• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.204-210
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• 2013

Thin pore-filled cation and anion-exchange membranes (PFCEM and PFAEMs, $t_m=25-30{\mu}m$) were prepared using a porous polymeric substrate for efficient all-vanadium redox flow battery (VRB). The electrochemical and charge-discharge performances of the membranes have been systematically investigated and compared with those of commercially available ion-exchange membranes. The pore-filled membranes were shown to have higher permselectivity as well as lower electrical resistances than those of the commercial membranes. In addition, the VRBs employing the pore-filled membranes exhibited the respectable charge-discharge performances, showing the energy efficiencies (EE) of 82.4% and 84.9% for the PFCEM and PFAEM, respectively (cf. EE = 87.2% for Nafion 1135). The results demonstrated that the pore-filled ion-exchange membranes could be successfully used in VRBs as an efficient separator by replacing expensive Nafion membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.171-179
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• 2015

Perfluorinated sulfonic acid ionomers (PFSAs) have been widely as solid electrolyte materials for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, since they exhibit excellent chemical durability under their harsh application conditions as well as good proton conductivity. Even PFSA materials, however, suffer from physical failures associated with repeated membrane swelling and deswelling, resulting in fairly reduced electrochemical lifetime. In this study, pore-filling membranes are prepared by impregnating a Nafion ionomer into the pore of a porous PTFE support film and their fundamental characteristics are evaluated. The developed pore-filling membranes exhibit extremely high proton conductivity of about $0.5S\;cm^{-1}@90^{\circ}C$ in liquid water.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.127-131
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• 2016

Polymer electrolyte membrane for unitized regenerative fuel cells requires high proton conductivity, high dimensional stability, low permeability, and low cost. However, DuPont's Nafion which is a commercial polymer electrolyte membrane has high permeability, high cost, and decreasing proton conductivity and dimensional stability over $80^{\circ}C$. To address these problems, sulfonated poly ether ether ketone (sPEEK) which is a low cost hydrocarbon polymer is selected as matrix polymer for the preparation of polymer electrolyte membrane. In addition, composite membrane with improved proton conductivity and dimensional stability is prepared by introducing sulfonated graphene oxide (sGO). The fundamental properties of polymer electrolyte membranes are analyzed by investigating membrane's water content, dimensional stability, proton conductivity, and morphology. The cell test is conducted to consider the possibility of application of sPEEK/sGO composite membrane for an unitized regenerative fuel cell.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2012

The efficiency and life time of the Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system is critically affected by incoming gas with humidity which should be maintained properly at normal operating conditions. Typically, incoming gas of automotive fuel cell is humidified by external humidifier but the characteristics of device is rarely reported. In this study, characteristics of water transfer in the membrane humidifiers have been experimentally investigated for flow rates of gas and for different flow arrangement under steady state condition. At first, capability of mass transfer through the membrane is examined at constant temperature. Then, the temperature distribution effect on the capability of mass transfer is tested over various inlet conditions. In summary, this research presents the mass transfer capability of hydrophilic membrane over various operating conditions.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.433-439
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• 2017

The high temperature performance of PEM type electrolyser at $120^{\circ}C$ based on covalently cross-linked sulfonated poly ether ether ketone (SPEEK) composie membrane was investigated. Ion conductivity and other properties of SPEEK membrane were improved by adding heteropoly acid and Ceria. The membrane electrode assemblies were prepared using commercial PtC and nano-sized $IrRuO_2$ catalyst by electro-spraying and decal process. Voltage efficiency of MEA equipped with SPEEK membrane was slightly better than that of $Nafion^{(R)}$ membrane, due to its higher proton conductivity at high temperature. The cell performance of MEA with CL-SPEEK/Cs-TSiA/Ceria is 1.71 V at $1A/cm^2$ and $120^{\circ}C$.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2009

The sulfonated poly(styrene-divinylbenzene-acrylonitrile) (ST-DVB-AN) composite polymer electrolyte membrane based on the original PVC film was successfully synthesized to improve oxidative stability using semi-interpenetrated polymer network (semi-IPN). Weight gain ratio after copolymerization was enhanced by the DVB and AN contents, and the sulfonated membranes were characterized in terms of proton conductivity (k), ion exchange capacity (IEC), and water uptake ($W_U$). The effect of DVB content and AN addition were thoroughly investigated by comparing the resulted properties including oxidative stability. The obtained ST-DVB-AN composited semi-IPN membranes showed relatively high proton conductivity and IEC compared with Nafion117, and greatly improved oxidative stability of the synthesized membrane was obtained. This study demonstrated that a semi-interpenetrated sulfonated ST-DVB-AN composited membrane reinforced by PVC polymer network is a promising candidate as an inexpensive polymer electrolyte membrane for fuel cell applications.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.181-190
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• 2023

