• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2017

Sodium borohydride, $NaBH_4$, shows a number of advantages as hydrogen source for UAV PEMFC (Unmaned Aerial Vehicle Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells). In order to use for UAV, the weight and volume of byproduct should be small after $NaBH_4$ hydrolysis reaction. Therefore, the weight and volume of byproduct were studied after $NaBH_4$ hydrolysis reaction using unsupported catalyst. The effect of catalyst type, concentration of $NaBH_4$, concentration of NaOH and thickness of catalyst pack on the weight and volume of byproduct were studied. Most of byproduct was $NaB(OH)_4$ and superficial volume of byproduct increased due to foam evolved from byproduct. The weight and volume of byproduct were not affected by concentration of NaOH used stabilizer. The weight of byproduct decreased as concentration of $NaBH_4$ solution increased, but maximum volume of byproduct obtained at 23 wt% of $NaBH_4$. Suitable defoaming agent reduced the volume of byproduct.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.344-350
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• 2019

Durability is very important for the commercialization of membranes and electrode assemblies (MEA) developed for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). Durability evaluation of stationary PEMFC MEA has a problem that the voltage change rate should be measured for a long time over 1000 hours under constant current conditions. In this study, the electrochemical durability evaluation protocol of membranes (OCV holding method) using to vehicle MEAs was applied to the stationary MEA for the purpose of shortening the durability evaluation time. After operation of the stationary and automobile MEA for 168 hours under conditions of OCV, cathode oxygen, $90^{\circ}C$ and relative humidity of 30%, I-V, LSV, CV, impedance and FER were measured and compared. When the hydrogen permeability, OCV change, ionic conductivity, and fluorine flow rate, which represent the durability of the membrane after degradation, were all examined, it was shown that durability of stationary MEA membrane was better than that of vehicles MEA membrane. In addition, the electrode degradation of stationary MEA was smaller than that of vehicles MEA after degradation operation. It was possible to evaluate in a short time using automotive protocol that the durability of stationary MEA was superior that of vehicle MEA in terms of membrane and the electrode.