• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.80.2-80.2
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• 2010

The development of high temperature-proton exchange fuel cell (HT-PEFC) is a key in solving the problem of carbon monoxide poisoning of the platinum at anode as well as water management in PEFCs operated below $90^{\circ}C$. In order to overcome these main issues, PEFCs must be operated at high temperature above $120^{\circ}C$. Ionic liquids are available for HT-PEFC due to exhibiting non-volatility and thermal stability. Ionic liquids are however leached out from polymeric matrix resulting in the increase of gas permeability. In this study, we have prepared and characterized the composite membranes with the ionic liquids consisting of 1-(4-vinylbenzyl)-3-butyl imidazolium chloride immobilized by the cross-linkers in pore-filling membrane to prevent to be leached out from the membrane. We confirmed that cross-linked ionic liquids were not leached out from the composite membranes through the various characteristic analyses. It was also verified that the prepared membranes are thermally stable from the result of TG analysis. The pore-filling membranes with the immobilized ionic liquids have a high proton conductivity over $10^{-2}$ S/cm at high temperature (> $120^{\circ}C$).

• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.135-140
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• 2016

In this study, the organic-inorganic composite membranes composed of iron oxide (Ferroxane) and Nafion were developed as an alternative proton exchange membranes (PEMs) in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Acetic acid-stabilized lepidocrocite (${\gamma}$-FeOOH) nanoparticles (ferroxane) was synthesized, and the ferroxane-Nafion composite membranes were prepared by mixing Nafion with the ferroxane. The composite membranes were investigated in terms of ionic conductivity, ion exchange capacity (IEC), FT-IR, thermal stability, etc. As a result, the ferroxane-Nafion composite membranes showed higher proton conductivity, IEC, thermal stability than Nafion recast membranes. The proton conductivity and IEC of the composite membrane with the best performance were $0.09S\;cm^{-1}$ and $0.906meq\;g^{-1}$, respectively.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2017

In this study, the composite membranes prepared by sulfonated graphene oxide (sGO) and Nafion were developed as proton exchange membranes (PEMs) for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The sGO/Nafion composite membranes were prepared by mixing Nafion solution with the sGO dispersed in a binary solvent system to improve dispersity of sGO. The composite membranes were investigated in terms of ionic conductivity, ion exchange capacity (IEC), FT-IR, TGA and SEM, etc. As a result, the binary solvent system, i.e., ortho-dichlorobenzene (ODB) and N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), were used to obtain high dispersion of sGO particles in Nafion solution, and the ionic conductivity of the sGO/Nafion composite membrane showed $0.06Scm^{-1}$ similar to other research results at lower water uptake, 11 wt%.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.252-262
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• 2019

A sulfonated star branched poly(styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene) triblock copolymer (SSBS) was synthesized with varying degrees of sulfonation. The effective sulfonation on the butadiene block was confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy. Ion exchange capacity by titration was used to determine the degree of sulfonation. The synthesized polymer observed enhanced water uptake and proton conductivity. At room temperature, the SSBS with 25 mol% degree of sulfonation showed an outstanding proton conductivity of 0.114 S/cm, similar to that of commercial membrane, Nafion. The effect of temperature at constant relative humidity on conductivity resulted to a remarkable increase in proton conductivity. Methanol permeability studies showed a value lower than Nafion for all the sulfonated membranes. Structural nature observed using AFM showed that the membranes observed microphase separated nanostructures and the connectivity of the interionic channels.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2009

This work reports the preparation of proton conductive crosslinked polymer electrolyte membranes by blending poly(vinyl chloride)-g-poly(hydroxyl ethyl acrylate) (PVC-g-PHEA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). The PHEA chains of the graft copolymer were crosslinked with PVA using sulfosuccinic acid (SA) via the esterification reaction between -OH of polymer matrix and -COOH of SA. The PVC-g-PHEA graft copolymer was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using direct initiation of the secondary chlorines of PVC backbones. Ion exchange capacity (IEC) continuously increased with increasing concentrations of SA, due to the increasing portion of charged groups in the membrane. However, the water uptake increased up to 20.0 wt% of SA concentration above which it decreased monotonically. The membrane exhibited a maximum proton conductivity of 0.026 S/cm at 20.0 wt% of SA concentration, which is presumably due to competitive effect between the increase of ionic sites and the crosslinking reaction.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.149-149
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• 2009

