Chlor-alkali (CA) membranes as key materials to generate chlorine gas and sodium hydroxide are composed of sulfonic acid layer (S-layer) and carboxylic acid layer (C-layer) to provide fast sodium ion transport and slow hydroxide ion diffusion, respectively. Aciplex F, a representative CA membrane is made in a double layer form via thermal adhesion of both layers after each single layer film is independently fabricated. Unfortunately, the membrane fabrication induces delamination particularly in their interface as a result of hydroxide ion diffusion occurring during CA operation, leading to rapid increase in electrochemical overpotential. In this study, selective chemical conversion technique was developed to solve the delamination issue. Their effectiveness was proved by applying the same concept to a wide range of PFSA membrane.

알칼라인 수전해 공정에 사용되는 복합 분리막은 고분자와 나노 세라믹 입자로 구성되며 기계적 안정성과 높은 이온 전도성을 가지는 것이 필수적이다. 나노 세라믹 입자는 알칼라인 용액 내 수산화이온(OH-)의 전도성을 높인다고 보고되어 왔으나 세라믹 입자의 비율에 따른 OH-의 관계와 효과의 이해가 미흡한 실정이다. 본 연구에서는 여러 물성 측정(버블포인트, 이온 저항 등)을 통하여 분리막 성능에 입자의 비율이 미치는 영향과 원인을 연구하였다. 입자의 비율이 증가하면 이온 저항은 감소하며, 높은 버블포인트를 유지한다. 이는 분리막 내의 OH-증가로 이온 저항이 낮아지며, 입자의 밀집한 배열이 버블포인트를 유지하는 것으로 판단된다. 따라서 비율의 증가에 따라 OH-상호 작용으로 높은 전도성과 안정성을 가져온다.

Saline water electrolysis is an electrochemical process to produce valued chemicals by applying electric power. Perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers have been used as polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) materials owing to their high sodium ion selectivity and barrier properties. However, sulfonic acid groups in PFSA ionomers are chemically decomposed under a basic catholyte condition, which makes the PEM materials lose their ionic selectivity and Faraday efficiency. In this study, double layered membranes were prepared by anchoring cross-linked hydrocarbon ionomers, as a protection layer to catholyte atmosphere, into the water channels, particularly, located at around the surface of a PFSA membrane. Here, each monomer results in the identical chemical architecture and different free volume content when polymerized.

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.

Chlor-alkali (CA) membrane process is a commercially useful process to produce valued chemicals such as chlorine, sodium hydroxide and hydrogen via salined water electrolysis using sodium ion (Na+)-selective membranes. The most important issue in CA process is to reduce high energy consumption. A plausible solution is to obtain highly Na+-conductive membranes. The representative membrane materials are chemically stable perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers such as Nafion® and Aciplex®. PFSA membranes, but it is necessary to develop alternatives to PFSA membranes. In this study, a sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) copolymer membrane is radiation-grafted with a highly sulfonated poly(styrene) used as a side chain material.

Saline water electrolysis is a representative electrochemical conversion to produce chlorine gas and sodium hydroxide as major products by applying electric power. Perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers have been usually used as polymer electrolyte membrane materials owing to high sodium ion selectivity and strong resistance to acidic compounds (e.g., Cl2, HCl and so on) produced in anode. However, PFSA ionomers have been suffering from chemical degradation occurring when exposed under harsh basic condition in cathode. In this study, double layered chlor-alkali membranes were prepared by anchoring crosslinked hydrocarbon ionomer via radical polymerization technique in water channels located in a surface layer of PFSA ionomer membranes and electrochemically evaluated.

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.

수소는 산업용 전력생산, 자동차용 연료 등을 위한 대체가능한 에너지 담체로 인식되고 있다. 미래 저탄소 에너지 시스템에서 에너지 저장은 전력 수요에 유연하지 않거나 간헐적인 공급의 균형을 이루기 위한 중추적인 역할을 담당할 수 있 을 것이다. 수소는 에너지 담체로서 전기에너지를 화학에너지로, 화학에너지를 전기에너지로 변환할 수 있는 에너지 저장 방 법 중의 하나이다. 수소제조 방법 중에서, 특히, 물의 전기분해를 이용한 방법은 신재생 에너지원과의 접목을 고려할 때 가장 효율적이고 실용적인 방법으로 여겨지고 있다. 물 전기분해 수소제조 기술은 전기를 이용하여 수소를 물로부터 직접 제조하 는 방법으로, 화석연료 이용 제조방법과 비교하여 수소를 제조할 때 지구환경 오염물질인 이산화탄소의 배출이 없다. 수소제 조 방법 중의 하나인 물 전기분해의 원리와 물 전기분해의 종류인 알칼리 수전해(AWE, alkaline water electrolysis), 고분자 전해질막 수전해(PEMWE, polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis), 고온 수증기 전기분해(HTSE, high temperature steam electrolysis)에 대하여 분석하고자 하였다. 물 전기분해는 수소제조 방법의 하나로 연구가 진행되고 있으며, 최근에는 PTG (power to gas)와 PTL (power to liquid) 시스템의 요소기술로도 주목을 받고 있다. 본 총설에서는 물 전기분해에 대한 원리와 종류, 특히 알칼리 수전해에 대한 최근 연구동향에 대해 설명하였다.

