• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.427-441
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• 2022

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) serving as a separator that can prevent the permeation of unreacted fuels as well as an electrolyte that selectively transports protons from the anode to the cathode has been considered a key component of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The perfluorinated sulfonic acid-based PEMs, represented by Nafion®, have been commercialized in PEMFC systems due to their high proton conductivity and chemical stability. Nevertheless, these PEMs have several inherent drawbacks including high manufacturing costs by the complex synthetic processes and environmental problems caused by producing the toxic gases. Although numerous studies are underway to address these drawbacks including the development of sulfonated hydrocarbon polymer-based PEMs (SHP-PEMs), which can easily control the polymer structures, further improvement of PEM performances and durability is necessary for practical PEMFC applications. Therefore, this study focused on the various strategies for the development of SHP-PEMs with outstanding performance and durability by 1) introducing cross-linked structures, 2) incorporating organic/inorganic composites, and 3) fabricating reinforced-composite membranes using porous substrates.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.88-96
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• 2024

Lithium metal has garnered attention as a promising anode active material thanks to its high specific capacity, energy density, and the lowest reduction potential. However, the formation of dendrites, dendritic crystals that arise during the charge and discharge process, has posed safety and lifetime stability challenges. To resolve this, our study has introduced a novel separator design. This separator features a composite coating of vapor-grown carbon fiber, a conductive material in nanofibers, and silver. We have meticulously studied the impact of this innovative separator on the electrochemical properties of the lithium metal anode, unveiling promising results. To confirm the synergistic effect of VGCF and Ag, a separator with no surface treatment and a separator with only VGCF coated on one side were prepared and compared with the Ag-VGCF-separator. In the case of the bare separator, the Li metal surface is covered with dendrites during the initial charge and discharge process. In contrast, both the VGCF-separator and the Ag-VGCF-separator show Li precipitation inside the conductive coating layer coated on the separator surface. Additionally, the Ag-VGCF-separator showed a more uniform precipitate shape than the VGCF-separator. As a result, the Ag-VGCF-separators show improved electrochemical properties compared to the bare separators and the VGCF-separators.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.761-769
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• 2007

The configuration of the flow channel on a bipolar plate of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) for efficient reactant supply has great influence on the performance of the fuel cell. Recent demand for higher energy density fuel cells requires an increase in current density at mid voltage range and a decrease in concentration overvoltage at high current density. Therefore, an interdigitated flow channel where mass transfer rate by convection through a gas diffusion layer is greater than the mass transfer by a diffusion mechanism through a gas diffusion layer was recently proposed. This study attempts to analyze the i-V performance, mass transfer and pressure drop in interdigitated flow channels by developing a fully three dimensional simulation model for PEMFC that can deal with anode and cathode flow together. The results indicate that the trade off between performance and pressure loss should be considered for efficient design of flow channels. Although the performance of the fuel cell with interdigitated flow is better than that with conventional flow channels due to a strong mass transfer rate by convection across a gas diffusion layer, there is also an increase in friction due to the strong convection through the porous diffusion layer accompanied by a larger pressure drop along the flow channel. It was evident that the proper selection of the ratio of channel and rib width under counter flow conditions in the fuel cell with interdigitated flow are necessary to optimize the interdigitated flow field design.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.371-378
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• 1994

The detection range of this galvanic oxygen sensor for oxygen concentration was 0.0% to 20.0%. By using gold or silver as cathode, reproducible response time and sensitivity to change of oxygen concentration were observed. The anode was Pb-Sn-Ca alloy. Oxygen selective permeable membrane was hydrophobic and porous Teflon film. The effect of the membranes varying in thickness have been studied on the temperature($10{\sim}50^{\circ}C$) and relative humidity(R. H 0~99%). Lead acetate buffer solution as the electrolyte has shown a high output voltage and longer life.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.664-671
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• 1998

Poly pyrrole polymer(ppy) has an excellent electrical conductivity and can be easily polymerized on anode to give various morophology according to doped anion on electroactive sites. To improve the properties of brittleness, ageing and hydrophobisity, poly furan polymer(pfu) having a high initiation potential was anodically implanted in this porous ppy film matrix to get the Pt/ppy/pfu(x)type of polymer composite electrode. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance methods were used to these electrode, where $PF_6^-,\; BF_4^-$, and $ClO_4^-$ ions were employed as dopants. The composition of the pfu(x) at the electrode was changed from 0 to 1.10, but the range was useful only at 0.1 to 0.2 as the redox electrode. The polymer composite electrode doped with $PF_6^-$ was better in charge transfer resistance by a factor of 40 times and in double layer capacitance by a factor of 20 times than others. The charge transfer in the polymer film of the electrode was influenced on frequency change and equivalent circuit of this electrode had Warburg impedance including mass transfer.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.146-151
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• 2013

