• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.569-578
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• 2011

The $SiO_2$ membranes for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) are preapared by electrospinning method. It leads to high porosity and surface area of membrane to accommodate the proton conducting materials. The composite membrane was prepared by impregnating of Nafion ionomer into the pores of electrospun $SiO_2$ membranes. The $SiO_2$:heteropolyacid (HPA) nano-particles as a inorganic proton conductor were prepared by microemulsion process and the particles are added to the Nafion ionomer. The characterization of the membranes was confirmed by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), and single cell performance test for PEMFC. The Nafion impregnated electrospun $SiO_2$ membrane showed good thermal stability, satisfactory mechanical properties and high proton conductivity. The addition of the $SiO_2$:HPA nano-particle improved proton conductivity of the composite membrane, which allow further extension for operation temperature in low humidity environments. The composite membrane exhibited a promising properties for the application in high temperature PEMFC.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.233-239
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• 2009

The electrocatalytic behavior of the PtCo catalyst supported on the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) has been evaluated and compared with commercial Pt/C catalyst in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell(PEMFC). A PtCo/MWNTs electrocatalyst with a Pt:Co atomic ratio of 79:21 was synthesized and applied to a cathode of PEMFC. The structure and morphology of the synthesized PtCo/MWNTs electrocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. As a result of the X-ray studies, the crystal structure of a PtCo particle was determined to be a face-centered cubic(FCC) that was the same as the platinum structure. The particle size of PtCo in PtCo/MWNTs and Pt in Pt/C were 2.0 nm and 2.7 nm, respectively, which were calculated by Scherrer's formula from X-ray diffraction data. As a result we concluded that the specific surface activity of PtCo/MWNTs is superior to Pt/C's activity because of its smaller particle size. From the electrochemical impedance measurement, the membrane electrode assembly(MEA) fabricated with PtCo/MWNTs showed smaller anodic and cathodic activation losses than the MEA with Pt/C, although ohmic loss was the same as Pt/C. Finally, from the evaluation of cyclic voltammetry(CV), the unit cell using PtCo/MWNTs as the cathode electrocatalyst showed slightly higher fuel cell performance than the cell with a commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.442-448
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• 2021

Flow field is an important parameter for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) performance to have an effect on the reactant supply, heat and water diffusion, and contact resistance. In this study, PEMFC performance was investigated using Cu foam flow field at the cathode of 25 cm² unit cell. Polarization curve and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were performed at different pressure and relative humidity conditions. The Cu foam showed lower cell performance than that of serpentine type due to its high ohmic resistance, but lower activation and concentration loss due to the even reactant distribution of porous structure. Cu foam has the advantage of effective water transport because of its hydrophobicity. However, it showed low membrane hydration at low humidity condition. The metal foam flow field could improve fuel cell performance with a uniform pressure distribution and effective water management, so future research on the properties of metal foam should be conducted to reduce electrical resistance of bipolar plate.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.48-56
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• 2009

This paper presents the power conversion system for TIG-welder using the fuel cell stack Generally, power supply for TIG-welder uses the front-ended diode bridge rectifier by common AC power source. In this case, power supply of TIG-welder increases in volume because of using bulky capacitor and diode-rectifier. Also, input current includes ripple and harmonics. Moreover, TIG-welder will be demand the power supply with lightweight and easy movement in the areas like as the islands and mountainous areas or the special environment are not use common AC power source. Thus, input power of the power conversion system for TIG-welder is used PEMFC(Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell), and the power conversion system is comprised of full-bridge converter with function of boost converter and inverter welding source, in this paper. The proposed power conversion system which is power supply for TIG-welder was verified by computer simulations and experiments.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.41-51
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• 2016