Proton-exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis is a promising technology for hydrogen production. Meanwhile, recently, hydrogen water production has attracted great attention owing to the increasing demand in healthcare market. Therefore, hydrogen water production via PEM water electrolysis has also gained much interest. The PEM is the key component dominating the hydrogen production efficiency in the system. Although a Nafion meets the criteria for a number of key physical properties required for the operation in PEM water electrolysis, it is too expensive for commercial applications. In this work, therefore, we have developed the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) prepared with cost-effective pore-filled PEMs via a nonequilibrium impregnation-reduction (I-R) method.

염수전기분해(saline water electrolysis) 또는 클로로-알칼리 막공정(chlor-alkali membrane process)은 양이온교환 막과 전극으로 구성되는 전해셀에 전기를 가하여, 고순도(> 99%)의 고부가가치 화합물(예 : 염소, 수소, 수산화나트륨)을 직 접 제조하는 화학공정이다. 염수전기분해의 경제성은 동일한 양의 화합물을 생산하기 위해 투여되는 에너지 소비량을 저감 시킴으로 달성될 수 있다. 이러한 이슈는 전해질이나 전극의 고유 저항을 줄이거나, 전해질과 전극 사이의 계면 저항을 감소 시킴으로 달성시킬 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 전자빔 동시조사법을 사용하여, 높은 화학적 안정성을 지닌 탄화수소계 술폰산 이 오노머 막의 표면에 높은 이온선택성을 갖는 고분자를 접목 시키는 시도가 이루어졌다. 이를 통해, 고분자 전해질 막의 이온 전도성을 보완함과 동시에, 전극과의 계면 저항을 감소시켜, 전기화학적 효율 향상이 이루어짐을 관찰하였다.

Salined water electrolysis is an electrochemical reaction to produce chlorine gas and sodium hydroxide as major products from salined water. Perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers and their derivatives have been usually used as polymeric electrolytes with high sodium ion selectivity and barrier property to chlorine and hydrogen gases. In spite of their industrial importance, there is little information on the relationship of their chemical features and electrochemical performances. In this study, membrane requirements for salined water electrolysis are described and fundamental and electrochemical characteristics of PFSA and hydrocarbon ionomer materials are compared each other. The obtained results are expected to provide membrane material design factors for low energy-consuming salined water electrolysis.

The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments was adopted by IMO (International Maritime Organization) on 13 February 2004. Fifty-seven ballast water management systems were granted basic approval of active substance by IMO, among which thirty-seven systems were granted final approval. This paper studies the maximum allowable dosage of active substances produced by ballast water management system using electrolysis which is an approved management system by IMO. The allowable dosage of active substances by electrolysis system is proposed by TRO (Total Residual Oxidant). Maximum allowable dosage of TRO is a very important factor in the ballast water management system when using the electrolysis methods, because ballast water management system is controlled with the TRO value, and the IMO approvals are given on the basis of the maximum allowable dosage of TRO for the treatment and discharge of ballast water. However, between various management systems approved TRO concentration of maximum allowable dosage showed large differences, ranging from 1 to 15 ppm, depending on the management systems. The discrepancies of maximum allowable dosage among the management systems may depend on whether a filter is used or not, the difference in the specifications of the electrolysis module, the kind of the tested organisms, the number of individual organisms, and the difference in the water quality, etc. Ship owners are responsible for satisfying the performance standard of the IMO convention in the ports of each country therefore need to carefully review whether the ballast water management system can satisfy the performance standard of the IMO convention or not.

Hydrogen is considered a potential future energy source. Among other applications of hydrogen, hydrogen-rich water is emerging as a new health care product in industrial areas. Water electrolysis is typically used to generate a hydrogen rich water system. We annealed 10AA carbon paper in air to use it as an electrode of a hydrogen rich water generator. Driven by annealing, structural changes of the carbon paper were identified by secondary electron microscope analysis. Depending on the various annealing temperatures, changes of the hydrophilic characteristics were demonstrated. The crystal structures of pristine and heat-treated carbon paper were characterized by X-ray diffraction. Improvement of the efficiency of the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction was measured via linear voltammetry. The optimized annealing temperature of 10AA carbon paper showed the possibility of using this material as an effective hydrogen rich water generator.

This study was conducted to examine the byproducts formation characteristics at the water treatment plants which applying electrolysis as a disinfection process in Gangwondo, Korea. Total of forty plants located in Gangwon Province, Korea were selected for the study. Correlation between dissolved organic carbon(DOC) and SUVA254 was not clear. Among the species of the disinfection byproducts(DBPs), chlorate and trihalomethanes(THMs) accounted for 76% and 14% of DBPs, respectively. The effect of DOC or SUVA254 on DBPs formation was not clearly demonstrated. The increased amount of THMs due to the raw water bromide content was found primarily in the form of chloroform, and the percent fraction of BDCM(bromodichloromethane) and DBCM(Dibromochloromethnae) was relatively insignificant. When the value of SUVA254 was greater than 2 L/mg·m, the percent fraction of BDCM and DBCM decreased while percent fraction of CF(chloroform) increased.

Salined water electrolysis is an electrochemical reaction to produce chlorine gas and sodium hydroxide as major products from salined water. Perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers and their derivatives have been usually used as polymeric electrolytes with high sodium ion selectivity and barrier property to chlorine and hydrogen gases. In spite of their industrial importance, there is little information on the relationship of their chemical features and electrochemical performances. In this study, fundamental characteristics of commercially available PFSA family materials are compared each other. Their electrochemical performances are evaluated in the same salined water electrolysis cell. The obtained results are expected to provide membrane material design factors for low energy-consuming salined water electrolysis.