This paper reveals the performance decrease and recovery of PEMFC when the contaminated fuel gas and air source with sulfur impurities such as hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide were simultaneously introduced to anode and cathode, respectively. Three different GDLs were fabricated with different carbon black and activated carbon to prevent an introduction of sulfur compound impurities into MEA. components. The severity of $SO_2$ and $H_2S$ poisoning was depended on concentrations(3 ppm - 10 ppm) of sulfur impurities. Especially, cell performance degradation rate was rapid when MEA fabricated with CN-2 GDL because it had little porosity on GDL surface. Moreover, the cell performance can be recovered up to 90%-95% only with neat hydrogen and fresh air feeding.. Conclusively, MEA fabricated with porous CN-1 GDL showed the best cell performance and recovery efficiency during exposure to poisoning condition by simultaneous sulfur impurities.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.16-21
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• 2008

The key component of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which comprises a polymer electrolyte membrane and catalyst layers (anode and cathode electrode). Generally the catalyst layer is coated on the porous electrode supporter (e.g. carbon paper or cloth) using various coating methods such as brushing, decal transfer, spray coating and screen printing methods. However, these methods were disadvantageous in terms of the uniformity of catalyst layer thickness, catalyst loss, and coating time. In this work, we used bar-coating method which can prepare the catalyst layer with uniform thickness for MEA of DMFC. The surface and cross-section morphologies of the catalyst layers were observed by SEM. The performances and resistance of the MEAs were investigated through a single cell evaluation and impedance analyzer.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.161-171
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• 1997

Anodic regeneration of PCB enchant and cathodic deposition of copper using electrochemical method has been studied. Cu(I)/Cu(II) concentration ratio as a function of Cu(I) oxidation at the anode was measured from the potential difference between platinum and Ag/AgCl/4M KCl electrodes. Chlorine gas evolution was minimized by maintaining Cu(I) concentration above a specific concentration and using non-porous graphite electrode. Dendritic copper deposition was observed at the cathode and the optimum conditions for Cu deposition was identified as the current density of $360mA/cm^2$, and copper concentration of 12 g/l. Titanium was the most effective cathode material which showed a higher current efficiency and copper recovery. The current efficiency decreased with increasing temperature, but the highest power efficiency was achieved at $50^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.355-362
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• 2020

The corrosion behavior of the Inconel X-750 alloy was investigated for its potential application under a Cl₂-O₂ mixed gas flow in an Ar atmosphere. The corrosion rate was found to be negligible at temperatures up to 400℃ under a flow rate of 30 mL·min^-1 Cl₂ + 170 mL·min^-1 Ar, whereas an exponential increase was observed in the corrosion rate at temperatures greater than 500℃. The suppression of the corrosion reaction due to the presence of O₂ was verified experimentally at flow rates of 30 mL·min^-1 Cl₂ (4.96 g·m^-2·h^-1), 20 mL·min^-1 Cl₂ + 10 mL·min^-1 O₂ (2.02 g·m^-2 ·h^-1), and 10 mL·min^-1 Cl₂ + 20 mL·min^-1 O₂ (1.34 g·m^-2·h^-1) under a constant Ar flow rate of 170 mL·min^-1 at 600℃ for 8 h. The surface morphology analysis results revealed that porous surfaces with tunnel-type holes were produced under the Cl₂-O₂ mixed-gas condition. Furthermore, the effects of the Cl₂ flow rate on the corrosion rate were investigated, indicating that its impact was negligible within the range of 5-30 mL·min^-1 Cl₂ at 600℃.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.42 no.12 s.283
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• pp.827-832
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• 2005

In this study, thin electrolyte layer was prepared by 8YSZ ($8mol\%$ Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia) slurry dip and sol coating onto the porous anode support in order to reduce ohmic resistance. 8YSZ polymeric sol was prepared from inorganic salt of nitrate and XRF results of xerogel powder exhibited similar results $(99.2\pm1wt\%)$ compared with standard sample (TZ-8YS, Tosoh Co.). The dense and thin YSZ film with $1{\mu}m$ thickness was synthesized by coating of 0.7M YSZ sol followed by heat-treatment at $600^{\circ}C$ for 1 h. Thin film electrolyte sintered at $1400^{\circ}C$ showed no gas leakage at the differential pressure condition of 3 atm.