• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.643-648
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• 2010

Portable fuel cells are commonly operated in the dead-end mode because of such as high fuel utilization. However, the performance of such systems deteriorates continuously with an increase in the amount of by-products such as water vapor and nitrogen. In this study, to verify the effect of water vapor on Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs), constant-load experiments were carried out for a current density of 600 mA/cm2 and a voltage of 0.4 V, respectively. The performance of the cell was more stable under constant voltage conditions than under constant current density conditions. Condensed water accumulated in the anode channel near the cell outlet. The experimental results show how the relative humidity (RH = 0.15, 0.4 and 0.75) of air at the cathode side affect the performance of PEMFCs with dead-end anode. At RH values higher than 0.15, the mean power density increased by up to 51% and the mean purge duration decreased by up to 25% compared to the corresponding initial values.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.767-773
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• 2013

This study suggested the variations of porosity and gas permeability of gas diffusion layers (GDLs), which are easily deformed among the components of a highly compressed PEMFC stack. The volume change owing to compression was measured experimentally, and the variations in the porosity and gas permeability were estimated using correlations published in previous literature. The effect of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) which is added to the GDLs to enhance water discharge was investigated on the variations of porosity and gas permeability. The gas permeability which strongly affects the mass transport through GDL, decreases sharply with increasing compression when the GDL has high PTFE loading. As a result, the mass transport through the pore network of GDL can be changed considerably according to the PTFE loading even with the same clamping force. The accuracy of modeling of transport phenomena through GDL can be improved due to the enhanced correlations developed based on the results of this study.

• Composites Research
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2024

In this research, we introduce a novel approach that employs a 3D convolutional neural network (CNN) model to predict the permeability of Gas Diffusion Layers (GDLs). For training the model, we create an artificial dataset of GDL representative volume elements (RVEs) by extracting morphological characteristics from actual GDL images obtained through X-ray tomography. These morphological attributes involve statistical distributions of porosity, fiber orientation, and diameter. Subsequently, a permeability analysis using the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) is conducted on a collection of 10,800 RVEs. The 3D CNN model, trained on this artificial dataset, well predicts the permeability of actual GDLs.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.58-61
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• 2023

The activation process is essential for PEMFC to improve initial performance. The most commonly used activation method is a voltage change (load change) method, which may accompany degradation of the electrode catalyst if excessively performed. In many activation processes, the voltage change range is activated in a wide range from 0.4 V to OCV, and research is needed to reduce the voltage change range in order to prevent electrode catalyst degradation and shorten the activation time. Therefore, in this study, when the activation voltage range was 0.4~0.6 V, 0.4~0.8 V, and 0.4~OCV, we tried to research and develop an effective activation method by analyzing the performance and characteristics of the electrode and polymer membrane. The performance improvement was the lowest in the activation with a wide voltage range from 0.4 V to the highest OCV, and the performance decreased by 10% when activated for 56 cycles. The 0.4~0.6 V activation cycle showed the highest performance improvement up to 20% and the smallest decrease in performance due to overactivation, indicating that it is optimal method.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.503-507
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• 2021

Sodium borohydride, NaBH₄, has many advantages as hydrogen source for portable proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). When PEMFC is used outdoors as a transport type, it is economical to hydrolyze NaBH₄ using fresh water instead of distilled water. Therefore, in this study, hydrogen was generated using fresh water instead of distilled water during the NaBH₄ hydrolysis process. The properties of NaBH₄ hydrolysis were studied using an activated carbon-supported Co-P-B/C catalyst. Fresh water did not generate tetrahydrate during the NaBH₄ hydrolysis process, and distilled water produced tetrahydrate by-products, which consumed a lot of water during the hydrolysis process, indicating that at the end of the reaction at a high concentration of 25% or more of NaBH₄, dry by-products and unreacted NaBH₄ remained. As a result, when fresh water was used, the hydrogen yield and hydrogen generation rate were higher than that of distilled water at a high concentration of 25% or more of NaBH₄, indicating that it is suitable for use in transport-type fuel cells such as unmanned aerial vehicles.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.208-214
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• 2024

To fabricate intermetallic nanoparticles with high oxygen reduction reaction activity, a high-temperature heat treatment of 700 to 1,000 ℃ is required. This heat treatment provides energy sufficient to induce an atomic rearrangement inside the alloy nanoparticles, increasing the mobility of particles, making them structurally unstable and causing a sintering phenomenon where they agglomerate together naturally. These problems cannot be avoided using a typical heat treatment process that only controls the gas atmosphere and temperature. In this study, as a strategy to overcome the limitations of the existing heat treatment process for the fabrication of intermetallic nanoparticles, we propose an interesting approach, to design a catalyst material structure for heat treatment rather than the process itself. In particular, we introduce a technology that first creates an intermetallic compound structure through a primary high-temperature heat treatment using random alloy particles coated with a carbon shell, and then establishes catalytic active sites by etching the carbon shell using a secondary heat treatment process. By using a carbon shell as a template, nanoparticles with an intermetallic structure can be kept very small while effectively controlling the catalytically active area, thereby creating an optimal alloy catalyst structure for fuel cells.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2015

