• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.125-133
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• 2012

Nafion ionomer located in electrode helps to increase the platinum utilization and proton conductivity. To achieve higher performance in PEMFCs, it is important an optimum Nafion content in the electrode. As the platinum loading and fabricated method depend on the optimum Nafion content. In this study, we have examined the interrelationship between platinum loading and Nafion content fabricated by decal transfer method. For electrodes with 0.25 and 0.4 mg/$cm^2$ Pt loading, best performance was obtained at 25 wt.% Nafion ionomer loading. It is also found that MEA with 0.25 mg/$cm^2$ Pt, the optimum Nafion content appears differently at low and high current density.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.50-55
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• 2011

To enhance the performance of a MEA (membrane electrode assembly) in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), optimum contents of Nafion ionomer as electrolyte in the 20 and 40 wt% Pt/C used in electrodes were examined. Variety characterization techniques were applied to examine optimum Nafion contents: cell performance test, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV). According to Pt wt% supported on carbon support, it has been observed that polarization, ohmic, and mass transfer resistances were changed so that the cell performance was significantly dependent on the content of Nafion ionomer. Optimum Nafion ionomer contents in the 20 wt% Pt/C and 40 wt% Pt/C were showed 35 wt% and 20 wt%, respectively. This is due to different surface area of the Pt/C catalyst, and formation of triple phase boundary seems to be affected by the Nafion contents.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.214-219
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• 2006

Cast Nafion-based composite membranes containing different amounts of organic, nanorod-shaped polyrotaxane were prepared and characterized, with the aim of improving the properties of polymer electrolyte membranes for direct methanol fuel cell applications. Polyrotaxane was prepared using the inclusion-complex reaction between ${\alpha}$-cyclodextrin and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) of different molecular weights. The addition of polyrotaxane to Nafion changed the morphology and reduced the crystallinity. The conductivity of the composite membranes increased with increasing polyrotaxane content up to 5 wt%, but then decreased at higher polyrotaxane contents. Well-dispersed, organic polyrotaxane inside the membrane can provide a tortuous path for the transport of methanol, as the methanol permeability depends on the aspect ratio of polyrotaxane, which is controlled by the molecular weight of PEG. All of the Nafion-based, polyrotaxane composite membranes showed a higher selectivity parameter than the commercial Nafion films did.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.149-149
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• 2009

Generally, Nafion ionomer is used in the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) electrodes to achieve high power density. At the high temperature operation of PEFC, however, ionic conductivity of Nafion remarkably decreased due to the evaporation of water in Nafion polymer. Recently, many researchers have focused on using the Ionic Liquids(ILs) instead of water in Nafion polymer. ILs have intrinsic properties such as good electrochemical stability, high ionic conductivity, and non-flammability. Especially, ILs play a crucial role in proton conduction by the Grottuss mechanism and act as water in water-free Nafion polymer. However, it was found that the ILs was leached out of the polymer matrix easily. In this study, we prepared membrane electrode assemblies with various contents of ILs. The effect of ILs in the electrode of each designed was investigated by a cyclic voltammetry measurement and the cell performance obtained through a single cell test using H2/Air gases. Electrodes with different contents of ILs in catalyst layer were examined at high temperature and low humidified condition.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.416-426
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• 2023

In this study, hindered amine-grafted graphene oxide (HA-GO) with antioxidant properties was prepared and incorporated into Nafion-based composite membranes as an effective filler material for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell applications. HA-GO was synthesized via a ring-opening reaction between amine groups in 4-amino-2, 2, 6, 6-tetramethyl piperidine and epoxy groups on the surface of GO. Nafion-based composite membranes containing different weight contents of HA-GO were fabricated to compare the polymer electrolyte membrane properties with those of the pure Nafion membrane. The composite membranes with HA-GO were found to have better mechanical properties, chemical stability, and proton conductivity than the pure Nafion membrane. In particular, the conductivity retention behavior confirmed by the decrease in proton conductivity after Fenton's test of the composite membranes was better than that of the pure Nafion membrane due to the incorporation of HA-GO with effective antioxidant properties.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.286-293
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• 2006

