황산은 뛰어난 촉매제로서의 특성과 경제성으로 산업현장에서 다양한 화학 반응에 널리 사용되고 있다. 그러나 황산은 사용 후 재활용이 불가능하고 대량의 폐수를 발생시키는 특성이 있어 폐기과정에서 환경오염의 위험이 있으며 폐수 처리 과정에서 추가적인 비용 과 에너지가 소모된다. 본 연구는 황산을 대신할 수 있는 친환경 촉매제를 활용하여 폐수 의 배출을 줄이고 기업의 친환경 경영을 강화할 수 있는 방안을 모색하고자 실시되었다. 연구에서는 아민 산화반응을 위해 사용되는 말레인산 무수물 기반 고분자 촉매인 PIMA 과 POMA을 평가하여 피리딘 유도체의 아민 산화반응을 최적화하였다. POMA 촉매는 아연 피리치온 합성에 적용되었으며, 98% 이상의 선택성과 93% 이상의 합성 수율로 높은 촉매 활성을 보였다. 또한 촉매는 여과 과정을 통해 쉽게 회수되었으며, 회수율은 99.8% 를 초과하였고, 여러 번 사용 후에도 활성을 유지하였다. POMA 촉매는 전통적인 황산 촉매를 대체하여 폐수 발생에 의한 환경 부담을 최소화하고 기업의 ESG 경쟁력을 높이는 데 기여할 것으로 기대한다.

It is necessary to fabricate uniformly dispersed nanoscale catalyst materials with high activity and long-term stability for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells with excellent electrochemical characteristics of the oxygen reduction reaction and hydrogen oxidation reaction. Platinum is known as the best noble metal catalyst for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells because of its excellent catalytic activity. However, given that Pt is expensive, considerable efforts have been made to reduce the amount of Pt loading for both anode and cathode catalysts. Meanwhile, the atomic layer deposition (ALD) method shows excellent uniformity and precise particle size controllability over the three-dimensional structure. The research progress on noble metal ALD, such as Pt, Ru, Pd, and various metal alloys, is presented in this review. ALD technology enables the development of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells with excellent reactivity and durability.

In this paper, a three dimensional numerical analysis tool was applied to study the PEMFC performance characteristics. The porosity and electrical conductivity of GDL and CL as well as the relative humidity of anode and cathode channel gas were selected as simulation parameters. As the porosity of GDL and CL increases, current density and temperature increase because reactant gases diffuse well. As the electrical conductivity of GDL and CL increases, current density and temperature increase due to increased electron transfer rate. As anode relative humidity increases, current density and temperature increase. Unlike anode, current density and temperature increase when cathode relative humidity increases from 0 percent to 60 percent. Then current density and temperature decrease when cathode relative humidity increases from 60 percent to 100 percent.

The electrocatalytic characteristics of oxygen reduction reaction of the PtxM(1-x) (M = Co, Cu, Ni) supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) have been evaluated in a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC). The PtxM(1-x)/MWNTs catalysts with a Pt : M atomic ratio of about 3 : 1 were synthesized and applied to the cathode of PEMFC. The crystalline structure and morphology images of the PtxM(1-x) particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. The results showed that the crystalline structure of the Pt alloy particles in Pt/MWNTs and PtxM(1-x)/MWNTs catalysts are seen as FCC, and synthesized PtxM(1-x) crystals have lattice parameters smaller than the pure Pt crystal. According to the electrochemical surface area (ESA) calculated with cyclic voltammetry analysis, Pt0.77Co0.23/MWNTs catalyst has higher ESA than the other catalysts. The evaluation of a unit cell test using Pt/MWNTs or PtxM(1-x)/MWNTs as the cathode catalysts demonstrated higher cell performance than did a commercial Pt/C catalyst. Among the MWNTs-supported Pt and PtxM(1-x) (M = Co, Cu, Ni) catalysts, the Pt0.77Co0.23/MWNTs shows the highest performance with the cathode catalyst of PEMFC because they had the largest ESA.

Titanium dioxide was prepared by Polymer Complex Solution Method(PCSM) according to the mole ratio of Titanium (IV) isopropoxide(TTIP)/solvent and polymer(Poly Ethylene Glycol). Polymer electrolytes were usually made by dispersing preproduced ceramic nanoparticles in a polymer matrix. Using this method, pure and nano-sized powder was synthesized through a simple procedure and polymer entrapment route. At the optimum amount of the polymer, the titanium ions are dispersed in solution and a homogeneous polymeric network is formed. The maximum intensity of anatase phase of was achieved by calcining at for 2h. The synthesized powders were nano-sized and the average size was about 50nm. Anatase/Rutile ratio of the synthesized was 70%/30%

고분자전해질형 연료전지에서 촉매의 활성을 증가시키기 위하여 기존에 사용되고 있는 백금과 전이금속인 chromium, nickel과의 합금을 제조하였다. XRD를 이용하여 합금의 구조가 33˚에서 superlattice line을 가지고 있는 것으로 보아 face centered cubic 구조를 가진 ordered alloy로 이루어졌다는 것을 알 수 있었다. 열처리 온도가 증가할수록 합금의 입자 크기는 증가하였으며, 결정 격자 상수는 감소하였다. 전지성능테스트, cyclic voltammogram 등을 통하여 mass activity, specific activity, Tafel slope, 개회로 전압을 측정한 결과, 합금촉매의 활성이 순수한 백금촉매보다 크게 향상되었음을 알 수 있었다.