• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2012

The composite membranes using Nafion as matrix and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate (EMITCB) as ion-conducting medium in replacement of water were prepared and characterized. The amount of EMITCB in Nafion varied from 30 to 50wt%. The composite membranes are characterized by ion conductivity, thermogravitational analyses (TGA) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The composite membranes containing EMITCB of 40wt% showed the maximum ionic conductivity which was ~0.0146 S $cm^{-1}$ at 423.15 K. It is inferred that the decrease in ionic conductivity of all the composite membranes might be due to the decomposition of a tetracyanoboric acid formed in the composite membranes. The results of SAXS indicated that the ionic clusters to conduct proton in the composite membranes were successfully formed. In accordance with the results of ionic conductivity as a function of a reciprocal temperature, SAXS showed a proportional decrease in scattering maximum $q_{max}$ as the amount of EMITCB increases in the composite membranes, which results in the increase in ionomer cluster size. The TGA showed no significant decomposition of the ionic liquid as well as the composite membranes in the range of operating temperature ($120-150^{\circ}C$) of high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HTPEMFC). As a result, EMITCB is able to play an important role in transferring proton in the composite membranes at elevated temperatures with no external humidification for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.226-231
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• 2002

Power densities produced by the permeation of methanol through membranes were directly measured by inserting the membrane in front of anode in a membrane-electrode-assembly of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The power density was closely related to the loss of power in the DMFC and was strongly affected by temperature. As the cell temperature was increased, the power density resulting from methanol crossover was increased. The increase in methanol crossover had be attributed to diffusion caused or affected by temperature. Methanol crossover a major effect on the performance of a DMFC at a relatively low temperature with $26\%\;loss\;at\;30^{\circ}C$. In order to reduce methanol crossover, a conventional Nafion membrane was modified by the incorporation of Pt or Pd. The reduction in methanol crossover was investigated in these modified membranes by our cell performance measurement. Pt and Pd particles incorporated in the Nafion membranes block methanol pathway and prevent methanol transport through the membranes, which was proved by combining with liquid chromatography.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.252-262
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• 2019

A sulfonated star branched poly(styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene) triblock copolymer (SSBS) was synthesized with varying degrees of sulfonation. The effective sulfonation on the butadiene block was confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy. Ion exchange capacity by titration was used to determine the degree of sulfonation. The synthesized polymer observed enhanced water uptake and proton conductivity. At room temperature, the SSBS with 25 mol% degree of sulfonation showed an outstanding proton conductivity of 0.114 S/cm, similar to that of commercial membrane, Nafion. The effect of temperature at constant relative humidity on conductivity resulted to a remarkable increase in proton conductivity. Methanol permeability studies showed a value lower than Nafion for all the sulfonated membranes. Structural nature observed using AFM showed that the membranes observed microphase separated nanostructures and the connectivity of the interionic channels.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.438-442
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• 2006

The degradation of Nafion membrane by hydrogen peroxide was investigated in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Degradation tests were carried out in a solution of $10{\sim}30%$ hydrogen peroxide containing 4ppm $Fe^{2+}$ ion which is well known as Fenton's reagent at $80^{\circ}C$ for 48hr. Characterization of degraded membranes were examined through the IR, Water-uptake, Ion exchange capacity, mechanical strength and $H_2$ permeability. After degradation, C-F, S-O and C-O chemical bonds of membrane were broken by radical formed by $H_2O_2$ decomposition. Breaking of C-F bond which is the membrane backbone reduced the mechanical strength of Nafion membrane and hence induced pinholes, resulting in increase of $H_2$ crossover through the membrane. Also the decomposition of C-O and S-O, side chain and terminal bond of membrane, decreased the ion exchange capacity of the membrane.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 1999.07a
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• pp.55-58
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• 1999

Nafion supported catalytic membranes were found to be active, stable and selective in th partial oxidation of propane to oxygenates with H2O2 under mild condition. Addition of Fe2+ in liquid phase enhances the reaction rate. Reaction proceeds according to a radical mechanism based on th electrophilic activation of propane on superacid sites and subsequent reaction of the activated paraffin with OH radicals. The use of a catalytic membrane, which allow separation of the intermediate products from the liquid phase containing the oxidant, was found to be effective to perform selective partial oxidation of propane with high yields to oxygenated products.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.51 no.9
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• pp.455-463
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• 2002

