Membranes techniques used to convert chemical energy into electrical energy from energy sources such as hydrogen, salt water, and water. Membrane materials have transport property of desire molecular and barrier property for satisfy to requirement of cell performance. Typically, PFSA polymer is used to fabricate membrane. Each material has different characteristics depending on the membrane formation conditions. Macroscopic characteristics are difficult to correlation with molecular motion, mobility, and transport within membrane matrices. NMR spectroscopy can analysis about these characteristics by observing the molecule level. In this study, NMR spectroscopy can provide fundamental information of PFSA ionomers and correlation with macroscopic characteristics.

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEFCs) are eco-friendly energy conversion systems to convert hydrogen directly into electricity via an electrocatalytic reaction. Representative membrane materials of PEFCs are Perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers including Nafion® and 3M ionomers. In spite of high proton conductivity, it is difficult to apply PFSA free-standing membranes in real PEFC applications owing to their weak mechanical failures and thermo-chemical decomposition during PFEC operations, in addition to a relatively high production cost. In this study, Nafion nanodispersions in water-alcohol mixtures are fabricated using a supercritical fluid technique. The fundamental membrane characteristics are compared with those of counterpart membranes obtained from a commercially available Nafion emulsion.

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.

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEFCs) are eco-friendly energy conversion systems to convert hydrogen directly into electricity via an electrocatalytic reaction. Representative membrane materials of PEFCs are Perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers including NafionⓇ and 3M ionomers. In spite of high proton conductivity, it is difficult to apply PFSA free-standing membranes in real PEFC applications owing to their weak mechanical failures and thermo-chemical decomposition during PFEC operations, in addition to a relatively high production cost. In this study, Nafion nanodispersions in water-alcohol mixtures are fabricated using a supercritical fluid technique. The fundamental membrane characteristics are compared with those of counterpart membranes obtained from a commercially available Nafion emulsion.

Perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers have been widely used for renewable energy generation, including polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs), owing to their excellent resistance to harsh chemicals and good ion-transport properties. PFSA materials experience critical chemical decomposition to radical attacks, and fast hydrogen crossover leading to fairly reduced electrochemical performances, when they are used as membrane materials. Similar chemical degradation also occurs in PEFC electrodes containing PFSA ionomer binders used as both mechanical supporters and proton conductors and shortens PEFC lifetime. In this study, several approaches based on their morphological rearrangement to overcome these economical and technical issues are proposed. They include pore-filling membrane formation, nanodispersion, and their combination.

태양전지는 태양복사에너지를 반도체의 광전효과를 통해 전기에너지로 변환시키는 친환경 에너지변환장치를 의미한다. 수분을 포함하는 다양한 화학물질들에 대한 높은 차단성을 갖는 다층형 필름인 백시트는 태양전지의 중요한 요소이다. 대표적인 백시트는 polyvinyl fluoride (PVF)와 poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)의 다층필름으로 구성된다. PVF는 높은 내후성을 가지는 반면, 가격이 상대적으로 비싼 단점을 보인다. 따라서, 백시트의 제조가격을 낮출 수 있으면서, 동시에 실제 태양전지모듈에 적용할만한 수명특성을 만족시킬 수 있는 대체소재의 개발이 필수적이다. 본 연구에서는 일정수준의 결정성을 갖는 PET 필름을 PVF 필름 대신 사용하였다. 그러나, PET 소재는 다양한 pH 조건에서 trans-esterification 및 가수분해에 의해 분해될 수 있기 때문에, 태양전지의 구동조건에서 PET의 분해거동을 이해할 필요가 있다. 단시간 내 화학적 분해거동을 평가하기 위해서, 가속화된 PET 분해실험 프로토콜이 개발되었다. 마지막으로, 제안 개념의 효용성은 태양전지모듈의 장기운전성능 평가를 통해 확인하였다.

Photovoltaic (PV) modules are environmentally energy conversion devices to generate electricity via photovoltaic effect of semiconductor from solar energy. One of key elements in PV modules is “backsheet,” a multilayered barrier film. A desirable backsheet should exhibit barrier properties. A representative backsheet materials is composed of polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). In this study, we utilize PET films with high crystallinity, instead of PVF. Since it is well known that PET is suffering from hydrolysis, it is needed to understand PET decomposition behavior. To evaluate their hydrolysis behavior, accelerated PET decomposition test protocols are used. Electro chemical PV module performances are investigated to prove the efficacy of hydrolyticall durable PET films selected via the screening process.