• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.730-738
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• 1992

Filtration characteristics according to membrane materials were studied In the ultrafiltration of anaerobic digestion broth as a post treatment method. A series of resistances for different membranes were quantitatively assessed on the basis of the resistance-in-series model. Flux behavior observed with the digestion broth was irrelevant to initial water permeabilities of each membrane. The fluoro polymer membrane showed the most significant improvement of flux with increase of cross-flow velocity, which suggests that the cake layer formed on this membrane is more weakly attached to the membrane surface than those on the other membranes. Flux reduction during longtime running was attrib-used to the polarization layer resistance ($R_p$) as well as the fouling layer resistance($R_f$). Continuous increase of $R_p$ may reflect the variation in the characteristics of cake layers, which could result from size, shape, and structure changes due to lysis and growth of biomass. Hydrophilic cellulosic membrane had a much lower fouling tendency than hydrophobic polysulfone membrane. The depressurization method induced a small increase in flux of $5-10L/m^2/h$. During washing and cleaning, filtrability of each membrane was rapidly recovered within 15 minutes until a stationary value was reached.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.338-344
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• 2007

Electro-electrodialysis of hydriodic acid with HI molality of ca. 9.5 $mol/kg-H_2O$ was examined in the presence of iodine using a commercial cation exchange membrane, CMB, as a separator. For the increase of the selectivity of proton permeation, the membrane was radiation-treated by accelerated electron radiation. The membrane properties (area resistance, ion exchange capacity, water content) of the radiation-treated membranes were measured. The area resistance in 2 $mol/dm^3$ KCl solution, ion exchange capacity and water content of the radiation-treated membranes at each dose rate dad almost the same value as that of the non-treated membrane (original of CMB membrane). Electro-electrodialysis of hydriodic acid with HI molality of ca. 9.5 $mol/kg-H_2O$ was examined at $75^{\circ}C$ with 9.6 $A/dm^2$. The radiation-treated cation exchange membrane by accelerated electron radiation had higher selectivity of the proton permeation by cross-linking structure of polymer than that of the non-treated membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2011

Partially fluorinated poly(arylene ether sulfone) block ionomer membranes with different branch degree for fuel cell applications were investigated. A sulfonable monomer, a non-sulfonable monomer and a trifunctional branching agent were synthesized and the sulfonable monomer was oligomerized to obtain block structures. The oligomer was then further polymerized with the non-sulfonable monomer and the branching agent. The mole ratio of oligomer : non-sulfonable monomer was fixed at 4:6 and the content of the branching agent was varied from 0 to 2 mol% (BBC-40Bx). Post-sulfonation of BBC-40Bx was carried out using chlorosulfonic acid (CSA) (SBBC-40Bx). All the synthesized compounds were characterized by $^1H$-NMR, $^{19}F$-NMR and FT-IR. It was confirmed that the ion exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake and ion conductivity of SBBC-40Bx increased with the increment of branching agent content.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.72-76
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• 2012

$SF_6$ has an extremely high global worming potential (GWP). Therefore, there has been an effort to reduce the use of $SF_6$ and its emission into atmosphere. One possible solution for minimizing the use of $SF_6$ in electrical equipments is utilization of gas mixtures such as $SF_6/N_2$. The $SF_6$ concentration in the gas mixture varies from 10 to 60%. However, when the apparatus is repaired or dismantled, we have to recover $SF_6$ from the gas mixture. Since the boiling point of $SF_6$is low (${\sim}-60^{\circ}C$), the liquefaction method is difficult to apply. One possible alternative is the membrane separation technology. In this study, we investigated the $SF_6$ and $N_2$ permeation properties of 5 polymeric membranes. For example, permeability of $N_2$ in BOPP membrane at $25^{\circ}C$was 0.19 barrer, whereas that of $SF_6$ was only 0.0012 barrer, resulting in the selectivity of 158. An upper bound for $SF_6/N_2$ gas pair was suggested for the first time with n = -1.33 and k = 160 (barrer).

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.212-218
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• 2021

It is inevitable to generate incomplete combustion gases when mankind utilizes fossil fuels. From this point of view, gas separation process of combustion gas suggests the possibility of recycling CO gas. In this study, we fabricated a facilitated transport polymeric composite membrane for CO separation using AgBF₄ and HBF₄. The copolymer was synthesized via free-radical polymerization of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a main chain and acrylic acid (AA) monomer as a side chain. The polymer synthesis was confirmed by FT-IR and the interactions of graft copolymer with AgBF₄, and HBF₄ were characterized by TEM. PVA-g-PAA graft copolymer membranes showed good channels for facilitated CO transport. In this perspective, we suggest the novel approach in CO separation membrane area via combination of grafting and facilitated transport.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.207-213
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• 1997

