본 연구에서는 공정 간소화, 균일한 나노 입자 형성, 백금 저감 및 활용도를 높이기 위하여 원자층 증착법 (Atomic Layer Deposition, ALD)을 통하여 양이온 교환막 연료전지용 촉매를 제조하고 증착 온도에 따른 백금 입자 형성 거동 을 확인하였다. 증착 온도는 250 °C, 300 °C, 350 °C로 조절하여 백금 촉매를 형성하였으며 각 각의 촉매의 증착 양 상을 확인하기 위하여 Thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction 및 Transmission electron microscopy를 도입하여 담지량, 백금 입자 분포, 크기 및 결정구조 등을 확인하였다. 합성된 백금 촉매를 연료전지에 적용하기 위해서 Cyclic Voltammetry 기법을 통해서 전기화학적 활성 표면적를 구하고, Membrane Electrode Assembly 셀을 제작하여 전지 특성을 확보하였다. 최종적으로, 백금 촉매 제조 시 ALD 증착 온도는 300 °C 이하에서 합성해야 됨을 밝혀냈으며, ALD으로 제작된 백금 촉매가 기존 습식 촉매보다 더 우수한 특성을 보임을 확인하였다. 해당 연구는 ALD을 통하여 다양한 접근법으로 촉매를 제조할 시, 기본적인 ALD 공정 정보 및 ALD 촉매 합성 방향성을 제공할 수 있다.

국제해사기구(IMO)는 국제해운 분야의 온실가스(Green House Gas, GHG) 감축을 위하여 각국의 기술 개발 및 에너지 효율성 제 고에 관한 정책 시행을 적극적으로 권장하고 있다. 이러한 IMO의 환경규제와 관련된 정책들은 해운 분야 전반에 큰 영향을 미치고 있으 며, 선주들에게도 막대한 부담으로 작용하고 있다. 선박에서 발생하는 GHG 배출을 억제하기 위한 가장 합리적인 방안은 탄소제로배출 (Zero Emission) 선박의 개발로 귀결된다. 즉 친환경 연료로 추진하는 연료전지선박(Fuel Cell Ship, FCS)의 개발이 IMO의 규제를 벗어날 수 있는 대안인 것이다. 아시아, 북미, 유럽 등의 각국에서는 독자적으로 PEMFC를 개발 및 생산하여 국제공인등록 기관으로부터 형식승인 인증을 획득함으로써 국제표준화의 선점을 추구하고 있다. 현재 다양한 연료전지(Fuel Cell, FC) 중에서 선박용으로 권장하는 것은 크게 고 분자전해질 연료전지(PEMFC), 용융 탄산염 연료전지(MCFC) 및 고체산화물형 연료전지(SOFC) 등의 세종류가 있다. 본 연구에서는 글로벌 FC 시장에서 지속적인 성장이 예상되는 PEMFC를 대상으로 하여 국내외 개발 동향, 제조업체별 규격, 성능 및 선박에 적용한 실증적 사례 를 분석하였다. 그리고 PEMFC를 선박에 적용할 경우, 고려해야 할 사항과 개발 방향에 관하여 제안하고자 하였다.

The poor durability issue of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells is a major concern in terms of their commercialization. To understand the degradation mechanism of the catalysts, an accelerated durability test (ADT) was conducted according to the protocol established by internationally accredited organizations. However, reversible and irreversible factors contributing to the loss of activity have not yet been practically segregated because of the limitations of a batch-type three-electrode system, leading to the misunderstanding of the deactivation mechanism. In this study, we investigated the effect of a fresh electrolyte on the ADT and recovery process. When the fresh electrolyte was used at every range of the cycle, the chances of incorrect detection of dissolved CO and Pt ions in the electrolyte were very low. When the same electrolyte was used throughout the test, the accumulated Pt ions were deposited on the surface of the Pt nanoparticles or carbon support, affording an increased electrochemical surface area (ECSA) of Pt. Therefore, we believe that periodic replacement by a fresh electrolyte or a continuous-flow electrolyte is essential for the precise determination of the structural and electrochemical changes in Pt/C catalysts.

