• Membrane Journal
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.336-344
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• 2008

This manuscript deals with the investigation of the possibility of the crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) membranes with both poly(styrene sulfonic acid-co-maleic acid) and 3-(trihydroxysilyl)-1-propanesulfonic acid (THS-PSA) for the fuel cell application. The studies were focused on the characterization of the resulting membranes through water content, thermal gravimetric analysis, ion exchange capacity, ion conductivity and methanol permeability measurements and then compared with the existing Nafion membrane. Typically, the ion conductivity lied in the range of $10^{-3}$ to $10^{-2}\;S/cm$ while the methanol permeability showed the range of $10^{-6}$ to $10^{-8}\;cm^2/s$.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.329-331
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• 2006

연료전지용으로 많이 사용되는 전불소계 고분자인 Nafion은 좋은 기계적, 화학적 안정성 및 높은 이온전도도에도 불구하고 고가의 생산단가, 높은 메탄올 투과도, 그리고 MEA 재활용 문제 등으로 인해 상업적 응용에 제한이 있다. 본 연구는 불소그룹을 함유한 술폰화된 아릴렌이서계 블록 공중합체 고분자 전해질막의 제조 및 연료전지 특성에 관한 것이다. 이러한 고분자를 제조하기 위하여 양말단에 불소계 비닐기를 가지면서, 상온에서 술폰화 가능한 biphenyl계 단량체와 술폰화가 불가능한 sulfonyl계 단량체를 각각 합성하였으며, 이들로부터 다양한 몰조성과 분자량을 갖는 올리고머를 포함한 일련의 perfluorocyclobutane기를 포함하는 블록 공중합체를 열적 고리화 부가중합을 사용하여 합성하였다. 제조된 블록 공중합체를 상온에서 술폰화제인 chlorosulfonic acid를 이용하여 선택적으로 후술폰화시켜 강산 이온기인 sulfonic acid를 블록 올리고머에 도입하였다. 합성된 고분자들의 연료전지 특성을 Nafion-115와 비교하였다. 술폰화가 되는 올리고머 블록의 비율 증가에 따라 이온교환능력이 증가하였고, 그에 따라 높은 함수율과 이온 전도도를 나타내었으며 건조 및 습윤 상태에서도 기계적 강도가 우수하였다. 최적화된 블록공중합체를 대상으로 MEA를 제조하여 연료전지 초기성능을 측정한 결과 Nafion과 유사한 전기화학적 성능을 나타내었다.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1999.07d
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• pp.1824-1826
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• 1999

In order to develop key technologies for a kW class for polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), various membranes (Nafion(112, 115, 117), Dow, Flemion, Gore, and Hanwha), and electrocatalysts (Pt/C, PtNi/C PtNiCo/C and PtRu/C) were used in the fabrication of the MEAs by using transfer printing technique. The effects of the thickness of Nafion membranes, electrocatalysts and the operating conditions (e.g. temperature, reactant gas pressure, and composition) on the performance of the MEA were investigated in the PEFC single cell($O_2/H_2$, and Air/$H_2$ cell). The performances of the MEAs for $O_2/H_2$ and Air/$H_2$ cells has been evaluated.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.2 no.4 s.8
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• pp.46-55
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• 2006

본 연구는 불소그룹을 함유한 술폰화된 아릴렌에테르계 블록 공중합체 고분자 전해질막의 제조 및 연료전지 특성에 관한 것이다. 이러한 불소그룹을 함유한 술폰화된 아랄렌에테르계 블록 공중합체를 제조하기 위하여 양말단에 불소계 비닐기를 가지면서, 고분자 전환시 상온에서 술폰화 가능한 biphenyl계 단량체와 술폰화가 불가능한 sulfonyl계 단량체를 각각 합성하였다. Biphenyl계 단량체로 부터 올리고머를 합성한 후 sulfonyl계 단량체와 열적 고리화 부가중합을 하여 다양한 몰조성을 갖는 일련의 perfluorocyclobutane(PFCB)기를 포함하는 블록 공중합체를 제조하였다. 제조된 블록 공중합체를 상온에서 술폰화제인 chlorosulfonic acid(CSA)를 이용하여 후술폰화시켜 강산 이온기인 sulfonic acid를 biphenyl계 올리고머 부분에 선택적으로 도입하였다. 이렇게 제조된 술폰화된 고분자를 제막한 후 연료전지 특성을 Nafion-115와 비교하였다. 술폰화가 되는 올리고머 블록의 비율 증가에 따라 이온교환능력 (IEC)이 증가하였고 , 그에 따른 팽윤도 역시 증가하는 것을 보였다. 술폰화된 고분자들은 건조 및 습윤 상태에서도 기계적 강도가 우수하였다. 최적화된 술폰화 블록 고분자(S-2) 를 대상으로 membrane electrolyte assembly(MEA) 를 제조하여 연료전지 초기성능을 측정한 결과 Nafion-112와 유사한 전기화학적 성능을 나타내었다.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.362-367
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• 2009

