To improve the mechanical properties, such as durabilities and antioxidative characteristics, the covalently cross-linked (CL-) SPEEK (sulfonated polyether ether ketone)/Cs-substituted HPA (heteropoly acid) organic-inorganic composite membranes (CL-SPEEK/Cs-HPAs), have been intensively investigated. The composite membrane were prepared by blending cesium-substituted HPAs (Cs-HPAs), including tungstophosphoric acid (TPA), molybdophosphoric acid (MoPA), and tungstosilicic acid (TSiA) with cross-linking agent content of 0.01 mL. And composite electrolytes composed of Cs-HPAs, prepared by immersion (imm.) and titration (titr.) methods to increase the stability of HPAs in water, were applied to polymer electrolyte membrane electrolysis (PEME). As a result, the proton conductivity of Cs-substituted composite membranes increased rapidly over $60^{\circ}C$ but mechanical properties, such as tensile strength, decreased in accordance with added Cs content. The bleeding-out of Cs-TPA membranes by titration method (50 vol.% Cs) decreased steadily to 2.15%. In the oxidative stability test by Fenton solution, the durability of membranes with Cs-HPA significantly increased. In case of CL-SPEEK/ Cs-TPA membrane, duration time increased more than 1200 hours. It is expected that even though CL-SPEEK/Cs-MoPA membrane shows the high proton conductivity, electrocatalytic activity and cell voltage of 1.80 V for water electrolysis, the CL-SPEEK/Cs-TPA (imm.) is more suitable as an alternative membrane in real system with the satisfactory proton conductivity, mechanical properties, anti-oxidative stability and cell voltage of 1.89 V.

$SO_2$ has been absorbed and separated selectively by an ionic liquid from $SO_2/O_2$ mixture decomposed from sulfuric acid during the thermochemical SI cycle for the water splitting. In order to design and operate high pressure $SO_2/O_2$ separation system, the solubility of $SO_2$ in [EMIm]$EtSO_4$ (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfate) has been measured by Magnetic Suspension Balance at high pressure and temperature. Based on the measured solubility, a pressurized separation system was set up and operated. 194 L/h of $SO_2$($SO_2:O_2$=0.65:1) has been separated with 99.85% of $O_2$ at the vent of absorption tower, which is 22.7% of the theoretically ideal capacity of the system. This discrepancy results from the reduced contact between the gaseous $SO_2$ and the ionic liquid. Increased $SO_2$ supply, scale-up of the absorption column, and a faster ionic liquid circulation speed were suggested to improve the separation capacity.

Fe, Ni and Co, typical active components, were dispersed on $Al_2O_3$ and $TiO_2$ for $SO_3$ decomposition. $SO_3$ decomposition was conducted at the temperature ranges from $750^{\circ}C$ to $950^{\circ}C$ using the prepared catalysts. Alumina based catalysts showed the surface areas higher than Titania based catalysts, which resulted from spinel structure formation of alumina based catalysts. Catalytic $SO_3$ decomposition reaction rates were in the order of Fe>Co${\gg}$Ni. The metal sulfate decomposition temperature were in the order of Ni>Co>Fe from TGA/DTA analysis of metal sulfate. During $SO_3$ decomposition, metal sulfate can form on the catalysts. $SO_2$ and $O_2$ can be produced from the decomposition of metal sulfate. In that point of view, the less is the metal sulfate deomposition temperature, the higher can be the $SO_3$ decomposition activity of the metal component. Therefore, it can be concluded that metal component with the low metal sulfate decomposition temperature is the pre-requisite condition of the catalysts for $SO_3$ decomposition reaction.

This study examined the effect of environmental variables, such as the NaOH concentration and solution temperature, on the rate of hydrogen generation from NaOH solutions through the corrosion of used aluminum cans as a potential candidate material for the safe and economic production of hydrogen. Corrosion of the used aluminum cans was promoted by increasing the NaOH concentration and solution temperature because of the loss of aluminum passivity. The measured rate of hydrogen generation from the NaOH solutions increased with increasing NaOH concentration due to the catalytic activity of NaOH in the hydrolysis process. However, at higher solution temperatures, the rate of hydrogen generation rate was less affected by the NaOH concentration than that at lower temperature.