A field effect transistor(FET) type dissolved carbon dioxide($pCO_{2}$) sensor with a double layer structure of hydrogel membrane and $CO_{2}$ gas permeable membrane was fabricated by utilizing a $H^{+}$ ion selective field effect transistor(pH-ISFET) with Ag/AgCl reference electrode as a base chip. Formation of hydrogel membrane with photo-crosslinkable PVA-SbQ or PVP-PVAc/photosensitizer system was not suitable with the photolithographic process. Furthermore, hydrogel membrane on pH-ISFET base chip could be fabricated by photolithographic method with the aid of N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl othylenediarnine(TED) as $O_{2}$ quencher without using polyester film as a $O_{2}$ blanket during UV irradiation process. Photosensitive urethane acrylate type oligomer was used as gas permeable membrane on top of hydrogel layer. The FET type $pCO_{2}$ sensor fabricated by photolithographic method showed good linearity (linear calibration curve) in the range of $10^{-3}{\sim}10^{0}\;mol/{\ell}$ of dissolved $CO_{2}$ in aqueous solution with high sensitivity.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.241-251
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• 2006

In this study, crosslinked copolyimides with random (r-) and block (b-) structure were fabricated using N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid and pentanediol as crosslinkers. Linear r- and b-sulfonated copolyimides were also fabricated for comparison. Ion exchange capacities of r- and b-copolyimides were very similar to each other owing to their strong dependence of sulfonic acid content. The physical crosslinking via dimerization of carboxylic acid groups induced a reduced average interchain distance in b-copolyimide without crosslinkers. Consequently, its water uptake and methanol permeability were lower than those of r-sulfonated copolyimides. Simultaneously, the reduced interchain distance increased the content of fixed-charged ions per unit volume. The high fixed-charged ion density contributed to an enhancement of proton conductivity In the b-sulfonated copolyimide. Crosslinking caused the reduction of average interchain distance between polymer chains irrespective of types of crosslinker and polymer structure, leading to low methanol permeability. On the contrary, their proton conductivity was improved owing to formation of effective hydrophilic channels responsible for proton conduction. In particular, this trend was observed in r-copolyimide containing a fixed charged ion.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.443-455
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• 2021

In this study, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) was used as a support and a separator was manufactured using polysulfone and inorganic additives to manufacture a separator with low membrane resistance for application of an alkali water electrolysis system, and then the effect on the thickness and porosity of the support was analyzed. The PPS felt used as a support was compressed with variables of temperature (100℃, 150℃, 200℃) and pressure (1 ton, 2 tons, 3 tons, 5 tons) to adjust the thickness. A porous separator could be manufactured by preparing a slurry with polysulfone using BaTiO₃ and ZrO₂ which have high hydrophilicity and excellent alkali resistance as inorganic particles and casting the slurry on a compressed PPS felt. Changes in morphology of the separator according to compression conditions were confirmed through an electron scanning microscope (SEM). After that, the porosity was calculated, and the thickness and porosity tended to decrease as the compression conditions increased. Various characteristics were evaluated to confirm whether it could be used as a separator for water electrolysis. As a result of measuring the mechanical strength, it was confirmed that the tensile strength gradually increased as the compression conditions (temperature and pressure) increased. Finally, it was confirmed that the porous separator manufactured through the alkali resistance test has excellent alkali resistance, and through the IV test, it was confirmed that the membranes compressed at 100℃ and 150℃ had a lower voltage and improved performance than the existing uncompressed membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.411-426
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• 2022

Energy plays a significant role in modern lifestyle because of our extensive reliance over energy-operating devices. Therefore, there is a need for alternative and green energy resources that can fulfill the energy demand. For this, fuel cell (FCs) especially anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) have gained tremendous attention over the other (FCs) due to their fast reaction kinetics without using noble catalyst and allow to use of cheaper polymers with high performance. But lack of highly conductive, chemically, and mechanically stable anion exchange membrane (AEM) still main obstacle to the development of high performance AEMFCs. Therefore, graphene-based polymer composite membranes came into the existence as AEMs for the FCs. The exceptional properties of the graphene help to improve the performance of AEMs. Still, there are lot of challenges in the graphene derivatives based AEMs because of their high tendency of agglomeration in polymer matrix which reduced their potential. To overcome this issue surface modification of graphene derivatives is necessary to restrict their agglomeration and conserved their potential features that can help to improve the performance of AEM. Therefore, this review focus on the surface modification of graphene derivatives and their role in the fabrication of AEMs for the FCs.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2023

In order to improve the durability of the PEMFC(Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells) polymer membrane, a radical scavenger and a support are used. In this study, the durability of membranes containing fucoidan extracted from seaweeds and tannic acid serving as a crosslinking agent is evaluated to improve chemical and physical durability. Physical durability is evaluated by measuring tensile strength, and chemical durability is measured by Fenton experiment. Membrane and electrode assembly (MEA) is prepared and mechanical and chemical durability are measured through accelerated durability evaluation in the cell. The tensile strength measurement showed that fucoidan and tannic acid can improve the mechanical durability of the membrane by improving the strain rate and yield strength. It is shown in Fenton experiment that fucoidan acts as a radical scavenger. As a result of the accelerated durability test in the unit cell, fucoidan improved both chemical and mechanical durability, increasing the accelerated durability evaluation time by 38.1% compared to the additive-free membrane. When tannic acid is added, the durability of the polymer membrane is improved by 13.9% by improving the mechanical durability.