The volume of fluid method is used to investigate the behavior of a liquid water slug in a PEMFC trapezoidal gas channel(GC) with a open angle of 60 degrees. To evaluate the effect of the contact angle of the top and side walls, the gas diffusion layer water coverage ratio(GWCR) and water volume fraction(WVF) in a inspection control volume are analyzed. As the contact angle increases, GWCR increases and WVF decreases. The cases with the GC contact angle of 60 and 80 degrees show the more favorable water removal characteristics compared to the other cases in a GC flooding condition.

Dimensional stability of polymer electrolyte membrane stands out always important issue as well as proton conductivity. The reinforced membrane can be a good solution to enhance the dimensional stability for not only perfluorosulfonic acid polymer but also hydrocarbon based polymer. In this study, we have prepared nanofiber reinforced polymer electrolyte membranes for proton exchange membrane fuel cells. The nanofiber reinforced PEMs was impregnated by introducing hydrocarbon polymer electrolytes into web-like substrate. Due to high porosity and the intrinsic structure of reinforced PEMs, dimensional stability are improved without sacrificing membrane performance. Consequently, reinforced PEMs exhibited higher physical properties than unreinforced PEMs.

In a PEMFC gas channel with a trapezoidal cross-section, the effect of air and water inlet velocities on water removal characteristics is numerically studied via the volume of fluid(VOF) method. When the channel wall contact angle is 60 degrees, the air inlet velocities higher than 2.5 m/s are advantageous to obtain lower GDL surface water coverage ratio(WCR). The WCR increases as the wall contact angle increases to 90 or 120 degrees due to the relatively lower surface tension force. In overall, WCR decreases as the air inlet velocity increases and WCR increases as the water inlet velocity increases.

The water removal characteristics in a PEMFC trapezoidal gas channel are investigated with the volume of fluid (VOF) method. For the case of wall contact angle of 60 degree, liquid water attaches on the top wall and moves toward the exit. In contrast, liquid water moves along the channel side corner or GDL surface irregularly for the higher wall contact angles. The hydrophillic wall contact angle of 60 degrees provides more favorable diffusion of reactants to cathode reaction sites as the GDL surface water coverage ratio approaches zero even if the water flow rate increases.

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are considered as prospective energy conversion systems because of high efficiency and environmental advantage. However, the current PEMFC technology uses commercialized perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) polymers as a proton exchange membrane, which has the issues of high production cost, poor recyclability at intermediate temperature. In this study, We have synthesized a non-fluorinated hydrocarbon membrane. Also, non-fluorinated membrane has a symmetric chemical structure and sulfonated block copolymer was prepared and characterized using 1H-NMR, and the proton conductivity, ion exchange capacity (IEC), and water uptake. properties were evaluated. The synthesis, characteristic and fuel cell performance and newly prepared membrane will be discussed.

본 연구에서는 각기 다른 관능기를 가진 유기화된 무기입자를 sol-gel법을 이용해 제조하여 montorillonite가 가진 단점을 보완하였으며, 이를 sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone)(SPAES)고분자에 첨가해 복합막을 제막하였다. 제조 된 무기물은 사용한 실란화합물에 따라 상이한 색상 및 물성을 나타내었다. 최 종적으로 물리적 성능, 전기적 성능 등 복합막의 전반적인 물성변화를 나타내었으며 이에 따라 최적화된 관능기를 찾는 연구를 진행하였다.

Novel sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone)s multi-block copolymer membranes containing highly sulfonated hydrophilic blocks were synthesized. Different local concentration of sulfonic acid in their hydrophilic blocks affected chemical and physical properties of the SPAES. To investigate the effects of chemical composition on their membrane properties, different hydrophilic oligomers sharing same hydrophobic blocks gave us exact comparison of effect of hydrophilic blocks. The higher concentration of sulfonic acid groups resulted in higher proton conductivity under certain relative humidity conditions than that of the state-of-the-art perfluorinated sulfonic acid membrane and showed that the well-developed phase separation of SPAES.