In the stratosphere, the air is stable and a photovoltaic (PV) system can produce more solar energy compared to in the atmosphere. If unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) fly in the stratosphere, the flight stability and efficiency of the mission are improved. On the other hand, the weakened lift force of the UAV due to the rarefied atmosphere can require more power for lift according to the weight and/or wing area of the UAV. To solve this problem, it is necessary to minimize the weight of the aircraft and improve the performance of the power system. A regenerative fuel cell (RFC) consisting of a fuel cell (FC) and water electrolysis (WE) combined PV power system has been investigated as a good alterative because of its higher specific energy. The WE system produces hydrogen and oxygen, providing extra energy beyond the energy generated by the PV system in the daytime, and then saves the gases in tanks. The FC system supplies the required power to the UAV at night, so the additional fuel supply to the UAV is not needed anymore. The specific energy of RFC systems is higher than that of Li-ion battery systems, so they have less weight than batteries that supply the same energy to the UAV. In this paper, for a stratospheric long-endurance hybrid UAV based on an RFC system, three major design factors (UAV weight, wing area and performance of WE) affecting the ability of long-term flight were determined and a simulation-based feasibility study was performed. The effects of the three design factors were analyzed as the flight time increased, and acceptable values of the factors for long endurance were found. As a result, the long-endurance of the target UAV was possible when the values were under 350 kg, above 150 m² and under 80 kWh/kg H₂.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.295-300
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• 2010

Metal bipolar plate applied to Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell is getting most attractive due to their good feasibility of mass production and low cost. But it is one of the immediate causes of performance decline because it is difficult to reduce channel pitch of metal bipolar plate. In this study, mesh was inserted in between bipolar plate and GDL to obtain uniform contact pressure without reducing channel pitch. The section measuring and performance test were carried out to confirm the mesh structure distributes contact pressure equally in reacting area. The performance of 3 type mesh structures developed in this study were higher than the normal cell at all over the current range. Especially, it showed that the mesh cell performance was increased and pressure drop was decreased with diminishing mesh gap size. The Mesh structure was more sensitive to humidification and contact pressure change than the normal cell.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.403.2-403.2
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• 2016

Porous materials play a significant role in energy storage and conversion applications such as catalyst support for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. In particular, hierarchical porous materials with both micropores (poresize, ${\delta}$ < 2 nm) and regularly arranged mesopores (2 nm < ${\delta}$ < 50 nm) are known to greatly enhance the efficiency of catalytic reactions by providing enormous surface area as well as fast mass transport channels for both reactants and products from/to active sites. Although it is generally agreed that the microscopic structure of the porous materials directly affects the performance of these catalytic reactions, neither detailed mechanisms nor fundamental understanding are available at hand. In this study, we propose an atomistic model of hierarchical nanostructured porous carbons (HNPCs) in molecular dynamics simulations. By performing a systematic study, we found that structural features of the HNPC can be independently altered by tuning specific synthesis parameters, while remaining other structures unchanged. In addition, we show some structure-property relations including mechanical and gas transport properties.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.394-394
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• 2016

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell requires the use of Pt-based catalysts. Due to the high cost and low abundance of Pt, many researchers have been studied to reduce the use of Pt while to enhance the catalytic performance of Pt. One of the promising strategies is the deposition of Pt as ultrathin skins of only a few atomic layers on nanoscale substrates made of another metal. This presentation will discuss the conformal deposition of Pt as uniform, ultrathin shells on Pd nanocrystals. By optimizing the catalytic behavior of Pt-based nanocrystals, we obtained the greatly enhanced ORR activity and durability.

• Carbon letters
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.110-116
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• 2013

This study investigated a developed process for producing a composite bipolar plate having excellent conductivity by using coal tar pitch and phenol resin as binders. We used a pressing method to prepare a compact of graphite powder mixed with binders. Resistivity of the impregnated compact was observed as heat treatment temperature was increased. It was observed that pore sizes of the GCTP samples increased as the heat treatment temperature increased. There was not a great difference between the flexural strengths of GCTP-IM and CPR-IM as the heat treatment temperature was increased. The resistivity of GPR700-IM, heat treated at $700^{\circ}C$ using phenolic resin as a binder, was $4829{\mu}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ which was best value in this study. In addition, it is expected that with the appropriate selection of carbon powder and further optimization of process we can produce a composite bipolar plate which has excellent properties.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Energy Engineering kosee Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.300-306
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• 2006