Perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers have been commonly used as representative polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) materials for fuel cell electric vehicles owing to their fast proton transport and excellent chemical resistance. However, PFSA materials still have weakness associated with chemical degradation occurring as a result from radical attacks, which induce membrane thickness reduction, leading to hydrogen crossover, and/or reduced electrochemical performances. In this study, cerium derivative radical scavengers were designed as functional additives to enhance the chemical durability of PFSA PEM. Their optimum content was suggested, comprehensively considering their radical resistance as well as other fundamental characteristics associated with long-term durability and electrochemical performance.

Perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers have been used as polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) materials owing to their excellent chemical durability and proton conductivity. However, the PFSA ionomers are suffering from fast hydrogen crossover and, thereby, chemical degradation in the membrane state. To solve these issues is to make reinforced membranes by filling proton-conductive PFSA ionomers in the pores of chemically robust poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) support films. However, it is very difficult to obtain PFSA-PTFE reinforced membranes with improved hydrogen barrier property. In this study, PFSA-PTFE reinforced membranes were fabricated by immersing commercial reinforced membrane in PFSA ionomer dispersions with different chemical architectures and particle sizes and their effects were systematically investigated.

Water electrolysis is a representative electrochemical process to generate hydrogen gas together with oxygen gas by applying electric power. Perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers have been widely used as electrode binder materials, in addition to polymer electrolyte membrane materials for water electrolysis to generate hydrogen and oxygen gases with a high purity simultaneously. PFSA binder materials act as physical supports for inorganic catalyst materials in both electrodes. The binder materials play role in transporting protons for hydrogen gas and oxygen gas evolution reaction in the cathode and the anode, respectively. In this study, PFSA ionomers with different chemical architectures and equivalent weights were used as binder materials for water electrolysis. The structure property performance relationship was disclosed.

PEMFC is an eco-friendly and sustainable electrochemical generation system to convert chemical energy of fuels into electric energy. Proton exchange membrane(PEM) is key material to decide PEMFC performances. Representative PEM materials is perfluorinated sulfonic acid(PFSA) composed of a chemically stable PTFE backbone and ion conductive side chains. PFSA is classified into long-side chain(LCC-PFSA) and short-side chain(SCC-PFSA). Normally, SCC-PFSA can induce high packing density and gas barrier properties when it is made in PEM state. In spite of these advantages, it is hard to make desirable SCC-PFSA PEMs due to its relatively high Tg and low EW. In this study, the effects of PEM fabrication histories on basic properties of SCC-PFSA ionomers were observed by varying parameters such as casting solvent and thermal annealing condition.

One of the key components to determine polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) performances is a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM), the representative PEM material is perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers. PFSA ionomers such as Nafion®and 3M® ionomers have been widely used as PEM materials for fuel cells owing to their excellent chemical inertness and high proton conductivity. Generally, polymeric materials are highly influenced by the membrane fabrication histories including casting solvents, thermal annealing temperature and time, when they are converted in the membrane forming process. In this study, 3M PFSA ionomer membranes were systematically prepared under different fabrication histories. Their morphological contribution on fundamental characteristics, transport behavior, and electrochemical performances were disclosed.

Sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (SPAES) random copolymers have been perceived as alternatives to perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers owing to their cheap production cost and low hydrogen permeability. In spite of their advantages, there are some issues to overcome such as membrane durability and relatively low proton conductivity in the low humidity range. An approach to solve these problems is to fill SPAES copolymers into porous support films (e.g., poly(tetra fluoro ethylene), PTFE). However, it is difficult to make defect-free pore-filling membranes. In this study, SPAES nanodispersion in a water-alcohol mixture is made under a modified supercritical condition and used to make highly proton conductive and chemical durable SPAES-PTFE pore-filling membranes.

Perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers have been widely used as representative polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) materials for water electrolysis to generate hydrogen and oxygen gases with a high purity (e.g., 99.999%) simultaneously. PEM should satisfy high selectivity of proton to water and act as gas barrier to hydrogen and oxygen in order to improve current efficiency which is a barometer to determine how effectively the electric energy is used for water electrolysis. In this study, PFSA ionomers with different chemical architectures and equivalent weights were used to make PEM materials for water electrolysis. The structure-property-performance relationship was systematically investigated.

