• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.60-68
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• 2011

[ $ZrO_2-TiO_2$ ]binary oxides with various Zr:Ti molar ratios were prepared by sol-gel method and Nafion$^{(R)}$/$ZrO_2-TiO_2$ composite membranes were fabricated for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) at high temperature and low humidity. Water uptake, Ion exchange capacity (IEC), and proton conductivity of Nafion$^{(R)}$/$ZrO_2-TiO_2$ composite membranes were characterized and these composite membranes were tested in a single cell at $120^{\circ}C$ with various relative humidity (R.H.) conditions. The obtained results were compared with the unmodified membranes (Nafion$^{(R)}$ 112 and Recast Nafion$^{(R)}$). A Nafion$^{(R)}$/$ZrO_2-TiO_2$ composite membrane with 1:3 of Zr:Ti molar ratio showed the highest performance. The performance showed 500 mW/$cm^2$ (0.499V) at $120^{\circ}C$, 50% R. H., and 2 atm.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.816-821
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• 2012

In this study, silane-crosslinked proton exchange membranes were prepared by step-wise radiation grafting of styrene and 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TMSPM) onto an poly(ethylene-co-tetrafluoroethylene) (ETFE) film and followed by sol-gel processing and sulfonation. The sequentially grafted films with styrene to provide the proton conductivity and TMSPM to form the crosslinked structure were prepared by different grafting order. The structural changes and thermal properties of the prepared films were investigated by FTIR and TGA, respectively. After the introduction of sulfonic acid functional groups, the distributions of sulfonic acid group and silicon atoms at the inside of the sulfonated membranes were analyzed by SEM-EDX.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.42-50
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• 2011

The Montmorillonite (MMT) in the polymer matrix is expected to reduce methanol permeability due to the tortous path formed by dispersed silicate layers. However, the polymer composite membranes containing non-proton conducting inorganic particle tend to show low proton conductivity. To solve this problem, we used an ion exchange method to prepare functionalized MMT with various silane coupling agents. The modified MMT was randomly dispersed in sulfonated poly (arylene ether sulfone) (SPAES) matrix to prepare SPAES/modified MMT composite membranes. The performances of hybrid membranes for DMFCs application were investigated. The SPAES/modified composite membrane showed increased proton conductivity compared with the non-modified MMT composite membrane. However, the methanol permeability of the SPAES/modified membrane was higher than that of the non-modified MMT.

• 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

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.549-554
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• 2008

Proton conducting crosslinked membranes were prepared using polymer blends of polystyrene-b-poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate)-b-poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PS-b-PHEA-b-PSSA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). PS-b-PHEA-b-PSSA triblock copolymer at 28:21:51 wt% was synthesized sequentially using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). FT-IR spectroscopy showed that after thermal ($120^{\circ}C$, 2 h) and chemical (sulfosuccinic acid, SA) treatments of the membranes, the middle PHEA block of the triblock copolymer was crosslinked with PVA through an esterification reaction between the -OH group of the membrane and the -COOH group of SA. The ion exchange capacity (IEC) decreased from 1.56 to 0.61 meq/g with increasing amount of PVA. Therefore, the proton conductivity at room temperature decreased from 0.044 to 0.018 S/cm. However, the introduction of PVA resulted in a decrease in water uptake from 87.0 to 44.3%, providing good mechanical properties applicable to the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of fuel cells. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the membrane was microphase-separated with a nanometer range with good connectivity of the $SO_3H$ ionic aggregates. The power density of a single $H_2/O_2$ fuel cell system using the membrane with 50 wt% PVA was $230\;mW/cm^2$ at $70^{\circ}C$ with a relative humidity of 100%. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) also showed a decrease in the thermal stability of the membranes with increasing PVA concentration.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2009

This work reports the preparation of proton conductive crosslinked polymer electrolyte membranes by blending poly(vinyl chloride)-g-poly(hydroxyl ethyl acrylate) (PVC-g-PHEA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). The PHEA chains of the graft copolymer were crosslinked with PVA using sulfosuccinic acid (SA) via the esterification reaction between -OH of polymer matrix and -COOH of SA. The PVC-g-PHEA graft copolymer was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using direct initiation of the secondary chlorines of PVC backbones. Ion exchange capacity (IEC) continuously increased with increasing concentrations of SA, due to the increasing portion of charged groups in the membrane. However, the water uptake increased up to 20.0 wt% of SA concentration above which it decreased monotonically. The membrane exhibited a maximum proton conductivity of 0.026 S/cm at 20.0 wt% of SA concentration, which is presumably due to competitive effect between the increase of ionic sites and the crosslinking reaction.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.166-169
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• 2009

Poly(benzimidazole-co-aniline) (PBIANI), a self-crosslinked, net-structured, proton conducting polymer has been synthesized for the membrane of high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFC) with improved proton conductivity and mechanical strength. The stress at break (26$\pm$3MPa)and proton conductivity (167 mS cm-1)of the phosphoric acid doped PBIANI (DPBIANI)membrane is much higher than those of other doped polybenzimidazole(PBI) type membranes.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2004

The impedance and the subsequent proton conductivity of Nafion$\^$/ membranes as standard samples were measured and compared via the two-probe method and the four-probe method using the prepared impedance measurement system. The different impedance behavior for the same membrane was observed at the fully hydrated state in the Nyquist impedance plot. The effect of the humidity and the temperature on the proton conduction through a membrane was investigated and compared with two different cell configurations.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.126-132
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• 2010

A cation-exchange nanofiber poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVdF) membrane was prepared by a radiation-induced graft polymerization (RIGP) of sodium styrene sulfonate (NaSS) in the presence of the polymerizable access agents in methanol solution. The used polymerizable access agents include styrene, acrylic acid, and vinyl pyrrolidone. The anion-exchange nanofiber PVdF membrane was also prepared by RIGP of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and its subsequent chemical modification. The successful preparations of cation- and anion-exchange PVdF membranes were confirmed via SEM, XPS and thermal analysis. The content of the grafting yield, ion-exchange group, and water uptake was in the range of 30.0~32.3%, 2.81~3.01 mmol/g and 66.6~147%, respectively. The proton conductivity at 20$^{\circ}C$ was in the range of 0.020~0.053 S/cm. From the result, the prepared ionexchange PVdF membrane can be used as a separator in battery cells.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05b
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• pp.199-202
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• 2004

DMFC 성능을 개선시키기 위한 연구의 큰 영역은 고분자전해질막에 있으며 methanol crossover에 대한 영향을 최소화시킬 수 있는 소재개발이 우선적으로 요구되는 실정이다. 이러한 문제의 해결을 위해 Pivovar와 Cussler [1] 등은 투과증발 막분리공정에서 메탄올 저항체로 잘 알려진 폴리비닐알콜(poly vinyl alcohol, PVA)를 이용한 전해질막 연구를 하였다.(중략)