Temperature programmed reduction experiments for Fe- and Co-oxides were performed and weight losses were carefully measured to calculate the extent of reduction. Addition of nickel and palladium affected the reduction by lowering the DTG peak temperature. Reduction experiments for the oxides on alumina were also studied and the effect of nickel and palladium addition was confirmed. And that was explained by means of increased adsorption of hydrogen and increased diffusion ability of the surface hydrogen.

The Montmorillonite (MMT) in the polymer matrix is expected to reduce methanol permeability due to the tortous path formed by dispersed silicate layers. However, the polymer composite membranes containing non-proton conducting inorganic particle tend to show low proton conductivity. To solve this problem, we used an ion exchange method to prepare functionalized MMT with various silane coupling agents. The modified MMT was randomly dispersed in sulfonated poly (arylene ether sulfone) (SPAES) matrix to prepare SPAES/modified MMT composite membranes. The performances of hybrid membranes for DMFCs application were investigated. The SPAES/modified composite membrane showed increased proton conductivity compared with the non-modified MMT composite membrane. However, the methanol permeability of the SPAES/modified membrane was higher than that of the non-modified MMT.

Sulfur-Iodine (SI) cycle, which thermochemically splits water to hydrogen and oxygen through three stages of Bunsen reaction, HI decomposition, and $H_2SO_4$ decomposition, seems a promising process to produce hydrogen massively. Among them, the decomposition of $H_2SO_4$ ($H_2SO_4=H_2O+SO_2+1/2O_2$) requires high temperature heat over $800^{\circ}C$ such as the heat from concentrated solar energy or a very high temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactor. Because of harsh reaction conditions of high temperature and pressure with extremely corrosive reactants and products, there have been scarce and limited number of data reported on the pressurized $H_2SO_4$ decomposition. This work focuses whether the $H_2SO_4$ decomposition can occur at high pressure in a noble-metal reactor, which possibly resists corrosive acidic chemicals and possesses catalytic activity for the reaction. Decomposition reactions were conducted in a Pt-lined tubular reactor without any other catalytic species at conditions of $800^{\circ}C$ to $900^{\circ}C$ and 0 bar (ambient pressure) to 10 bar with 95 wt% $H_2SO_4$. The Pt-lined reactor was found to endure the corrosive pressurized condition, and its inner surface successfully carried out a catalytic role in decomposing $H_2SO_4$ to $SO_2$ and $O_2$. This preliminary result has proposed the availability of noble metal-lined reactors for the high temperature, high pressure sulfuric acid decomposition.

[ $ZrO_2-TiO_2$ ]binary oxides with various Zr:Ti molar ratios were prepared by sol-gel method and Nafion$^{(R)}$/$ZrO_2-TiO_2$ composite membranes were fabricated for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) at high temperature and low humidity. Water uptake, Ion exchange capacity (IEC), and proton conductivity of Nafion$^{(R)}$/$ZrO_2-TiO_2$ composite membranes were characterized and these composite membranes were tested in a single cell at $120^{\circ}C$ with various relative humidity (R.H.) conditions. The obtained results were compared with the unmodified membranes (Nafion$^{(R)}$ 112 and Recast Nafion$^{(R)}$). A Nafion$^{(R)}$/$ZrO_2-TiO_2$ composite membrane with 1:3 of Zr:Ti molar ratio showed the highest performance. The performance showed 500 mW/$cm^2$ (0.499V) at $120^{\circ}C$, 50% R. H., and 2 atm.

PEMFC (polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell) is device that generates electricity from hydrogen. It is one of the subjects related to renewable energy and various research has been conducted on the PEMFC. PEMFC has low operating temperature and high efficiency among fuel cells, and is given attention as means for automobile and domestic use. Analysis of flow field pattern in supplying hydrogen and oxygen is part of the research to increase PEMFC efficiency. In this study, separation plate currently used in PEMFC is transformed to wave shape and mass transfer characteristics in the channel is examined through numerical and experimental analysis. Wave shape separation plate yielded 18% increase of efficiency compared to separation plate used in normal channel. And improvements in mass transfer characteristics were verified.

