• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.70-75
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• 2013

It has fabricated membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) for proton exchange membrane fuel cell by hot-pressing method. The hot-pressing was used for the fabrication of MEA which is composed of commercial platinum electrode on carbon paper. The performance of MEA was studied with different fabrication conditions of temperature, pressure and torque. As the temperature increased, the performance of MEA was increased. and started to decrease l after arrived at the maximum performance of MEA. This is related with good contact between electrode and polymer electrolyte membrane at high temperature and microstructural change at much higher temperature. Similarly, as the pressure increased, the performance of the MEA increased up to highest values and start to decrease. According to the our results, the maximal performance of the MEA was at the temperature of $140^{\circ}C$ and the pressure of $1.5{\times}10^3$ kPa. The optimal torque to assemble the single stack was 3.2 N m.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.356-361
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• 2023

In order to improve the durability of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), it is important to accurately evaluate the durability of the polymer membrane in a short time. The test conditions for chemically accelerated durability evaluation of membranes are high voltage, high temperature, low humidity, and high gas pressure. It can be said that the protocol is developed by changing these conditions. However, the relative influence of each test condition on the degradation of the membrane has not been studied. In chemical accelerated degradation experiment of the membrane, the influence of 4 factors (conditions) was examined through the factor experiment method. The degree of degradation of the membrane after accelerated degradation was determined by measuring the hydrogen permeability and effluent fluoride ion concentration, and it was possible to determine the degradation order of the polymer membrane under 8 conditions by the difference in fluoride ion concentration. It was shown that the influence of the membrane degradation factor was in the order of voltage > temperature > oxygen pressure > humidity. It was confirmed that the degradation of the electrode catalyst had an effect on the chemical degradation of the membrane.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.585-591
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• 2011

This study has focused on the development of high performance membrane-electrode assemblies (MEAs) fabricated by decal method for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). To study the effect of ionomer contents on performance, we fabricated MEAs with several electrodes which were prepared by varying the quantity of ionomer from 20 wt.% to 45 wt.% in catalyst layer. The MEA performance was obtained through single cell test. The MEA prepared from electrode with 25wt.% of ionomer showed the best performance. We evaluated the surface area and pore volume of electrode with BET. We found that the surface area and pore volume in electrode decreased rapidly at the electrode with 40wt.% of ionomer in catalyst layer. MEA was fabricated by roll laminator machine and the roll laminating conditions for the preparation of MEA, such as laminating press, temperature and speed, were optimized. The MEA performance is not affected by laminating temperature and speed, but roll laminating press have a great effect on MEA performance.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.399-402
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• 2006

현재까지 연료전지 전해질 막으로는 Nafion으로 잘 알려져 있는 perfluorosulfonic acid(PFSA)막이 주를 이루고 있다. 이 막들은 $80^{\circ}C$ 이하의 낮은 온도의 연료전지에서 가장 좋은 성능을 보인다. PFSA 막들은 탄소-불소로 이루어진 사슬의 특성상 산화, 환원의 조건에서도 뛰어난 안정성을 보이며 이온 전도도가 0.1S/cm 이상으로 기존에 알려진 전해질 막들 중 가장 우수한 성능을 나타낸다. 하지만 연료전지의 작동온도가 $100^{\circ}C$ 이상의 높은 온도에서 는 막에 존재하던 수분이 제거되면서 수소이온 전도도가 떨어지며 기계적 물성도 떨어지는 문제점을나타낸다. $100^{\circ}C$ 이상의 온도에서 연료전지를 작동시키면 양쪽의 전극에서 일어나는 촉매반응의 속도가 향상되며, 물의 끓는점 이상에서 작동되므로, 전지 내에서 다양한 상을 고려하지 않고 기화된 물만을 고려하여 설계를 할 수가 있다. 따라서 최근 이러한 고온/저가습 운전을 위 한 전해질 막의 개발을 위해 기존의 Nafion 막에 전도성 무기 입자를 도입하는 연구들이 활발히 진행되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 전도성 무기 입자로서 $ZrO_2$나노입자를 합성하고, 이를 상용 10 wt.% Nafion 용액에 분산하여 solution casting 방법을 통해 $61{\mu}m$ 두께의 유기-무기 복합막을 제조하였다. 제조한 유기-무기 복합막의 성능 평가를 위하여 함수율, 이온 전도도, 당량무게 및 단위 전지를 이용한 전류-전압 곡선을 측정하여 상용 Nafion 112 막과 비교해 보았다. $ZrO_2$ 입자는 전도성이며 동시에 친수성을 나타내기 때문에 상용 막에 비하여 함수율 및 수소이온 전도도가 우수하게 나타났다. 복합막의 이러한 물성은 $100^{\circ}C$이상의 고온에서 전해질 막 내의 물 관리를 용이하게 한다. 단위 전지 운전 온도 $130^{\circ}C$, 상대습도 37%의 운전 조건에서도 상당히 우수한 전지 성능을 보임에 따라 고온/저가습 조건에서 상용 Nafion 112 막보다 우수한 막 특성을 나타냄을 확인하였다.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.60-68
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• 2011

