• Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering
• /
• 제35권11호
• /
• pp.2290-2295
• /
• 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 Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• 제2권3호
• /
• pp.131-135
• /
• 2011

It is, in general, believed that during the activation process, the proton conductivity increases due to wetting effect and the electrochemical resistance reduction, resulting in an increase in the fuel cell performance with time. However, until now, very scant information is available on the understanding of activation processes. In this study, dominant variables that effect on the performance increase of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) during the activation process were investigated. Wetting, pore restructuring and active metal utilization were analyzed systematically. Unexpectedly, the changes for both ohmic and reaction resistance characterized by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) after initial wetting process were much smaller when considering the degree of cell performance increases. However, the EIS spectra represents that the pore opening of electrode turns into gas transportable structure more easily. The increase in the performance with activation cycles was also investigated in a view of active metals. Though the particle size was grown, the number of effective active sites might be exposed more. The impurity removal and catalytic activity enhancement measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV) could be a strong evident. The results and analysis revealed that, not merely wetting of membrane but also restructuring of electrodeand catalytic activity increase are important factors for the fast and efficient activation of the polymer electrolyte fuel cells.

• 한국세라믹학회지
• /
• 제40권2호
• /
• pp.159-166
• /
• 2003

퍼플루오르설포닐 플로라이드 나피온 레진과 mordenite를 이용하여 $100^{\circ}C$ 이상의 고온에서 작동하는 고분자 전해질형 연료건지용 전해질 막을 제조하고, 물리적 특성, proton전도도 및 단위 전지의 성능을 측정하였다. 나피온/mordenite복합체 막은 나피온 레진을 용융한 후, mordenite를 무게별로 첨가하여 제조하였다. 고온 영역에서 proton 전도도를 측정한 결과, mordenite 함량이 증가할수록 층상 구조를 갖는 mordenite내에 존재하는 층간수의 느린 탈수 속도 때문에 proton 전도도는 증가하였다. 또한, 단위 전지 성능 측정 결과로부터, $130^{\circ}C$의 작동 온도에서 l0wt% mordenite를 함유하고 있는 복합체 막이 전체 영역에 걸쳐 가장 높은 성능을 보임을 알 수 있었다. 이러한 결과는 같은 조건에서. l0wt% mordenite가 함유된 복합체 막 내부에 존재하고 있는 수분이 다른 조성의 막보다 더 많이 존재하게 되어, 복합체 막의 이온 전도도를 유지하기 때문이다. 따라서, 나피온/mordenite복합체 막은 $100^{\circ}C$이상에서 작동하는 고분자 전해질형 연료전지용 전해질 막으로서 적합하다고 생각된다.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국신재생에너지학회 2010년도 추계학술대회 초록집
• /
• pp.90.1-90.1
• /
• 2010

The design and fabrication of a metallic bipolar plate-gasket assembly for polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs) is defined. This bipolar plate-gasket assembly was prepared by inserting a previously prepared bipolar plate in the specially designed gasket mold. For this aim, a proprietary fluoro-silicone based rubber was injected directly into the bipolar plate borders. Gaskets obtained like this showed the chemically / physically stable and the good sealibilty in typically operating PEM fuel cell conditions. And also, this bipolar plate-gasket assembly shows lots of advantages with respect to traditional PEMFCs stack assembling systems: useful application to automative stacking due to easy handling, reduced fabrication time, possibility of quality control and failed elements substitution. This bipolar plate-gasket assembly was evaluated in the short fuel cell stack and met the leakage requirement for normal operation both in short-term and in long-term operation. Especially, it was confirmed that this gasket could be applied successfully even in the high pressure FEM fuel cell systems(over 2.0 bar in absolute pressure).

• 한국막학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국막학회 2005년도 추계 총회 및 학술발표회
• /
• pp.204-207
• /
• 2005

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• 제34권6호
• /
• pp.1763-1770
• /
• 2013

A series of the block copolymers were successfully synthesized from post-sulfonated hydrophilic and hydrophobic macromers via three-step copolymerization. The degrees of sulfonation (DS) of the copolymers (10%, 30%, or 50%) were controlled by changing the molar ratio of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts. The resulting block copolymers were characterized by $^1H$ NMR and other technologies. The membranes were successfully cast using dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solution at $100^{\circ}C$. The copolymers were characterized to confirm chemical structure by $^1H$ NMR and FT-IR. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) demonstrated that all sulfonated block copolymers exhibited good thermal stability with an initial weight loss at temperatures above $240^{\circ}C$. The membranes showed acceptable ion exchange capacity (IEC) and water uptake values in accordance with DS. The maximum proton conductivity was 184 mS $cm^{-1}$ in block copolymer-50 at $60^{\circ}C$ and 100% relative humidity, while the conductivity of Nifion-115 was 160 mS $cm^{-1}$ under the same measurement conditions. AFM images of the block copolymer membranes showed well separated the hydrophilic and hydrophobic domains. From the observed results it is that the prepared block membranes can be considered as suitable polymer electrolyte membranes for the application of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC).