Porous asymmetric membranes based on PVdF as a nascent membrane were prepared by using a phase inversion method. PVdF ion conductive composite membranes were finally made by introducing $SO_3{^-}$ from sulfuric acid after cross-linked PS with various DVB contents in the pores of PVdF. Final PVdF composite membranes were characterized by FTIR, SEM, EDS to verify $SO_3{^-}$. It was revealed that the solvent contents and ion exchange capacity (IEC) decreased with increase of the degree of cross-linking. As the degree of crosslink increases both the electric conductivity and methanol permeability decreased, which was showing the better values than Nafion 117. When DVB content was 8%, its electric conductivity ($5.58{\times}10^{-5}S/cm$) was similar to Nafion 117 ($6.03{\times}10^{-5}S/cm$). But the lower methanol permeability ($1.0{\times}10^{-6}cm^2/sec$) than that of Nafion 117 was obtained.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.95.2-95.2
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• 2011

In order to achieve high performance and low cost for commercial applications, the development of membrane electrode assemblies (MEA), in which the electrochemical reactions actually occur, must be optimized. Expensive platinum is currently used as an electrochemical catalyst due to its high activity. Although various platinum alloys and non-platinum catalysts are under development, their stabilities and catalytic activities, especially in terms of the oxygen reduction (ORR), render them currently unsuitable for practical use. Therefore, it is important to decrease platinum loading by optimizing the catalysts and electrode microstructure. In this study, we prepared several different MEAs (non-uniform Nafion$^{(R)}$ ionomer loading electrode) which have dual catalyst layers to find the optimal Nafion$^{(R)}$ ionomer distribution in the electrodes. We changed Nafion$^{(R)}$ ionomer content in the layers to find the ideal composition of the binder and Pt/C in the electrode. For MEAs with various ionomer contents in the anodes and cathodes, the electrochemical activity (activation overpotential) and the mass transport properties (concentration overpotential) were analyzed and correlated with the single cell performance. The dual catalyst layers MEA showed higher cell performance than uniformly fabricated MEA, especially at the high current density region.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.127-128
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• 2006

Nafion/basic polymer composite membranes were prepared to reduce the methanol crossover for the application of direct methanol fuel cell. The thermal and mechanical properties increased with increasing basic polymer contents due to the formation of complex via acid/basic interaction. The water uptake, proton conductivity, methanol permeability decreased with increasing basic polymer concentration by reduction of acidity associated with the formation of acid/base complex. The molecular effect on those properties was not considerable.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1032-1038
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• 2009

A polypyrrole (PPy)/alumina composite filler prepared via in-situ polymerization of pyrrole on alumina particles was incorporated into $Nafion^{(R)}$ to improve the performance of ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuators. The IPMCs with the pristine PPy without alumina support did not show bending displacements superior to that of the bare Nafion-based IPMC, except at a high PPy content of 4 wt%. This result was attributed to the low redox efficiency of the PPy alone in the IPMC and may have also been related to the modulus of the IPMC. However, at the optimized filler contents, the cyclic displacement of the IPMCs bearing the PPy/alumina filler was 2.2 times larger than that of the bare Nafion-based IPMC under an applied AC potential of 3 Vat 1 Hz. Even under a low AC potential of 1.5 V at 1 Hz, the displacement of the PPy/alumina-based IPMCs was a viable level of performance for actuator applications and was 2.7 times higher than that of the conventional Nafion-based IPMC. The generated blocking force was also improved with the PPy/aiumina composite filler. The greatly enhanced performance and the low-voltage-operational characteristic of the IPMCs bearing the PPy/alumina filler were attributed to the synergic effects of the neighboring alumina moiety near the PPy moiety involving electrochemical redox reactions.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2008

The composite membrane for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) was developed using $H_3O^+-{\beta}"-Al_2O_3$ powder and perfluorosulfonylfluroride copolymer (Nafion) resin. The perfluorosulfonylfluroride copolymer (Nafion) resin was mixed with $H_3O^+-{\beta}"-Al_2O_3$ powder and it was made to sheet form by hot pressing. The electrodes were prepared with 60 wt% PtRu/C and 60wt% Pt/C catalysts for anode and cathode, respectively. The morphology and the chemical composition of the composite membrane have been investigated by using SEM and EDXA, respectively. The composite membrane and $H_3O^+-{\beta}"-Al_2O_3$ were analyzed by using FT-IR and XRD. The methanol permeability of the composite membranes was also measured by gas chromatography (GC). The performance of the MEA containing the composite membrane (2wt% $H_3O^+-{\beta}"-Al_2O_3$) was higher than that of normal pure Nafion membrane at high operating temperature (e.g. $110^{\circ}C$), due to the homogenous distribution of $H_3O^+-{\beta}"-Al_2O_3$, which decreased the methanol permeability through the membrane and enhanced the water contents in the composite membrane.