[ $ZrO_2-TiO_2$ ]binary oxides with various Zr:Ti molar ratios were prepared by sol-gel method and Nafion$^{(R)}$/$ZrO_2-TiO_2$ composite membranes were fabricated for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) at high temperature and low humidity. Water uptake, Ion exchange capacity (IEC), and proton conductivity of Nafion$^{(R)}$/$ZrO_2-TiO_2$ composite membranes were characterized and these composite membranes were tested in a single cell at $120^{\circ}C$ with various relative humidity (R.H.) conditions. The obtained results were compared with the unmodified membranes (Nafion$^{(R)}$ 112 and Recast Nafion$^{(R)}$). A Nafion$^{(R)}$/$ZrO_2-TiO_2$ composite membrane with 1:3 of Zr:Ti molar ratio showed the highest performance. The performance showed 500 mW/$cm^2$ (0.499V) at $120^{\circ}C$, 50% R. H., and 2 atm.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.38-46
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• 2022

Two different gas diffusion layers having noticeable differences in micro-porous layer's (MPL's) crack were studied as a substrate for the gas diffusion electrode (GDE) with different binder/carbon (B/C) ratios in high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell (Ht-PEMFC). As a result, the performance defined as the voltage at 0.2 A/cm² and maximum power density from the single cells using GDEs from H23 C2 and SGL38 BC with different B/C ratios were compared. GDEs from H23 C2 showed a proportional increase of the voltage with the binder content on the other hand GDEs from SGL38 BC displayed a proportional decline of the voltage to the binder content. It was revealed that MPL crack influences the structure of catalyst layer in GDEs as well as affects the RC_athode which is in close connection with the Ht-PEMFC performance.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.2228-2231
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• 2007

Water gas shift reactor in fuel processing is an important part that converts carbon monoxide into hydrogen. Fuel processing system for PEMFC usually has two stages of WGS reactors, which are high temperature and low temperature shifter. In this study we prepared noble metal catalysts and compared their performances with that of a commercial iron chromium oxide catalyst. Noble metal catalysts and the commercial catalyst showed quite different temperature dependence of carbon monoxide conversion. The conversion of carbon monoxide at the commercial catalyst was very low at medium temperature(${\sim}300^{\circ}C$) and increased rapidly as temperature increased while the conversion at noble metal catalysts was high in the medium temperature range and decreased as temperature increased, which is thermodynamically expected. Their characteristics agreed well with the literature published, and we are accomplishing further study for improvement of the noble metal catalysts.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.245-252
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• 2011

In this study, carbon nanotubes were used as supporter to get high dispersion and high loading of Pt for PEMFC. Thermal oxidation method was applied to carbon nanotubes surface treatment. FT-IR and XPS were used to measure the effect of temperature on functional group. The increased concentration of functional groups was confirmed by XPS analysis, and increased Pt loading and dispersion was also observed by TGA and TEM analysis with increased temperature. Thermal behavior of oxidation is closely related to the manufacture of highly dispersed Pt/MWCNTs. Pt/MWCNTs treatment temperature at $90^{\circ}C$, showed high dispersion and high loading of Pt, and also showed good cell performance.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.98.2-98.2
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• 2011

For optimal performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) requires hydration, and the membrane's conductivity depends on water content. A humidifier is required to ensure that the reactant gas, usually hydrogen and air, is hydrated before entering the fuel cell. Dry membrane operation or improper hydration causes performance degradation. Typically, the humidification of a fuel cell is carried out by means of an internal or external humidifier. A membrane humidifier is applied to the external humidification of transportation or residential power generation fuel cell due to its convenience and high performance. In this study, The experiments were constructed with a plate-type membrane humidifier in terms of geometric parameters and operating parameters. The results show that the temperature and pressure, the channel length, the membrane thickness and gas flow rate are critical parameters affecting the performance of the humidifier.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.364-374
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• 2010

Design of a reformer consisting of combustion chamber and reforming chamber was investigated for a 1 kW and a 5 kW polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), respectively, using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD). First, the 1kW reformer was considered to obtain the reliability of the numerical study. It was modeled, calculated and compared with experimental data. Second, the 5kW reformer was considered for a geometric study. Three tip sizes (35, 40, and 45 mm) and five aspect ratios was selected. It was found that the optimum was at tip sizes of 40 and 45 mm, at aspect ratios of -10% and -20% of the standard length.