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) is one of key elements to determine both electrochemical performances and lifetimes of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). PEM is exposed to a variety of dynamic stimuli (e.g., temperature, humidity, pressure, fuel gases and so on) under their operation conditions and meets unavoidable mechanical damages derived from unequal pressure difference between anode and cathode feed gases. Even though there have been approaches to evaluate the mechanical strength of PEM materials, most of the trials could provide static information on their mechanical strength. In this study, a pressure-loaded blister hybrid system connected with gas chromatography was developed to disclose the efficacy of the system as an evaluation tool of dynamic PEM strength under realistic FCEV operation conditions.

Perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers have been widely used as representative polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) materials for fuel cells and water/salined water electrolysis. The PFSA membranes need to satisfy selective transport behaviors to small molecules including gases and ionic species; the PFSA membranes have to transport protons as fast as possible, while they should act as hydrogen barriers, since the permeated gas induces the thermal degradation of cathode catalyst, resulting in rapid electrochemical reduction. In this study, hydrogen permeation properties of PFSA membranes are evaluated using a handmade measurement system, which is designed for measuring gas transport properties through PEM materials or membrane-electrode assembly under actual fuel cell operation conditions.

Ionomers are polymeric materials containing fixed charged ions (e.g., – SO3 -) to transport their counter ions (e.g., H+, Li+, Na+ and so on) selectively and have been widely used as key components for membrane and unit cell formation targeted for renewable energy generation (e.g., polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells(PEMFC), redox flow batteries, and reverse electrodialyses) and valued chemical production (e.g., water and brine electrolysis). There are advantages such as high processability, easy solvent evaporation, and chemical inertness, when the ionomers are in the dissolved or dispersed states in water-alcohol mixtures to be applied for these applications. Unfortunately, it is difficult to make homogeneous solution or dispersion using the ionomers with hydrophilic levels undissolved in water. In this study, water-alcohol nanodipsersion with perfluorinated or hydrocarbon sulfonic acid ionomers are fabricated and their feasibilities as PEMFC and electrolysis materials are evaluated.

A key element of environmentally friendly electric vehicles (EVs) based on polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) and lithium ion batteries (LIBs) is an ion-selective membrane, which can transport specific ions such as proton and lithium ions, and provide mechanical and chemical resistances. The state-of-the art membranes for PEFCs and LIBs are perfluorinated sulfonic acid ionomer reinforced membranes and ceramic-coated polyolefin separators, respectively. In spite of the improvement of membranes characteristics, additional membrane modifications are still needed to improve electrochemical cell performances and to extend their lifetime. In this presentation, several plausible approaches to improve membrane characteristics are introduced.

고분자전해질막은 전극 이외에 전기 화학 연료전지의 성능을 결정하는 중요한 요소이다. 고분자전해질막은 가스나 양성자 등의 작은 분자를 선택적으로 수송해야 한다. 고분자전해질막을 투과한 가스는 급속히 전기 화학적 환원을 발생시켜 음극 촉매의 열화를 유발하기 때문에 수소 장벽으로 작동해야 하며 가능한 한 빨리 양성자를 이동시켜야 한다. 지금까지 고분자전해질막의 수소 기체 투과도를 측정하는데 한정된 방법(예 : Constant volume/variable pressure (Time-lag)법)을 사용 했다. 그러나 측정의 대부분은 고분자전해질막은 건조된 진공 하에서 이루어진다. 그렇지 않으면 얻어진 수소 투과도는 측정 오차가 커지는 원인이 되기 쉽다. 이 연구에서는 일반적으로 고분자전해질막으로 사용되는 Nafion212의 수소 가스 투과 특성을 온도와 습도가 동시에 제어되는 in-situ 측정 시스템을 이용하여 평가하였다.

Perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers have been widely used as representative polymer electrolyte membrane materials for fuel cells and water/salined water electrolyses. The PFSA ionomers membranes need to satisfy complicated transport behaviors to small molecules including gases and ionic species. That is, the PFSA ionomers membranes have to transport protons as fast as possible, while the membranes should act as hydrogen barriers, since the permeated gas induces thermal degradation of cathode catalyst resulting in rapid reduction in fuel cell performances. In this study, it is disclosed that these permeation behaviors can be easily tunable by controlling membrane processing histories even though the ionomers have the same chemical architecture and equivalent weight.