• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.338-343
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• 2019

The water transport and water content of the electrolyte membrane greatly affect the performance of the membrane in PEMFC(Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell). In this study, the parameters (electroosmotic coefficient, water diffusion coefficient) of polymer membranes for water transport were measured by a simple method, and water flux and ion conductivity were simulated by using a model equation. One dimensional steady state model equation was constructed by using only the electro-osmosis and diffusion as the driving force of water transport. The governing equations were simulated with MATLAB. The electro-osmotic coefficient of $144{\mu}m$ thick polymer membranes was measured in hydrogen pumping cell, the value was 1.11. The water diffusion coefficient was expressed as a function of relative humidity and the activation energy for water diffusion was $2,889kJ/mol{\cdot}K$. The water flux and ion conductivity results simulated by applying these coefficients showed good agreement with the experimental data.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2011

The composite membranes comprising of sulfonated polymers as matrix and ionic liquids as ion-conducting medium in replacement of water are studied to investigate the effect of annealing of the sulfonated polymers. The polymeric membranes are prepared on recast Nafion containing the ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ($EMIBF_4$). The composite membranes are characterized by thermogravitational analyses, ion conductivity and small-angle X-ray scattering. The composite membranes annealed at $190^{\circ}C$ for 2 h after the fixed drying step showed better ionic conductivity, but no significant increase in thermal stability. The mean Bragg distance between the ionic clusters, which is reflected in the position of the ionomer peak (small-angle scattering maximum), is larger in the annealed composite membranes containing $EMIBF_4$ than the non-annealed ones. It might have been explained to be due to the different level of ion-clustering ability of the hydrophilic parts (i.e., sulfonic acid groups) in the non- and annealed polymer matrix. In addition, the ionic conductivity of the membranes shows higher for the annealed composite membranes containing $EMIBF_4$. It can be concluded that the annealing of the composite membranes containing ionic liquids due to an increase in ion-clustering ability is able to bring about the enhancement of ionic conductivity suitable for potential use in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) at medium temperatures ($150-200^{\circ}C$) in the absence of external humidification.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.94-102
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• 2014

Cation exchange membrane (Nafion) was modified to reduce the vanadium ion permeation through the membrane and to increase the vanadium redox flow battery (VRB) system performance by coating the graphene oxide (GO) which has nano-plate like morphology. Modified membrane properties were studied by measuring the ion exchange capacity (I.E.C), water uptake and proton conductivity. The thickness of the coated layer on the surface of the Nafion membrane was observed as $0.93{\mu}m$ by SEM. Proton conductivity and vanadium ion permeability of the modified membrane were decreased to 27% and 25% compared to that of the commercial Nafion membrane respectively. VRB single cell performance test was performed to compare the system performance of the VRB applied with commercial Nafion membrane and modified membrane. VRB system applied with modified membrane showed higher coulombic efficiency and energy efficiency than the VRB system applied with the commercial Nafion membrane due to the reduction of the vanadium ion permeation. From these result, we could suggest that the membrane modification by coating the GO on the surface of the Nafion membrane could be one of the promising strategies to reduce the vanadium ion permeation and to increase the VRB system performance effectively.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.314-314
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.887-888
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• 2010

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.737-738
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• 2007

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2011.06a
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• pp.989-990
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• 2011

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.209-218
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• 2022

Recently, research on the development of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) has received considerable attention from the scientific community around the world. Here, we fabricated a series of AEMs with branched structures with different alkyl spacers and conducted comparative evaluations. The introduction of these branched structures is an attempt to overcome the low ionic conductivity and stability problems that AEMs are currently facing. To this end, branched polymers with different spacer lengths were synthesized and properties of each membrane prepared according to the branched structure were compared. The chemical structure of the polymer was investigated by proton nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared, and gel permeation chromatography, and the thermal properties were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis. The branched anion exchange membrane with (CH₂)₃ and (CH₂)₆ spacers exhibited ionic conductivities of 8.9 mS cm^-1 and 22 mS cm^-1 at 90℃, respectively. This means that the length of the spacer affects the ionic conductivity. Therefore, this study showing the effect of the spacer length on the ionic conductivity of the membrane in the polymer structure constituting the ion exchange membrane is judged to be very useful for future application studies of AEM fuel cells.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.156-159
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• 2004

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.71-74
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• 2005