Generally, Nafion ionomer is used in the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) electrodes to achieve high power density. At the high temperature operation of PEFC, however, ionic conductivity of Nafion remarkably decreased due to the evaporation of water in Nafion polymer. Recently, many researchers have focused on using the Ionic Liquids(ILs) instead of water in Nafion polymer. ILs have intrinsic properties such as good electrochemical stability, high ionic conductivity, and non-flammability. Especially, ILs play a crucial role in proton conduction by the Grottuss mechanism and act as water in water-free Nafion polymer. However, it was found that the ILs was leached out of the polymer matrix easily. In this study, we prepared membrane electrode assemblies with various contents of ILs. The effect of ILs in the electrode of each designed was investigated by a cyclic voltammetry measurement and the cell performance obtained through a single cell test using H2/Air gases. Electrodes with different contents of ILs in catalyst layer were examined at high temperature and low humidified condition.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.581-586
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• 2007

Cast DNA/polyethyleneimine (PEI) blend membranes containing different amounts of DNA were prepared using acid-base interaction and characterized with the aim of understanding the polymer electrolyte membrane properties. Two different molecular weights of PEI were used to provide the mechanical strength, while DNA, a polyelectrolyte, was used for the proton transport channel. Proton conductivity was observed for the DNA/PEI membrane and reached approximately $3.0{\times}10^{-3}S/cm$ for a DNA loading of 16 wt% at $80^{\circ}C$. The proton transport phenomena of the DNA/PEI complexes were investigated in terms of the complexation energy using the density functional theory method. In the case of DNA/PEI, a cisoid-type complex was more favorable for both the formation of the complex and the dissociation of hydrogen from the phosphate. Since the main requirement for proton transport in the polymer matrix is to dissociate the hydrogen from its ionic sites, this suggests the significant role played by the basicity of the matrix.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.377-383
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• 2009

Ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuator generates bending actuation via ion/water flux to the cathode side under an electric field. Polyelectrolytes in IPMC should possess high water-retention capability, proton conductivity, and Young's modulus. In this study. for endowing IPMCs with these properties, Nafion-alumina composite membranes containing $\alpha$- or $\gamma$-aluminas of $4{\sim}8$ wt% were prepared. Mechanical moduli of Nafion-alumina composite membranes were $7{\sim}3$ MPa higher than that of Nafion, with the slight decrease in proton conductivity. At DC 3 V. the actuation performance of the Nafion-$\alpha$-alumina (8 wt%)-IPMC was superior to that of the typical Nafion-IPMC. exhibiting 2.7 times the displacement with an enhanced blocking force. The enhanced actuation performance with the Nafion-$\alpha$-alumina composite membranes was attributed to the higher proton conductivity, the elevated ion/water flux, and the lower interfacial electric resistance of platinum electrodes and membrane, compared with those containing $\gamma$-alumina.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.179-184
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• 2002

Polymer electrolyte films consisting of poly (vinylidenefluoride-hexafluoro-propylene) (PVdF-HFP) $H_3PO_4$and a mixture of ethylene carbonate(EC), $\gamma$-butyrolactone(BL) and dimethylcarbonate (DMC) were examined in order to obtain the best compromise between high protonic conductivity, homogeniety and dimensional stability. Measurements of differential scanning calorimetry and ionic conductivity have been carried out for various compositions. The highest proton conductivity of 7.3 $\times$$10^{-3}Sm^{-1}$ at $30^{\circ}C$ were obtained for a film of 30(PVdF-HFP) + 50EC/DMC + 20H$_3$PO$_4$. From the thermal study, it has been found that the PVdF-HFP gels are stable up to $80^{\circ}C$, and the $H_3PO_4$ enhances the miscibility of the polymer and the solvent by interacting sensitively with polymer segments.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.151-157
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• 2011

Crosslinked SPEEK/PVDF membrane were prepared by EB radiation method with various contents of PVDF. The prepared membranes were subjected to a comparative study of proton exchange membranes for fuel cell appreciations. The crosslinked SPEEK/PVDF membranes were characterized by using DMA, DSC and SAXS. The DMA data indicate that the ionic modulus values and cluster $T_g$ decrease with increasing PVDF content. Thus, it was suggested that the number of clustering in the crosslinked membranes can be reduced with increasing PVDF content. The DSC results were shown that the degree of crystalline of the membrane increased with increasing PVDF content. The morphology of the crosslinkied membranes was shown that with increasing PVDF content, the number of crystalline domain of the SPEEK/PVDF membranes increased but ionic aggregation of the membranes decreased. The water uptake behavior, ionic exchange capacity (IEC) and proton conductivity were decreased with increasing PVDF content. The overall findings suggest that the crosslinked membranes offer the possibility for improving the performance of PEMFC, provided that the membranes have thermal and hydration stability.