• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.256-263
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• 2012

We studied the degradation phenomenon of Pt catalyst in PEMFC. We used the electron microscope analysis technique including the ultra-microtome pretreatment method, FEG-SEM and TEM analysis methods for analysis of Pt nanoparticles. The Pt catalyst degradation is observed not only in electrode site but also in membrane site. We investigated these various degradation phenomena. The cathode electrode layer thickness is reduced. The size of the catalyst is increased much larger than initial size in membrane site. The catalyst moved from electrode layer to the electrolyte membrane. The rounded shape of catalyst was changed to the polygon. As a result, we found that the catalyst degradation processes of migration and coarsening occurred by the followings mechanisms; (1) dissolution of Pt ; (2) diffusion of Pt ion ; (3) Pt ion chemical reduction in membrane; (4) Coarsening of Pt particles (Ostwald ripening) ; (5) polygon shape change of Pt by {111} plane growth.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.171-175
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• 1999

Novel process for high power catalyst electrode for PEM fuel cell has been developed. MEA having this catalyst electrode showed $0.5W/cm^2\;with\;0.2mg/cm^2$ of Pt loading at aunospheric humid hydrogen and oxygen condition. In this process, platinized carbon and plain carbon powders were coated with ionomer (Nafion) and hydrophobic polymer (PTFE), respectively and it could maximize two roles of catalyst electrode, l.e., reaction and gas supplying component. Those polarization characteristics proved the improved performance by reducing potential drop especially in the concentration polarization region.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Energy Engineering kosee Conference
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• 1992.11a
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• pp.39-40
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• 1992

This paper dealt with the manufacturing of binary alloy catalyst and showed simple electrochemical method for determing catalytic activity of oxygen reduction in acid or alkaline electrolyte. The catalyst was prepared by impregnating transition metal salts on platinum or silver particles adsorbed before on carbon paper substrate. The electrochemical characteristics of the catalysts was investigated with carbon paper electrode or PTFE-boned porous electrode and then cathodic current densities and tafel slopes were compared. As a result, of all binary catalysts utilized in this work, Pt-Fe, Pt-Mo showed better oxygen reduction activity than pure platinum catalyst in acid electrolyte and Ag-Fe, Ag-Pt, and Ag-Ni-Bi-Ti catalyst did than pure silver catalyst in alkaline electrolyte. The current density of Pt-Fe electrode in acid electrolyte was one and half times higher than that of Pt electrode(~500mA/$\textrm{cm}^2$ at 0.7VvsNHE).

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.194-199
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• 1993

Gas diffusion passes are introduced to catalyst layer so as to enlarge reaction region in cathode and anode and then improve electrode performances. The catalyst layer was manufactured with PTFE/carbon (none catalyst loaded) for gas diffusion and Pt/carbon (10 w/o Pt catalyst loaded) by varing the mixing ratio of (PTFE/carbon) to (Pt/carbon) by catalyst powdering method. The electrodes made by mixing Pt(10 w/o)/carbon powders and PTFE/carbon powders containing 60 w/o PTFE at the ratio of 7 : 3 showed the best electrode performances. It was known that by comparing the porosities to electrode performances the electrode performances were increased as both macro pore for gas diffusion and micro pore for electrolyte intrusion were formed much more. The platinum catalyst content in electrode was 0.2 mg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ and the PTFE content was 42 w/o. The electrode performance in unit cell was 220 ㎃/$\textrm{cm}^2$/0.7 V at operating temperature of 150$^{\circ}C$.

• Clean Technology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.133-144
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• 2003

In this study, Insoluble catalyst electrode for oxide systems were manufactured, by using of them, carried out experiments on electrolytic treatment of dyeing wastewater containing persistent organic compounds, and then made a comparative study of the efficiency of treatment for environmental pollutants and whether each of them is valuable of not as an electrode for soluble electrode(Fe, Al) and insoluble electrode(SUS, R.C.E; Replaced Catalyst Electrode) which were used in the electrolytic system. Besides, it was investigated the conditions for electrolytic treatment to find the maximum efficiency of electrolytic treatment. As the result of this study, by using of insoluble catalyst electrode for oxide can solved the stability of electrode that is one of the greatest problems in order to put to practical use of electrolysis process in the treatment of the sewage and wastewater and the result runs as follows; 1. The durability of insoluble catalyst electrode(R.C.E) can be verified the most favorable when the molar ratio of $RuO_2-SnO_2-IrO_2-TiO_2$(4 compounds system) is 70/20/5/5. 2. The efficiency of treatment was obtained a more than 90% goodness for CODMn and also a good results for T-N removal in the experimental conditions of the distance of electrode 5 mm, time of electrolysis 60 minutes, permissible voltage 10V, processing capacity $0.5{\ell}$.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.95.2-95.2
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• 2011