Sodium borohydride, $NaBH_4$, shows a number of advantages as hydrogen source for portable proton exchange membrane fuel cells(PEMFCs). Properties of $NaBH_4$ hydrolysis reaction using unsupported Co-B, Co-P-B catalyst were studied. BET surface area of catalyst, yield of hydrogen, effect of $NaBH_4$ concentration and durability of catalyst were measured. The BET surface area of unsupported Co-B catalyst was $75.7m^2/g$ and this value was 18 times higher than that of FeCrAlloy supported Co-B catalyst. The hydrogen yield of $NaBH_4$ hydrolysis reaction by unsupported catalysts using 20~25 wt% $NaBH_4$ solution was 97.6~98.5% in batch reactor. The hydrogen yield decrease to 95.3~97.0% as the concentration of $NaBH_4$ solution increase to 30 wt%. The loss of unsupported catalyst was less than that of FeCrAlloy supported catalyst during $NaBH_4$ hydrolysis reaction and the loss increased with increasing of $NaBH_4$ concentration. In continuous reactor, hydrogen yield of $NaBH_4$ hydrolysis was 90% using 1.2 g of unsupported Co-P-B catalyst with $3{\ell}/min$ hydrogen generation rate.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.641-646
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• 2018

Sodium borohydride, $NaBH_4$, shows a number of advantages as hydrogen source for portable proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Properties of $NaBH_4$ hydrolysis reaction using activated carbon supported Co-B/C, Co-P-B/C catalyst were studied. BET surface area of catalyst, yield of hydrogen, effect of $NaBH_4$ concentration and durability of catalyst were measured. The BET surface area of carbon supported catalyst was over $500m^2/g$ and this value was 2~3 times higher than that of unsupported catalyst. Hydrogen generation of activated carbon supported catalyst was more stable than that of unsupported catalyst. The activation energy of Co-P-B/C catalyst was 59.4 kJ/mol in 20 wt% $NaBH_4$ and 14% lower than that of Co-P-B/FeCrAlloy catalyst. Catalyst loss on activated carbon supported catalyst was reduced to about 1/3~1/2 compared with unsupported catalyst, therefore durability was improved by supporting catalyst on activated carbon.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.758-762
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• 2019

Sodium borohydride,$NaBH_4$, has many advantages as hydrogen source for portable proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). When PEMFC is used for marine use, $NaBH_4$ hydrolysis using seawater is economical. Therefore, in this study, hydrogen was generated by using seawater instead of distilled water in the process of hydrolysis of $NaBH_4$. Properties of $NaBH_4$ hydrolysis reaction using activated carbon supported Co-B/C catalyst were studied. The yield of hydrogen decreased as $NaBH_4$ concentration and NaOH concentration were increased during $NaBH_4$ hydrolysis using sea water. At higher concentrations of $NaBH_4$ and NaOH, byproducts adhered to the surface of the catalyst after hydrolysis reaction using sea water, reduced hydrogen yield compared to distilled water. The activation energy of $NaBH_4$ hydrolysis is 59.3, 74.4 kJ/mol for distilled water and sea water, respectively. In order to increase the hydrogen generation rate in seawater as high as distilled water, the reaction temperature has to be increased by $80^{\circ}C$ or more.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2024

The durability of the catalyst support has a significant effect on the durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). The accelerated durability evaluation of the catalyst support is performed at a high voltage (1.0 to 1.5 V), and the catalyst and ionomer binder in the catalyst layer are also deteriorated, hindering the evaluation of the durability of the support. The existing protocol (DOE protocol) was improved to find conditions in which the support, which is a durability evaluation target, deteriorates further. A protocol (MDOE) was developed in which the relative humidity was lowered by 35% and the number of voltage changes was reduced. After repeating the 1.0 ↔ 1.5 V voltage change cycle, the catalyst mass activitiy (MA), electrochemical active area (ECSA), electrical double layer capacity (DLC), Pt dissolution and particle growth were analyzed. Reaching 40% reduction in mass activity, the MDOE protocol took only 500 cycles, reducing the number of voltage changes compared to the DOE method and increasing the degradation of the carbon support by 50% compared to the DOE protocol.