• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.58-59
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• 2006

Less than a decade ago, most alternate membrane materials for fuel cells relied upon a post-sulfonation process to generate ionic groups capable of transporting protons from the anode to the cathode. These random post sulfonations showed some promise, but in general they produced materials that were not sufficiently stable or protonically conductive at ion exchange capacities where aqueous swelling could be restricted. Our group began to synthesize disulfonated monomers that could be used to incorporate into random copolymer proton exchange membranes. The expected limitation was that the aromatic polymers might not be stable enough to withstand fuel cell conditions. However, this was mostly based upon an accelerated test known was the Fenton's Reagent Test, which did not seem to this author as being a reliable predictor of performance. A much better approach has been to evaluate the open circuit voltage (OCV) for alternate membranes, as well as the benchmark perfluorosulfonic acid systems. When this is done, the aromatic ionomers of this study, primarily based upon disulfonated polyarylene ether sulfones, show up quite well. Real time 3000 hours DMFC results have also been generated. Obtaining conductive materials at low humidities is another major issue where alternate membranes have not been particularly successful. In order to address this problem, multiblock copolymers with relatively high water diffusion coefficients have been designed, which show promise for conductivity at lowered humidity.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.699-702
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• 2012

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.593-597
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• 2016

The effects of relative humidity, current density and temperature on the ionic conductivity were studied in PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell). Water contents and water flux in the electrolyte membrane largely affected ion conductivity. The water flux was modelled and simulated by only electro-osmotic drag and back-diffusion of water. Ion conductivities were measured at membrane state out of cell and measured at MEA (Membrane and Electrode Assembly) state in condition of operation. The water contents in membrane increase as relative humidity increased in PEMFC, as a results of which ion conductivity increased. Current enhanced electro-osmotic drag and back diffusion and then water contents linearly increased. Enhancement of current density results in ion conductivity. Ion conductivity of about 40% increased as the temperature increased from $50^{\circ}C$ to $80^{\circ}C$.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Energy Engineering kosee Conference
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• 1994.11a
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• pp.23-27
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• 1994

고분자 전해질형 연료전지의 성능을 향상시키기 위하여 막-전극 어셈블리 제조시 hot-pressing 온도와 압력조건을 변화시켜며 단위전지 성능을 관찰하였으며 이에 대한 분석은 열무게분석법(TGA), 기공도, 이온투과계수 등을 사용하였다. 또한 전지의 작동온도 및 압력을 변화시켜가며 전지의 성능을 관찰하였다. 성능 실험은 가습기의 온도와 cell의 온도, 압력을 변화시켜가며 측정하였다.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.227-236
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• 2019

In this work, preparation and characterizations of hybrid membranes containing sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (SPES) and sulfonated poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (SPVdF-co-HFP) (20, 30 or 40 wt%) were carried out. The structure of hybrid membranes was confirmed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The prepared SPAES/SPVdF-30 membrane exhibits higher ionic conductivity of 68.9 mS/cm at $90^{\circ}C$ and 100% RH. Besides, the other studies showed that the hybrid membrane has good oxidation stability, thermal stability, and mechanical stability. Thus, we believe that the prepared hybrid membrane is suitable for the development of membranes for fuel cell applications.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.170-177
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• 2006

Optimum design of flow channel in the separation plate of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell is very prerequisite to reduce concentration over potential at high current region and remove the water generated in cathode effectively. In this paper, fully 3 dimensional computational model which solves anode and cathode flow fields simultaneously is developed in order to compare the performance of fuel cell with parallel and interdigitated flow channels. Oxygen and water concentration and pressure drop are calculated and i-V performance characteristics are compared between flows with two flow channels. Results show that performance of fuel cell with interdigitated flow channel is hi민or than that with parallel flow channel at high current region because hydrogen and oxygen in interdigitated flow channel are transported to catalyst layer effectively due to strong convective transport through gas diffusion layer but pressure drop is larger than that in parallel flow channel. Therefore Trade-off between power gain and pressure loss should be considered in design of fuel cell with interdigitated flow channel.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.96.1-96.1
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.189-190
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• 2014

본 논문에서는 Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) 연료전지의 출력을 동기정류 방식의 벅컨버터로 변환하여 2개의 리튬 폴리머 배터리를 충전하기 위한 시스템의 디지털 제어에 관해 논의한다. 배터리의 충전시 중요한 요소인 출력 리플의 제한 조건을 만족시키도록 컨버터를 설계하고, DSP를 이용하여 이중제어 루프를 구성함으로써 충전기를 제어하였다. 컨버터 제작과 리튬전지를 이용한 충전 실험을 통해 제안한 회로와 제어기 설계 방식의 타당성을 검증하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.609-610
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• 2006