In order to achieve high performance and low cost for commercial applications, the development of membrane electrode assemblies (MEA), in which the electrochemical reactions actually occur, must be optimized. Expensive platinum is currently used as an electrochemical catalyst due to its high activity. Although various platinum alloys and non-platinum catalysts are under development, their stabilities and catalytic activities, especially in terms of the oxygen reduction (ORR), render them currently unsuitable for practical use. Therefore, it is important to decrease platinum loading by optimizing the catalysts and electrode microstructure. In this study, we prepared several different MEAs (non-uniform Nafion$^{(R)}$ ionomer loading electrode) which have dual catalyst layers to find the optimal Nafion$^{(R)}$ ionomer distribution in the electrodes. We changed Nafion$^{(R)}$ ionomer content in the layers to find the ideal composition of the binder and Pt/C in the electrode. For MEAs with various ionomer contents in the anodes and cathodes, the electrochemical activity (activation overpotential) and the mass transport properties (concentration overpotential) were analyzed and correlated with the single cell performance. The dual catalyst layers MEA showed higher cell performance than uniformly fabricated MEA, especially at the high current density region.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.135.2-135.2
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• 2010

Carbon nanotube(CNT) has been spotlighted as a promising candidate for catalyst support material for PEMFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell). The considerable properties of CNT include high surface area, outstanding thermal, electrical conductivity and mechanical stability. In this study, to fully utilize the properties of CNTs, we prepared directly oriented CNT on carbon paper as a catalyst support in the cathode electrode. The CNT layer was prepared by a chemical vapor deposition(CVD) process. And the Pt particles were deposited on the CNT oriented carbon paper by impregnation and eletro-deposition method. The potential advantages of directly oriented CNT on carbon paper can include improved thermal and charge transfer through direct contact between the electrolyte and the electrode and enhanced exposure of Pt catalyst sites during the reaction.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.12-18
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• 2012

The prohibitively high cost of Pt catalyst might be the biggest barrier for the commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) of which wide application is expected. Worldwide research efforts for the development of alternative to Pt oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst are made recently. One of the important considerations in the catalyst development is durability issue as well as economic aspect. From this point of view, platinum group metals (PGM) except Pt can be a candidate for replacing Pt catalyst because the material properties and the catalytic activity of PGM are expected to be similar to Pt. In contrast to Ir, Rh and Os to which not so much attention has been paid as an ORR catalyst, Pd that is most similar to Pt in terms of material properties and catalytic activity and Ru that is in the form of chalcogenide have been studied intensively. Activity comparison between non-Pt and Pt oxygen reduction catalysts by half cell test using RDE (rotating disk electrode) or PEMFC MEA (membrane electrode assembly) operation indicates that Pd-based catalysts show the most similar activity to Pt. In this paper we analyze the composition of PGM ORR catalyst in literature to promote the development of non-Pt ORR catalyst.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2019

To maximize the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in the electrolysis of water, nano-grade $IrO_2$ powder with a low specific surface was prepared as a catalyst for a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) system, and a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) was prepared with a catalyst loading as low as $2mg\;cm^{-2}$ or less. The $IrO_2$ catalyst was composed of heterogeneous particles with particle sizes ranging from 20 to 70 nm, having a specific surface area of $3.8m^2g^{-1}$. The anode catalyst layer of about $5{\mu}m$ thickness was coated on the membrane (Nafion 117) for the MEA by the decal method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) confirmed strong adhesion at the interface between the membrane and the catalyst electrode. Although the loading of the $IrO_2$ catalyst was as low as $1.1-1.7mg\;cm^{-2}$, the SPE cell delivered a voltage of 1.88-1.93 V at a current density of $1A\;cm^{-2}$ and operating temperature of $80^{\circ}C$. That is, it was observed that the over-potential of the cell for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) decreased with increasing $IrO_2$ catalyst loading. The electrochemical stability of the MEA was investigated in the electrolysis of water at a current density of $1A\;cm^{-2}$ for a short time. A voltage of ~2.0 V was maintained without any remarkable deterioration of the MEA characteristics.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.43-48
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• 2002

In this study, high performance electrode catalyst was developed in fabrication of membrane electrode assembly for PEMFCs(Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells). The I-V characteristics were measured to evaluate the influence of Nafion solution and Pt loading amount in the catalyst composition. The electrode characteristics were also investigated with respect to temperature change. The electrode performance was optimized at Nafion 5 wt% and 0.5 mg Pt/$\textrm{cm}^2$ content. The increase in the concentration of Nafion solution resulted in the decrease in electrode performance. At $80^{\circ}C$ of unit cell, I-V characteristics excelled those obtained at lower temperature. There was no difference in performance at low current density, but the improvement of voltage value in higher temperature could be found at high current density.