Recently, the use of formic acid as a fuel for direct liquid fuel cells has emerged as a promising alternative to methanol. In the work presented herein, we evaluated direct formic acid fuel cells(DFAFCs) with various components under operating conditions, for example, the thickness of the proton exchange membrane, concentration of formic acid, gas diffusion layer, and commercial catalyst. The thickness of the proton exchange membrane influenced performance related to the fuel cross-over. To optimize the cell performance, we investigated on the proper concentration of formic acid and catalyst for the formic acid oxidation. Consequently, membrance-electrode assembly(MEA) consisted of $Nafion^{(R)}$-115 and the Pt-Ru black as a anode catalyst showed the maximum performance. This performance was superior to the DMFCs' one.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 1999.07a
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• pp.115-115
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• 1999

In this work a new process was developed for the sulfonation of the chemicallly stable engineering polymer polyethersulfone as membrane materials for electrodialysis or a flow battery applications. Commercially available polyethersulfone polymer was partially sulfonated using a CSA sulfonating agent in a dichloromethane solvent, which sulfonated polyethersulfone with various sulfonation levels have been prepared. Sulfonated polyethersulfone (SPES) membranes with different ion capacities were prepared for the purpose of identifying cation exchange membrane properties, in an attempt to find a low cost replacement for Nafion, which most of the perfluorinated membranes, known to exhibit a prolonged service life, are expensive and difficult to process. The following features were determined: the degree of sulfonation, water uptake, thermal analysis, and electrochemical properties such as ion exchange capacities, resistivity, selectivity of ion permeation. The surface of the cation exchange membranes, decomposed with the H202-treatment, were observed by using scanning electron microscope. The area resistivities of SPES mebranes in 5N-NaOH decreased from $2,150{\;}{\Omega}-cm2$ to less than $15{\Omega}-cm2$ as the ion exchange capacity (IEC) increased from 0.62 to 1.73 millieequivlants per dry gram(meq/dg).eq/dg).

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.195-196
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• 2009

술폰화 폴리아릴렌에테르술폰 공중합체를 기본구조로 한, 6F OH를 알코올 단량체로 사용하여 블록 공중합체를 직접 중합법으로 합성하였다. 이때 각각의 소수성-친수성 소중합체들은 동일한 분자량을 이용하여 합성했으며 그때의 두 소중합체의 몰비는 1:1로 하여 블록 공중합체의 술폰화도를 50%로 고정하였다. N-메틸-2피롤리돈(NMP) 용매 상에서 연료전지용 고분자 전해질 막을 제조하여 이온전도도 및 메탄올 투과도등의 측정을 통하여 최종 블록 공중합체 전해질 막의 기본 특성을 파악했다. 소수성-친수성 소중합체의 분자량을 조절함에 따라 최종 전해질 막의 이온 전도도를 향상시킬 수 있음이 확인되었고, 연료전지 성능 테스트 결과에서도 나피온(Nafion 115)과 비슷한 성능을 보였다.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.68-71
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• 2003

The performance of the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) using multi-layer electrode, which prepared by various anode catalysts and Nafion membranes, was studied for reducing the amount of the metal catalyst loaded in the MEA system. The amount of the catalyst used in this experiment was $3-4 mg/cm^2$ in cathode and $1-2 mg/cm^2$ in anode, respectively. The best performance was to be $230 mS/cm^2$ of MEA3 at $90^{\circ}C$ and 2 bar in this experiment. However, the overall performance of the DMFC was maintained almost the same compared to the general commercial catalyst systems.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.296-301
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• 2011

This study focuses on the investigation of the impregnation of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) crosslinked with poly(styrene sulfonic acid-co-maleic acid) (PSSA-MA) to porous polyethylene membrane for the fuel cell application. The membranes were characterized by the measurements of the water content, contact angle, FTIR spectra, thermal gravimetric analysis, ion exchange capacity, proton conductivity, methanol permeability and elastic modulus. The existence of hydrophilic moieties in the impregnated membranes was confirmed by contact angle and FTIR measurements. The impregnated PVA/PSSAMA(90:10) membrane exhibited a higher ion exchange capacity (1.2 meq./g dry membrane) than Nafion membrane (0.91 meq./g dry membrane). Through the elastic modulus measurement, the dimensional stability of the resulting membranes was expected to increase higher than the polyethylene membranes. The methanol crossover and water content decreased even if the PSSA-MA content increased due to the reduction of the free volume.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.137-143
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• 2010

A series of partially fluorinated, sulfonated poly(biphenylene-co-sulfone)ether containing perfluorocyclobutane(PFCB) groups were prepared for fuel cell applications through three synthetic steps: synthesis of trifluorovinylether-terminated monomers, thermal cycloaddition and post-sulfonation. Two kinds of trifluorovinylether-terminated monomers were synthesized and statistically copolymerized via thermal cycloaddition to obtain a series of polymers containing 20-60 mol% of biphenyl units(PBS-X). The post-sulfonation of PBS-X was carried out using chlorosulfonic acid(CSA) to obtain copolymers with various sulfonation levels(SPBS-X). All the synthesized compounds, monomers and polymers were characterized by $^1H$-NMR, $^{19}F$-NMR and FT-IR. It was confirmed that the ion exchange capacity(IEC), water uptake and ion conductivity of SPBS-X increased with the increment of sulfonated biphenyl units. Particularly, SPBS-60 showed higher ion conductivity compared to Nafion$^{(R)}$-115 at 25~80 $^{\circ}C$.