• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.96-110
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• 2024

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are green energy conversion devices, for which commercial markets have been established, owing to their application in fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). Development of cathode electrocatalysts, replacing commercial Pt/C, plays a crucial role in factors such as cost reduction, high performance, and durability in FCVs. PtNi octahedral catalysts are promising for oxygen reduction reactions owing to their significantly higher mass activity (10-15 times) than that of Pt/C; however, their application in membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) is challenged by their low stability. To overcome this durability issue, various approaches, such as third-metal doping, composition control, halide treatment, formation of a Pt layer, annealing treatment, and size control, have been explored and have shown promising improvements in stability in rotating disk electrode (RDE) testing. In this review, we aimed to compare the features of each strategy in terms of enhancing stability by introducing a stability improvement factor for a direct and reasonable comparison. The limitations of each strategy for enhancing stability of PtNi octahedral are also described. This review can serve as a valuable guide for the development of strategies to enhance the durability of octahedral PtNi.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.289-297
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• 2004

In this study, membranes were coupled to a sequencing batch reactor for simultaneous removal of organic matter and nitrogen, and the influences of MLSS (mixed liquor suspended solid) concentration and the sludge loading rate on membrane fouling and bioactivity were investigated. The amount of membrane fouling slightly increased with MLSS concentration at both non-aeration and aeration conditions, but effect of MLSS concentration was more significant at aeration condition. Although the effect of MLSS concentration on membrane fouling was found to be insignificant at low concentration level, extremely low sludge loading, which were generated by the maintenance of large amount of biomass in the reactor, caused severe membrane fouling, and air scouring effect decreased significantly in this condition. Specific bioactivity was constantly reduced as sludge loading rate decreased. In spite of high MLSS concentration over 17,000 mg/L, the activity of the reactor decreased at extremely low sludge loading rate presumably due to the lower oxygen transfer and the competition of biomass to deficient substrate.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1467-1474
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• 2016

In response to the water shortage problem, continued attempts are being made to secure consistent and reliable water sources. Among various solutions to this problem, wastewater effluent is an easy way to secure the necessary supply, since its annual output is consistent. Furthermore, wastewater effluent has the advantage of being able to serve various purposes, such as cleaning, sprinkling, landscaping, river management, irrigation, and industrial applications. Therefore, this study presents the possible use of reclaimed industrial wastewater treated with Birm filters and a UF membrane, along with an analysis on membrane fouling. The preprocessing stage, part of the reclamation process, used Birm filters to minimize membrane fouling. Since this study did not consider heavy metal levels in the treated water, the analyses did not include the criterion for irrigation water quality. However, the wastewater reclaimed by using Birm filters and a UF membrane met every other requirement for reclaimed water quality standards. This indicated that the treated water could be used for cleaning, channel flow for maintenance, recreational purposes, and industrial applications. The analysis on the fouling of the Birm filter and UF membrane required the study of the composition and recovery rate of the membrane. According to SEM and EDX analyses of the UF membrane, carbon and oxygen ion composition amounted to approximately 57%, whereas inorganic matter was not detected. Furthermore, the difference in the recovery rates of the distressed membrane between acidic and alkaline cleaning was more than ~78%, which indicated that organic rather than inorganic matter contributed to membrane fouling.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.371-377
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• 2009

In this study, simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) from synthetic wastewater were performed to evaluate dissolved oxygen(DO) effects on chemical oxygen demand(COD) and nitrogen removal in a single membarne bio-reactor(MBR). DO levels in MBR at Run 1, 2, and 3 were 1.9~2.2, 1.3~1.6, and 0.7~1.0 mg/L, respectively. Experimental results indicated that DO had an important factor to affect COD and total nitrogen(TN) removal. SND were able to be accomplished in the continuous-aeration MBR by controlling ambient DO concentration. It is postulated that, because of the oxygen diffusion limitation, an anoxic micro-zone was formed inside the flocs where the denitrification might occur. From the results of this study, 96% of COD could be removed at DO of 0.7mg/L. At run 2 72.92% of nitrogen was removed by the mechanisms of SND (7.75mg-TN/L in effluent). In this study, SND was successfully occurred in a MBR due to high MLSS that could help to form anoxic zone inside microbial floc at bulk DO concentrations of 1.3~1.6mg/L.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.407-411
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• 2015

Dense ceramic membranes have been prepared using the commercial perovsikite $Ba_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}Co_{0.8}Fe_{0.2}O_{3-{\delta}}$, powders synthesized by the solid state reaction method. The as-synthesized powders were compressed into disks with 1.0 mm of thickness and the disk was sintered at $1,100^{\circ}C$ for 2 hr. The oxygen permeation flux of $Ba_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}Co_{0.8}Fe_{0.2}O_{3-{\delta}}$ membrane increased with the increasing temperature and oxygen partial pressure. The activation energy for oxygen permeation was increased with the increasing oxygen partial pressure. Oxygen permeation flux at $950^{\circ}C$ were measured at various flow rates of feed and sweep gas. It has been demonstrated that oxygen permeability increased at elevated flow rates of both gases, but the sweep gas is more influential.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.407-420
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• 2016

