• Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.2290-2295
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• 2018

An acceleration stress test (AST) was performed to evaluate the durability of a polymer membrane in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) for 500 hours. Previous studies have shown that hydrogen crossover measured by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) increases when the polymer membrane deteriorates in the AST process. On the other hand, hydrogen crossover of the membrane often decreases in the early stages of the AST test. To investigate the cause of this phenomenon, we analyzed the MEA operated for 50 hours using the AST method (OCV, RH 30% and $90^{\circ}C$). Cyclic voltammetry and transmission electron showed that the electrochemical surface area (ECSA) decreased due to the growth of electrode catalyst particles and that the hydrogen crossover current density measured by LSV could be reduced. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis showed that -S-O-S- crosslinking occurred in the polymer after the 50 hour AST. Gas chromatography showed that the hydrogen permeability was decreased by -S-O-S- crosslinking. The reduction of the hydrogen crossover current density measured by LSV in the early stages of AST could be caused by both reduction of the electrochemical surface area of the electrode catalyst and -S-O-S- crosslinking.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.476-483
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• 2012

Proper water management is crucial for the efficient operation of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Especially, for automotive applications, A novel water management that can avoid both membrane dry-out and flooding is a very important task to achieve good performance and efficiency of PEM fuel cells. The aim of this study is to investigate the liquid water behavior on the gas diffusion layer (GDL) surface and in the cathode flow channel of a PEM unit fuel cell under flooding conditions. For this purpose, a transparent unit fuel cell is devised and fabricated by modifying the conventional PEM fuel cell design. The results of water droplet behavior under flooding conditions are mainly presented. The water distributions in the cathode flow channels with cell operating voltage are also compared and analyzed. Through this work, it is expected that the data obtained from this fundamental study can be effectively used to establish the basic water management strategy in terms of water removal from the flow channels in a PEM fuel cell stack.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.331-339
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• 2021

This study presents a novel way to enhance uniformity of the gas flow inside the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), which is critically important to fuel cell performance, by using dimples. A pattern of dimple, which works as a flow distributor/collector, is designed at the inlet and outlet section of a straight channel gas separator. Size of the dimples and the gap between them were changed to optimize the flow uniformity, and any change in size or gap is considered as one design. The results show that some dimple patterns significantly enhance the uniformity compared to baseline, about 4%, while the others slightly reduce it, about 1%. Besides, the dimple pattern also affects to the pressure drop in the flow channel, however the pressure drop in all cases are negligible (less than 26.4 Pa).

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.292-298
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• 2011

This study examines the effects of the ambient temperature (AT), methanol feeding temperature (MFT), methanol concentration (MC) and methanol flow rate (MFR) on the performance and cell temperature (CT) of a 5-stacked direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The AT, MFT, MC, and MFR are varied from $-10^{\circ}C$ to $+40^{\circ}C$, $50^{\circ}C$ to $90^{\circ}C$, 0.5M to 3.0M and 11.7 mL $min^{-1}$ to 46.8 mL $min^{-1}$, respectively. The performance of the DMFC under various operating conditions is analyzed from the I-V polarization curve, and the methanol crossover is estimated by gas chromatography (GC). The performance of the DMFC improves significantly with increasing AT. The open circuit voltage (OCV) decreases with increasing MC due to the enhanced likelihood of methanol crossover. The cell performance is improved significantly when the MFR is increased from 11.7 mL $min^{-1}$ to 28.08 mL $min^{-1}$. The change in cell performance is marginal with further increases in MFR. The CT increases significantly with increasing AT. The effect of the MFT and MFR is moderate, and the effect of MC is marginal on the CT of the DMFC.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.331-338
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• 2018

In this study, sulfonated PAES block copolymers have been synthesized via nucleophilic substitution reaction. Hydrophobic oligomer was prepared using 2,6-dihydroxynaphthalene and bis(4-chlorophenyl) sulfone, whereas hydrophilic oligomer was prepared using sulfonated bis(4-chlorophenyl) sulfone and bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) sulfone. The chemical structure of polymers was analyzed by $^1H$ NMR, FT-IR and GPC. The thermal properties of polymers were measured by TGA and DSC. The oxidative stability of membranes was investigated by Fenton's test. Furthermore, the proton conductivity of membrane was found to be 26 mS/cm at $90^{\circ}C$. All physiochemical properties suggest that fabricated membrane have a great potential for applications in PEMFC.

• 한국전기화학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.07a
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• pp.323-328
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• 2005

• 한국전기화학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.55-55
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• 2000

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.554-559
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• 2015

Single cell of PEMFC (polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell) is composed of bipolar plates, gasket, GDL and the MEA. Bipolar plate's function is the collecting electricity, helping oxygen/hydrogen gas diffuse evenly and draining the water and heat. In this work, we have conducted experiments to low contact resistance and improve the performance of a $25cm^2$ single cell by using metal forms. We have following experimental cases: 1) Conventional graphite serpentine channel bipolar plate; 2) Channel-less bipolar plate with nickel(Ni) based metal foam which coated by various materials. We focused the difference in contact resistance and performance of the single cell with metal foam depending on various coating materials. The experimental results show the similar performance of single cells between with serpentine channel bipolar plates and with channel-less bipolar plate using metal foams. In addition, single cell with metal foam shows potential to higher performance than conventional channel.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.596-605
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• 2018

Interest in hydrogen, as an energy carrier, has been growing to solve the problems on shortage of fossile fuels and greenhouse gas. According to the standard KGS FU 551 for stationary fuel cell installation, the fuel cell system could be connected up to two common exhausts to one floor. depending on the required power for building or the installation environment in buildings, multiple fuel cell systems could be installed. Afterwards the number of perforations and flues could be decided. Hence, economic efficiency in significantly determined with respect to installation area and the number of fuel cell systems. In addition, the complexity of common vent structure for stationary fuel cell systems could be changed. In this paper, Verification experiments were conducted by connecting the common exhaust system to the fuel cell simulation system and the actual fuel cell system. Humidity and temperature were changed at ON/OFF, but no factors were found to affect performance or system malfunction. Exhaust emissions were also measured to obtain optimized values. We intend to expand the diffusion of stationary fuel cells by verifying safety of common exhaust structure.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.189-194
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• 2013

In a study of hydrogen-producing bacteria, strain T4384 was isolated from rice field samples in the Republic of Korea. The isolate was identified as Enterobacter sp. T4384 by phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA and rpoB gene sequences. Enterobacter sp. T4384 grew at a temperature range of $10-45^{\circ}C$ and at an initial pH range of 4.5-9.5. Strain T4384 produced hydrogen at 0-6% NaCl by using glucose, fructose, and mannose. In serum bottle cultures using a complete medium, Enterobacter sp. T4384 produced 1,098 ml/l $H_2$, 4.0 g/l ethanol, and 1.0 g/l acetic acid. In a pH-regulated jar fermenter culture with the biogas removed, 2,202 ml/l $H_2$, 6.2 g/l ethanol, and 1.0 g/l acetic acid were produced, and the lag-phase time was 4.8 h. Strain T4384 metabolized the hydrolysate of organic waste for the production of hydrogen and volatile fatty acid. The strain T4384 produced 947 ml/l $H_2$, 3.2 g/l ethanol, and 0.2 g/l acetic acid from 6% (w/v) food waste hydrolysate; 738 ml/l $H_2$, 4.2 g/l ethanol, and 0.8 g/l acetic acid from Miscanthus sinensis hydrolysate; and 805 ml/l $H_2$, 5.0 g/l ethanol, and 0.7 g/l acetic acid from Sorghum bicolor hydrolysate.