• 멤브레인
• /
• 제33권6호
• /
• pp.325-343
• /
• 2023

직접 메탄올 연료전지(direct methanol fuel cell, DMFC)는 연료의 개질 없이 메탄올 연료를 공급하여 수소이온과 전자 생성을 통해 전류를 생산하는 에너지 변환 장치이다. 현재 DMFC에 적용되고 있는 고분자 전해질 막(polymer electrolyte membrane, PEM)은 높은 수소이온 전도도와 물리화학적 안정성을 갖는 과불소화계 이오노머를 활용한 PEM이지만, 높은 메탄올 투과율과 분해 시 발생되는 환경 오염 물질 등의 문제로 인해 신규 소재 개발이 요구되고 있다. 최근 들어, 과불소화계 이오노머에 비해 낮은 연료 투과율 및 우수한 물리화학적 안정성을 갖는 탄화수소계 고분자 기반 PEM을 DMFC에 적용하는 연구들이 보고되고 있다. 본 총설에서는 탄화수소계 고분자 기반 PEM 중 1) 친수성/소수성 영역의 뚜렷한 나노 상분리 구조를 나타내는 가지형 공중합체를 합성하여 수소이온 전도성과 메탄올의 선택도를 향상시킨 연구, 2) 제막 단계에서 가교 구조를 도입하여 메탄올 투과율을 감소시키고 치수 안정성을 향상시킨 연구, 3) 유/무기계 첨가제 및 다공성 지지체를 도입하여 성능을 개선한 복합 막 개발 연구에 대해 소개하고자 한다.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
• /
• 제25권4호
• /
• pp.386-392
• /
• 2014

The effective water management in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is one of the key strategies for improving cell performance and durability. In this work, an ex situ measurement was carried out to understand the water droplet behavior on the surface of gas diffusion layer (GDL) as a fundamental study for establishing novel water management. For that purpose, simplified cell including one rib and two flow channels was designed and fabricated. Using this ex situ device, the water droplet emergence through the GDL of the PEMFC was emulated to understand liquid water transport through the porous diffusion medium. Through the visualization experiment, the emergence and growth of water droplets at the channel/GDL interface are mainly observed with the surface characteristics of GDL (SGL 10BA, 24BA) and rib when the liquid water passes through the GDL and is expelled to the flow channel. It is expected that the results obtained from this study can contribute to the better understanding on the water droplet behavior (emergence and removal) in the flow channels of PEMFC.

• 전기화학회지
• /
• 제19권1호
• /
• pp.9-13
• /
• 2016

Electrospun poly(ether sulfone) (PES) membrane impregnated with Nafion (PES-N) have been developed for high-temperature polymer-electrolyte membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC). The PES-N obtains highly thermal stability up to $430^{\circ}C$, which is higher than that of the commercial Nafion 212. The PES-N membrane shows a good proton conductivity of about $10^{-2}S\;cm^{-1}$ in a temperature range from $75^{\circ}C$ to $120^{\circ}C$. The membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) with the PES-N membrane exhibits a current density of $1.697A\;cm^{-2}$ at $75^{\circ}C$, and $0.813A\;cm^{-2}$ at $110^{\circ}C$ when the applied voltage is 0.6 V, whereas the MEA with the Nafion 212 membrane shows the current density of $0.647Acm^{-2}$ at $110^{\circ}C$. The results suggest that the PES-N can be a good candidate for a polymer electrolyte membrane of the HT-PEMFC.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
• /
• 제23권1호
• /
• pp.34-42
• /
• 2012

Gas diffusion layers (GDLs) of carbon composite type in polymer electrolyte fuel cells were prepared by simple and cheap manufacturing process. To obtain the carbon composite GDLs, carbon black with polymer binder was mixed in solvent, rolled to make sheet, and finally heat-treated at $340^{\circ}C$. The performance of fuel cell using composite GDLs was changed by PTFE content. The physical properties of composite GDLs for pore, conductivity and air permeability were analyzed to compare with the variation of fuel cell performance. The conductivity of composite GDLs was very similar to carbon paper as commercial GDL but pore properties and air flux were considerably different. The porosity, PTFE content and conductivity for composite GDLs did not have an influence on the cell performance much. The increase of pore diameter and air flux led to enhance cell performance.