The fuel cell technology as a green energy source has been actively studied to solve energy shortages and pollution problems. The generating efficiency of fuel cell is high because the electricity is directly produced by using hydrogen and oxygen and the additional power generator is not needed. The key technology is the manufacturing process of polymer electrolyte membranes for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system. The Nafion, perfluoro-based polymeric membrane is mainly used as a polymer electrolyte membrane. However, the Nafion is expensive and rapidly decreases the performance of Nafion at high temperature. So, many researchers are lively studying new alternative electrolyte membranes. In this review, through the technology competitiveness evaluation of patents and papers, the frequencies of presentation are filed by country, institution and company. In addition, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, direct methanol fuel cell and alkaline fuel cell are also filed.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.87-93
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• 2023

Electrodialysis (ED) is essential in separating ions through an ion exchange membrane. The disposal of brine generated from seawater desalination is a primary environmental concern, and its recycling through membrane separation technology is highly efficient. Alkali is produced by several chemical industries such as leather, electroplating, dyeing, and smelting, etc. A high concentration of alkali in the waste needs treatment before releasing into the environment as it is highly corrosive and has a chemical oxygen demand (COD) value. The concentration of calcium and magnesium is almost double in brine and is the perfect candidate for carbon dioxide adsorption, a major environmental pollutant. Sodium hydroxide is essential for the metal carbonation process which, is easily produced by the bipolar membrane electrodialysis process. Various strategies are available for its recovery, like reverse osmosis (RO), nanofiltration (NF), ultrafiltration (UF), and ED. This review discusses the ED process by ion exchange membrane for alkali recovery are discussed.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.257-265
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• 2001

Placing a hydrogen conducting, methanol impermeable metallic barrier like palladium (Pd) is a well-known method for preventing methanol crossover through solid polymer electrolyte for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC). Applying a bias potential between the anode and the barrier can further develop this concept so that the hydrogen transfer rate is enhanced. Since hydrogen diffuses in Pd as atomic form while it moves through nafion electrolyte as ion, it has to be reduced or oxidized whenever it passes the interface formed by Pd and the electrolyte. We performed experiments to measure the hydrogen transport through the Pd membrane placed in Nafion electrolyte of hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell (PEMFC). Applying a bias potential between the hydrogen electrode of the cell and the Pd membrane facilitated the hydrogen passage through the Pd membrane. The results show that the cell current measured with the Pd membrane placed reached almost 40 % the value measured with the cell without Pd membrane. It was found that the current flown through the bias path is only a few percent of the cell current.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.159-163
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• 2018

The feasibility of applying coagulation-integrated microfiltration (MF) as a pretreatment for an ultrafiltration (UF) feed in oily wastewater treatment was investigated. The effects of different coagulants on oil removal rates from wastewater were studied. The maximum oil removal rate of 82% was obtained after coagulation with 130 mg/L of polyaluminium chloride (PAC). UF flux reached $95L/(m^2{\cdot}h)$ with coagulation-integrated MF as pretreatment. This value was 2.5 times higher than that flux obtained without pretreatment. The value of UF flux increased as the transmembrane pressure (TMP) and cross-flow velocity (CFV) of the UF module increased. UF flux gradually increased when TMP and CFV exceeded 0.4 MPa and 3 m/s, respectively, because of concentration polarization and membrane fouling stabilization. Chemical oxygen demand reduction and oil removal rate reached 95.2% and 98.5%, respectively, during integrated membrane processing with a PAC concentration of 130 mg/L, TMP of 0.4 MPa, and CFV of 3 m/s for UF. In addition, sequentially cleaning the fouling membrane with NaOH and $HNO_3$ aqueous solutions caused UF flux to recover to 90%. These encouraging results suggested that the hybrid integrated membrane process-based coagulation and MF + UF are effective approaches for oily wastewater treatment.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.59-63
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• 2012

This paper proposes a modified Ludzack-Ettinger (MLE) type membrane bioreactor (MBR) as a method of treatment for wastewater from food waste disposer. Micro-membrane filtration allows for an extremely low concentration of suspended solids in the effluent. The effluent of the reactor in question is characterized by a relatively high level of non-biodegradable organics, containing a substantial amount of soluble microbial products and biomass. Results obtained in this paper by measurement of membrane fouling are consistent with biomass concentration in the reactor, as opposed to chemical oxygen demand (COD). The MLE process is shown to be effective for the treatment of wastewater with a high COD/N ratio of 20, resulting in are markedly high total nitrogen removal efficiency. Denitrification could be improved at a higher internal recycle ratio. Despite the low concentration of influent phosphorus, the phosphorus concentration of the outflow is seen to be relatively high. This is because outflow phosphorous concentration is related to COD consumption, and the process operates at along solids retention time.