• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.286-300
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• 2016

Pd-Ag alloy membranes have attracted a great deal of attention for their use in hydrogen purification and separation due to their high theoretical permeability, infinite selectivity and chemical compatibility with hydro-carbon containing gas streams. For commercial application, Pd-based membranes for hydrogen purification and separation need not only a high perm-selectivity but also a stable long-term durability. However, it has been difficult to fabricate thin, dense Pd-Ag alloy membranes on a porous stainless steel metal support with surface pores free and a stable diffusion barrier for preventing metallic diffusion from the porous stainless steel support. In this study, thin Pd-Ag alloy membranes were prepared by advanced Pd/Ag/Pd/Ag/Pd multi-layer sputter deposition on the modified porous stainless steel support using rough polishing/$ZrO_2$ powder filling and micro-polishing surface treatment, and following Ag up-filling heat treatment. Because the modified Pd-Ag alloy membranes using rough polishing/$ZrO_2$ powder filling method demonstrate high hydrogen permeability as well as diffusion barrier efficiency, it leads to the performance improvement in hydrogen perm-selectivity. Our membranes, therefore, are expected to be applicable to industrial fields for hydrogen purification and separation owing to enhanced functionality, durability and metal support/Pd alloy film integration.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.277-290
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• 2018

In this study, Pd-Ni-Ag alloy hydrogen separation membranes were fabricated by Pd/Ag/Pd/Ni/Pd multi-layer sputter deposition on the modified MIM(Metal Injection Molding)-PSS(Porous Stainless Steel) support and followed heat treatment. Nickel, used as an alloying element in Pd alloy membranes, is inexpensive and stable material in a hydrogen isotope environment at high temperature up to 1123 K. Hydrogen perm-selectivity of Pd-Ni-Ag alloy membranes is affected not only by composition of membrane films but also by other factors such as surface properties of PSS support, microstructure of membrane films and inter-diffused impurities from PSS support. In order to clarify the effect of surface Ni composition on hydrogen perm-selectivity of Pd-Ni-Ag alloy membranes, the other effects were significantly minimized by the formation of dense and homogeneous Pd-Ni-Ag alloy membranes. Hydrogen permeation test showed that hydrogen permeability decreased from $7.6{\times}10^{-09}$ to $1.02{\times}10^{-09}mol/m{\cdot}s{\cdot}Pa^{0.5}$ as Ni composition increased from 0 to 16 wt% and the selectivity for $H_2/N_2$ was infinite.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.269-272
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• 2015

$La_2Ce_2O_7$ and $CeO_2$ membranes were fabricated from the corresponding powders derived from sol-gel process with polyvinyl alcohol binder. These powders and membranes were characterized by XRD, BET, and FE-SEM analysis. Hydrogen and CO gas permeation experiments were performed using Sievert's type equipment. Both fluxes on these membranes were found to decrease with increase of the temperature. This phenomenon was followed by the surface and Knudsen diffusion mechanism. The hydrogen permeability of the $La_2Ce_2O_7$ membrane was found to be $7.27{\times}10^{-5}mol/m^2sPa$, with perm-selectivity of 7.24 at 303 K.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.98-107
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• 2017

Pd-based membranes have been widely used in hydrogen purification and separation due to their high hydrogen diffusivity and infinite selectivity. However, it has been difficult to fabricate thin and dense Pd-based membranes on a porous stainless steel(PSS) support. In case of a conventional PSS support having the large size of surface pores, it was required to use complex surface treatment and thick Pd coating more than $6{\mu}m$ on the PSS was required in order to form pore free surface. In this study, we could fabricate thin and dense Pd membrane with only $3{\mu}m$ Pd layer on a new PSS support manufactured by metal injection molding(MIM). The PSS support had low surface roughness and mean pore size of $5{\mu}m$. Pd membrane were prepared by advanced Pd sputter deposition on the modified PSS support using fine polishing and YSZ vacuum filling surface treatment. At temperature $400^{\circ}C$ and transmembrane pressure difference of 1 bar, hydrogen flux and selectivity of $H_2/N_2$ were $11.22ml\;cm^{-2}min^{-1}$ and infinity, respectively. Comparing with $6{\mu}m$ Pd membrane, $3{\mu}m$ Pd membrane showed 2.5 times higher hydrogen flux which could be due to the decreased Pd layer thickness from $6{\mu}m$ to $3{\mu}m$ and an increased porosity. It was also found that pressure exponent was changed from 0.5 on $6{\mu}m$ Pd membrane to 0.8 on $3{\mu}m$ Pd membrane.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.248-256
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• 2012

A Pd-based hydrogen membranes for hydrogen purification and separation need high hydrogen perm-selectivity. The surface roughness of the support is important to coat the pinholes free and thin-film membrane over it. Also, The pinholes drastically decreased the hydrogen perm-selectivity of the Pd-based composite membrane. In order to remove the pinholes, we introduced various surface pre-treatment such as alumina powder packing, nickel electro-plating and micro-polishing pre-treatment. Especially, the micro-polishing pretreatment was very effective in roughness leveling off the surface of the porous nickel support, and it almost completely plugged the pores. Fine Ni particles filled surface pinholes with could form open structure at the interface of Pd alloy coating and Ni support by their diffusion to the membrane and resintering. In this study, a $4{\mu}m$ surface pore-free Pd-Cu-Ni ternary alloy membrane on a porous nickel substrate was successfully prepared by micro-polishing, high temperature sputtering and Cu-reflow process. And $H_2$ permeation and $N_2$ leak tests showed that the Pd-Cu-Ni ternary alloy hydrogen membrane achieved both high permeability of $13.2ml{\cdot}cm^{-2}{\cdot}min^{-1}{\cdot}atm^{-1}$ permation flux and infinite selectivity.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.432-443
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• 2018

