as, felt, paper and cloth types with different basic properties have been first prepared, then the changes in the properties and performance of cells was observed during the freeze/thaw cycles ranging from -30 to $70^{\circ}C$. The performance evaluations were conducted by using the single cells consisting of different GDLs. The performance degradation and the cell resistance increase could be directly correlated. The physical destruction of electrode was shown by SEM analysis. The mechanically supporting ability on the interface between the cell components can help enhancing the durability of PEFCs in the freeze/thaw condition.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.82-91
• /
• 2005

Polymer membrane needs to maintain appropriate moisture. Insufficient moisture causes low conduction of hydrogen ion because of increased contact resistance between electrode and membrane by shrinking membrane, and abundant moisture decreases fuel cell performance as difficulty of diffusion reacting gas. Therefore, water controlling system is very consequential for the polymer membrane fuel cell. If hollow fiber membrane humidification is used between fuel and air lines, it is possible to supply heat to fuel and air by using thermal exchanger. It can supply appropriate humidity depending on operating temperature, and can recover heat from exhaust gas which contains water vapor and air. Because of simple structure of humidification system, this system can be easily applied in the PEMFC and cut down cost.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2006.06a
• /
• pp.99-102
• /
• 2006

Optimal flow-field design of bipolar-plates for a commercial class PEM(polymer electrolyte membrane) fuel cell stack was carried out on the basis of three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics(CFD) simulation. A three-dimensional CFD model originally developed by Shimpalee et al., has been utilized for performing large-scale simulation of a single fuel cell consisting of bipolar-plates gas diffusion layers, and a membrane-electrode-assembly(MEA). The CFD model is able to predict the current density, pressure drops, gas velocities, vapor and liquid water contents, temperature distributions, etc. inside a single fuel cell. Depending on simulation results from the CFD modeling of a PEM fuel cell, several flow-fields of bipolar-plates were designed and verified. The final design of the bipolar-plate has been chosen from the simulations and experimental tests and showed the best performance as expected from the simulation results under a normal operating condition. Thus, the CFD simulation approach to design the optimal flow-field of the bipolar-plates was successful. The final design was adopted as the best flow-field to build a commercial scale PEM fuel cell stack, the performance of which shows about 42% higher than that of the older bipolar-plate design.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.7 no.5
• /
• pp.992-998
• /
• 1996

The $La_{0.8}Ca_{0.2}CoO_3$ prepared by a citrate process was shown to have higher oxygen reduction current density and specific activity than $LaCoO_3$, $La_{0.6}Ca_{0.4}CoO_3$. In the cyclic voltammogram, an oxygen desorption peak of a $La_{0.8}Ca_{0.2}CoO_3$+carbon electrode was larger than that of a only carbon electrode. $La_{0.8}Ca_{0.2}CoO_3$ sintered at $900^{\circ}C$ for 5 hours was shown high oxygen reduction current density because of the particle size distribution and sintering effect.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.187-193
• /
• 2010

Chromium nitride (CrN) samples with two different layer structures (multilayer and single layer) were coated on bipolar plates of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) using the reactive sputtering method. The effects with respect to layer structure on corrosion resistance and overall cell performance were investigated. A continuous and thin chromium nitride layer ($Cr_{0.48}\;N_{0.52}$) was formed on the surface of the SUS 316L when the nitrogen flow rate was 10 sccm. The electrochemical stability of the coated layers was examined using the potentiodynamic and potentiostatic methods in the simulated corrosive circumstances of the PEMFC under $80^{\circ}C$. Interfacial contact resistance (ICR) between the CrN coated sample and the gas diffusion layer was measured by using Wang's method. A single cell performance test was also conducted. The test results showed that CrN coated SUS316L with multilayer structure had excellent corrosion resistance compared to single layer structures and single cell performance results with $25\;cm^2$ in effective area also showed the same tendency. The difference of the electrochemical properties between the single and multilayer samples was attributed to the Cr interlayer layer, which improved the corrosion resistance. Because the coating layer was damaged by pinholes, the Cr layer prevented the penetration of corrosive media into the substrate. Therefore, the CrN with a multilayer structure is an effective coating method to increase the corrosion resistance and to decrease the ICR for metallic bipolar plates in PEMFC.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.57 no.2
• /
• pp.172-176
• /
• 2019

A benthic microbial fuel cells(BMFC) is fuel cell using electricity produced by decomposing organic matter in a sea or a lake. In this study, we used a gas diffusion layer (GDL) of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEMFC) as a BMFC electrode to find out the operation conditions with high performance. The performance of BMFC was increased as resistance of external resistor increased. It was possible to maintain the performance by avoiding the increase of the contact resistance with the electrode due to corrosion of the lead wire in seawater. The bubble generator was able to increase the maximum power density by more than 2 times and the optimum operating temperature was $40^{\circ}C$.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.39 no.5
• /
• pp.397-403
• /
• 2015

In this study, water distribution inside a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) was measured experimentally. Water distribution is non-uniform because of vigorous chemical reaction and mass transport and has been difficult to measure experimentally. Therefore, much research relied on indirect measuring methods or numerical simulations. In this study, several mini temperature-humidity sensors were installed at the channel for measuring temperature and humidity of the flowing gas throughout the channel. Only one of two electrode channels was humidified externally, and the humidity distribution on the other side was measured, enabling the observation of water transport characteristics under various conditions. Diffusion through the membrane became more vigorous as the temperature of the humidifier rose, but at high current density, electro-osmotic drag became more effective than diffusion.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.3 no.3
• /
• pp.527-534
• /
• 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 the Korean Physical Society
• /
• v.73 no.10
• /
• pp.1437-1443
• /
• 2018

In this work, $SnO_2$ modified with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) separately and combined sensitized by using the co-precipitation method and their sensing behavior toward ethanol vapor at room temperature were investigated. An interdigitated electrode (IDE) gold substrate is very expensive compared to a fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate; hence, we used the latter to reduce the fabrication cost. The structure and the morphology of the studied materials were characterized by using differential thermal analyses (DTA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area and Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) pore size measurements. The studied composites were subjected to ethanol in its gas phase at concentrations from 10 to 200 ppm. The present composites showed high-performance sensitivity for many reasons: the incorporation of $SnO_2$ and CNTs which prevents the agglomeration of rGO sheets, the formation of a 3D mesopourus structure and an increase in the surface area. The decoration with rGO and CNTs led to more active sites, such as vacancies, which increased the adsorption of ethanol gas. In addition, the mesopore structure and the nano size of the $SnO_2$ particles allowed an efficient diffusion of gases to the active sites. Based on these results, the present composites should be considered as efficient and low-cost sensors for alcohol.