Ionic Polymer metal composite(IPMC), one of new actuation materials of EAPs is fabricated by electroless plating of platinum on both sides of the perfluorosulfonic acid film or Nafion film and its electromechanical characteristics are investigated. The IPMC strip bends towards anode under electrical field. As the number of plating cycle increases, the distance between plated platinum electrodes on both sides of Nafion membrane decreases and also the displacement is almost inversely proportional to the number of plating. The displacement of IPMC strip depends on voltage magnitude and applied signal frequency and its maximum deformation is observed at a critical frequency, resonant frequency. Low pressure sandblasting is used for surface treatment of Nafion membrane and at 8 times of plating cycle produced actuator with high displacement performance. For more efficiency of fabricated IPMC, it is useful to add one or two surface developing step which is the second reduction process using hydrazine.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 2016

Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) using the electrolytes containing various vanadium ions in sulfuric acid as supporting solution are one of the energy storage devices in alternatively charging and discharging operation modes. The positive electrolyte contains $V^{5+}/V^{4+}$ and the negative electrolyte $V^{2+}/V^{3+}$ depending on the operation mode. To prevent the mixing of two solutions, proton exchange membranes are mainly used in VRFBs. Nafion 117 could be the most promising candidate due to the strong oxidative property of $V^{5+}$ ion, but causes high crossover of electroactive species to result in a decrease in coulombic efficiency. In this study, the composite membranes using Nafion ionomer and porous polyethylene substrate were prepared to keep good chemical stability and to decrease the cost of membranes, and were compared to the properties and performance of the commercially available electrolyte membrane, Nafion 117. As a result, the water uptake and ionic conductivity of the composite membranes increased as the thickness of the composite membranes increased, but those of Nafion 117 slightly decreased. The permeability of vanadium ions for the composite membranes significantly decreased compared to that for Nafion 117. In a single cell test for the composite membranes, the voltage efficiency decreased and the coulombic efficiency increased, finally resulting in the similar energy efficiency. In conclusion, the less cost of the composite membranes by decreasing 6.4 wt.% of the amount of perfluorinated sulfonic acid polymer due to the introduction of porous substrate and lower vanadium ion permeability to decrease self-discharge were achieved than Nafion 117.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.415-417
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• 2009

A low temperature decal (LTD) transfer method is tried to fabricated hydrocarbon (HC) membrane based MEA. Sandwiched structures of outer ionomer/catalyst/carbon coating/substrate, which had been developed for Nafion membrane, are used for transfer of catalyst to the HC membrane. Performances of the HC MEA before and after 500hr continuous operation are compared and it is found that a severe delamination occurs at the interface between the HC membrane and the catalyst layer, which is the main reason of the low performance and its degradation. The delamination is due probably to the different nature of HC membrane to the Nafion ionomer. A substitutional method, therefore, is suggested to overcome this. In such a way, the outer ionomer process is removed and the low transfer rate of catalyst by skipping the ionomer process is compensated with optimization of other process variables such as transfer time or temperature. The resulting performance is superior to the original LTD method, which can be explained in terms of low resistive components both in ohmic and kinetic.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.303-310
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• 2023

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a bioelectrochemical system where electrochemically active bacteria convert organic waste into electricity. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and chitosan (CS) are polymers that have been studied as potential alternative ion exchange membranes to Nafion for many electrochemical systems. This study examined the optimal mixing ratio of PVA and chitosan CS in a PVA:CS composite membrane for MFC applications. PVA:CS composite membranes with 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 ratios were synthesized and tested. The water uptake and ion exchange capacity, Fourier transform infrared spectra, and scanning electron microscopy images were analyzed to determine the physicochemical properties of PVA:CS membranes. The prepared membranes were applied to the ion exchange membrane of the MFC system, and their effects on the electrochemical performance were evaluated. These results showed that the composite membrane with a 3:1 (PVA:CS) ratio showed comparable performance to the commercialized Nafion membrane and produced more electricity than the other synthesized membranes. The PVA:CS membrane implemented MFCs produced a maximum power density of 0.026 mW cm^-2 from organic waste with stable performance. Therefore, it can be applied to a cost-effective MFC system.

• 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 $10^{-8}\;cm^2/s$.