In this study, propylene/propane separation behavior of Na-type faujasite zeolite membranes is predicted by observing gravimetric adsorptions of propylene and propane on zeolite 13X. The gravimetric adsorptions were measured by using a magnetic suspension balance (MSB) at temperatures of 323, 343, 363 K and a pressure range of 0.02-1 bar. The pressure was increased at 0.1 bar intervals. As adsorption temperature increased, adsorptions of propylene and propane decreased and propylene/propane adsorption selectivity increased. Also, the diffusion coefficients of propylene and propane were increased as the adsorption temperature increased, following the Arrhenius equation. The maximum propylene/propane diffusion selectivity was 0.9753 at 323 K. The perm-selectivity was calculated from the adsorption data of zeolite 13X and compared with the perm-selectivity measured in the single gas permeation experiment for the Na-type faujasite zeolite membrane. The maximum values for the calculated and measured perm-selectivities were observed at a temperature of 323 K. It could be concluded that the prediction of propylene/propane separation of surface diffusion-based membrane by using gravimetric adsorption data is reasonable. Therefore, it is expected that this prediction method can be applied to the screening of adsorption-based microporous membrane for propylene/propane separation.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.234-236
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• 2015

$Y_2O_3$-SiC composite membrane was dip-coated using $Y_2O_3$ sol solution; this membrane was compared with a non- coated one. Each membrane was characterized by XRD, FE-SEM and BET techniques. Hydrogen and CO permeation were tested with self-manufactured Sievert's type equipment. $Y_2O_3$ coating was enhanced for the selectivity of the membrane ($H_2$ versus CO). The hydrogen permeation was measured at 1 bar with increasing temperatures. In case of the coated membrane, hydrogen permeation was found to be $1.24{\times}10^{-7}mol/m^2sPa$ with perm-selectivity of 4.26 at 323 K.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.07a
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• pp.25-28
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• 2003

Low cost composite metallic membranes for the hydrogen separation and production have been prepared by using thin Pd-Ag foils reinforced by metallic (stainless steel and nickel) structures. Especially, “supported membranes” have been obtained by a diffusion welding procedure in which Pd-Ag thin foils have been joined with perforated metals (nickel) and expanded metals (stainless steel): in these membranes the thin palladium foil assures both the high hydrogen permeability and the perm-selectivity while the metallic support provides the mechanical strength. A second studied method of producing "laminated membranes" consists of coating non-noble metal sheets with very thin palladium layers by diffusion welding and cold-rolling. Palladium thin coatings over these metals reduce the activation energy of the hydrogen adsorption process and make them permeable to the hydrogen. In this case, the dense non-noble metal has been used as a support structure of the thin Pd-Ag layers coated over its surfaces: a proper thickness of the metal assures the mechanical strength, the absence of defects (cracks, micro-holes) and the complete hydrogen selectivity of the membrane. membrane.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.207-208
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• 2014

고순도의 수소를 정제 및 분리하기 위한 팔라듐계 합금 수소분리막은 높은 수소 투과-선택 특성이 요구된다. 그러나 종래의 스퍼터 공정 조건으로 팔라듐계 분리막을 제조하면 주상정 구조에 기인하여 표면에 기공이 형성되게 된다. 본 연구에서는 개선된 스퍼터 시스템에서 고진공, 고온 및 높은 직류 전원 공정조건 하에 치밀하고 균일한 팔라듐/금 수소분리층을 제조하였다. 이와 같은 공정 조건에 의해 종래의 제조 공정 조건 보다 얇은 분리막을 제조하여 공정의 경제성을 향상 시켰으며, 기공이 포함되지 않은 수소분리층을 형성하여 수소 선택 특성이 무한대의 값을 가지는 것으로 관찰되었다.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.248-257
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• 2013

It is generally recognized that thin Pd-Cu alloy films fabricated by sputtering show a wide range of microstructures and properties, both of which are highly dependent on the sputtering conditions. In view of this, the present study aims to investigate the relationship between the performance of hydrogen separation membranes and the microstructure of Pd alloy films depending on sputtering deposition conditions such as substrate temperature, working pressure, and DC power. We fabricated thin and dense Pd-Cu alloy membranes by the micro-polishing of porous Ni support, an advanced Pd-Cu sputtered multi-deposition under the conditions of high substrate temperature / low working pressure / high DC power, and a followed by Cu-reflow heat-treatment. The result of a hydrogen permeation test indicated that the selectivity for $H_2/N_2$ was infinite because of the void-free and dense surface of the Pd alloy membranes, and the hydrogen permeability was 10.5 $ml{\cdot}cm^{-2}{\cdot}min^{-1}{\cdot}atm^{-1}$ for a 6 ${\mu}m$ membrane thickness.