In this study, a metal-supported SOFC was fabricated using a relatively cheap and simple process. The adhesion process between ceramic cell and metal support was performed in high temperature over $1400^{\circ}C$ and the deformation of large metal-supported cell happened in this process. Using bi-layered metal support fabricated by diffusion bonding, the deformation of the metal-supported cell can be minimized and the sealing efficiency of anode and cathode was improved. The flatness of the cell was improved by over 20% and the maximum power density of over 0.5 $Wcm^{-2}$ was obtained at the operation condition of $800^{\circ}C$.

We investigated the effect of composition of a sulfur electrode with MWNT on the discharge behavior and cycling property of a Li/S cell. The MWNT content of a 60wt.% sulfur electrode varied from 10 wt.% to 30 wt.%. The optimum content of MWNT is 20wt.%, which shows the best cycling property. The first discharge capacity is 1166 mAh/g and decrease to the 542 mAh/g after 30th cycle. The homogeneous distribution of MWNT is an important factor for cycling properties.

Barium cerate ($BaCeO_3$) related perovskite ceramics currently dominate the high-temperature proton conductor field. Unfortunately, these materials have very stringent environmental limitations necessitating the costly and complex conditioning or cleaning of the application feed-gas. Commercial realization has been hampered, in part, because of the reactivity of $BaCeO_3$ with $CO_2$, and to some extent $H_2O$. And sintered $BaCeO_3$ decomposed at a rate comparable to the powder samples. In this article, the chemical stability and the structural changes of $BaCe_{0.9-X}Y0.1La_XO_{3-\delta}$ (X=0, 0.1, 0.2) have been systematically investigated in the atmosphere containing carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) and water vapor ($H_2O$). The sintering characteristics were studied in $1600^{\circ}C$, sintered pellets disintegrate and decompose upon contacting boiling water on the surface only.

The use of biogas as an energy source reduces the chance of possible emission of two greenhouse gases, $CH_4$ and $CO_2$, into the atmosphere at the same time. Its nature of being a reproducible energy source makes its use even more attractive. This research if for the hydrogen production through the steam reforming of the biogas. The biogas utilized 3D-IR matrix burner in which the surface combustion is applied. The nickel catalyst was used inside a reformer. Parametric screening studies were achieved as Steam/Carbon ratio, biogas component ratio, Space velocity and Reformer temperature. When the condition of Steam/Carbon ratio, $CH_4/CO_2$ ratio, Space velocity and Refomer temperature were 3.25, 60%:40%, 19.32L/$g{\cdot}hr$ and $700^{\circ}C$ respectively, the hydrogen concentration and methane conversion rate were showed maximum values. Under the condition mentioned above, $H_2$ concentration was 73.9% and methane conversion rate was 98.9%.

Since the thermal performance of cycles for use of low-temperature source is low if a pure working fluid is used, the cycles using ammonia-water binary mixture as a working fluid has attracted much attention over past two decades. Recently, several commercial power plants using Kalina cycles have been built and being operated successfully. In this work thermodynamic performance of Kalina cycles using ammonia-water mixture as a working fluid is investigated for the purpose of extracting maximum power from low-temperature energy source. Special attention is paid to the effect of system parameters such as concentration of ammonia and turbine inlet pressure on the characteristics of the system. Results show that the system performance is influenced sensitively by the ammonia concentration, and the role of the performance of heat exchangers is crucial.

An IGCC was evaluated as one of the next generation technologies that would be able to substitute for coal-fired power plants. According to "The 4th Basic Plan of Long-term Electricity Supply & Demand" which is developed by the Electricity Business Acts, the first IGCC will be operated at 2015. Like other new and renewable energy such as solar PV, Fuel cell, The IGCC is considered as non-competitive generation technology because it is not maturity technology. Before the commercial operation of an IGCC in our electricity market, its economic feasibility under the Korean electricity market, which is cost-based trading system, is studied to find out institutional support system. The results of feasibility summarized that under the current electricity trading system, if the IGCC is considered like a conventional plant such as nuclear or coal-fired power plants, it will not be expected that its investment will be recouped within life-time. The reason is that the availability of an IGCC will plummet since 2016 when several nuclear and coal-fired power plants will be constructed additionally. To ensure the reasonable return on investment (NPV>0 IRR>Discount rate), the availability of IGCC should be higher than 77%. To do so, the current electricity trading system is amended that the IGCC generator must be considered as renewable generators to set up Price Setting Schedule and it should be considered as pick load generators, not Genco's coal fired-generators, in the Settlement Payment.