Wastewater purification is one of the most important techniques for controlling environmental pollution and fulfilling the demand for freshwater supply. Various technologies, such as different types of distillations and reverse osmosis processes, need higher energy input. Capacitive deionization (CDI) is an alternative method in which power consumption is deficient and works on the supercapacitor principle. Research is going on to improve the electrode materials to improve the efficiency of the process. A reverse electrodialysis (RED) is the most commonly used desalination technology and osmotic power generator. Among many studies conducted to enhance the efficiency of RED, MXene, as an ion exchange membrane (IEM) and 2D nanofluidic channels in IEM, is rising as a promising way to improve the physical and electrochemical properties of RED. It is used alone and other polymeric materials are mixed with MXene to enhance the performance of the membrane further. The maximum desalination performances of MXene with preconditioning, Ti₃C₂T_x, Nafion, and hetero-structures were respectively measured, proving the potential of MXene for a promising material in the desalination industry. In terms of osmotic power generating via RED, adopting MXene as asymmetric nanofluidic ion channels in IEM significantly improved the maximum osmotic output power density, most of them surpassing the commercialization benchmark, 5 Wm^-2. By connecting the number of unit cells, the output voltage reaches the point where it can directly power the electronic devices without any intermediate aid. The studies around MXene have significantly increased in recent years, yet there is more to be revealed about the application of MXene in the membrane and osmotic power-generating industry. This review discusses the electrodialysis process based on MXene composite membrane.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.212-220
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• 2015

The engineering plastic of sulfonated polyether ether ketone (SPEEK) as a polymer matrix has been developed in this lab to replace Nafion, solid polymer electrolytes of perfluorosulfonic acid membrane which has several flaws such as high cost, and limited operational temperature above $80^{\circ}C$. The SPEEK was prepared in the sulfonation reaction of polyether ether ketone (PEEK). The organic-inorganic blended composite membranes were prepared by sol-gel casting method with loading the highly dispersed ceria and cesium-substituted tungstosilicic acid (Cs-TSiA) with cross-linking agent contents of 0.01 mL. In conclusion, CL-SPEEK/Cs-TSiA/ceria 1% membrane showed the optimum results such as 0.1882 S/cm of proton conductivity at $80^{\circ}C$, and 99.61 MPa of tensile strength which were better than Nafion 117 membrane.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2011

The composite membranes comprising of sulfonated polymers as matrix and ionic liquids as ion-conducting medium in replacement of water are studied to investigate the effect of annealing of the sulfonated polymers. The polymeric membranes are prepared on recast Nafion containing the ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ($EMIBF_4$). The composite membranes are characterized by thermogravitational analyses, ion conductivity and small-angle X-ray scattering. The composite membranes annealed at $190^{\circ}C$ for 2 h after the fixed drying step showed better ionic conductivity, but no significant increase in thermal stability. The mean Bragg distance between the ionic clusters, which is reflected in the position of the ionomer peak (small-angle scattering maximum), is larger in the annealed composite membranes containing $EMIBF_4$ than the non-annealed ones. It might have been explained to be due to the different level of ion-clustering ability of the hydrophilic parts (i.e., sulfonic acid groups) in the non- and annealed polymer matrix. In addition, the ionic conductivity of the membranes shows higher for the annealed composite membranes containing $EMIBF_4$. It can be concluded that the annealing of the composite membranes containing ionic liquids due to an increase in ion-clustering ability is able to bring about the enhancement of ionic conductivity suitable for potential use in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) at medium temperatures ($150-200^{\circ}C$) in the absence of external humidification.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.673-681
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• 2023

Hydrocarbon-based polymer membranes to replace perfluorinated polymer membranes are being continuously researched. However, hydrocarbon-based membranes have a problem in that they are less durable than fluorine-based membranes. In this study, we sought to compare the annealing effect to improve the durability of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK). After membranes formation, thermogravimetric analysis and tensile strength were measured to compare changes in membranes properties due to annealing. After manufacturing the membrane and electrode assembly (MEA), the initial performance and chemical durability was compared with unit cell operation. During the 24-hour annealing process, the strength increased due to the increase in-S-O-S-crosslinking, and the sulfonic acid group decreased, leading to a decrease in I-V performance. By annealing, the hydrogen permeability was reduced to less than 1/10 of that of the nafion membrane, and as a result, open circuit voltage (OCV) and durability was improved. The SPEEK membranes annealed for 24 hours showed higher durability than the nafion 211 membranes of the same thickness.