• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.159-159
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• 2009

In this work, nitrogen and oxygen functionalities was introduced to the graphite nanofibers (GNFs) and their effect on electrocatalytic performance of the GNF supports for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) was invesigated. The nitrogen and oxygen groups were introduced through the urea treatments and acid treatment, respectively. And, PtRu catalysts deposited on modified GNFs were prepared by a chemical reduction method. The catalysts were characterized by means of elemental analysis, nitrogen adsorption, and X-ray photoelectron spetroscopy (XPS). The structure and morphological characteristics of the catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). As a result, the Pt-Ru nanoparticles were impregnated on GNFs with good formation in 3-5 nm. And, the cyclic voltammograms for methanol oxidation revealed that the methanol oxidation peak varied depending on changes of surface functional groups. It was thus considered that the PtRu deposition was related to the reduction of PtRu and surface characteristics of the carbon supports. The changes of surface functional groups were related to PtRu reduction, significantly affect the methanol oxidation activity of anode electrocatalysts in DMFCs.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.229-233
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• 2015

Developing novel anode materials to replace the Pt anode currently used in electrolytic reduction is an important issue on pyroprocessing. In this study, the electrochemical behavior of TiN was investigated as the conductive ceramic anode which evolves O₂ gas during the reaction. The feasibility and stability of the TiN anode was examined during the electrolytic reduction of UO₂. The TiN anode could electrochemically convert UO₂ to metallic U in a LiCl–Li₂O molten salt electrolyte. No oxidation of TiN was observed during the reaction; however, the formation of voids in the bulk section appeared to limit the lifetime of the TiN anode.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.8-14
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• 2010

Fuel processing systems which convert fuel into rich gas (such as stream reforming, partial oxidation, autothermal reforming) need high temperature environment ($600{\sim}1,000^{\circ}$). Generally, anode-off gas or mixture of anode-off gas and LNG is used as input gas of fuel reformer. In order to make efficient and low emission burner system for fuel reformer, it is necessary to elucidate the combustion and emission characteristic of fuel reformer burner. The purpose of this study is to develop a porous premixed flat ceramic burner that can be used for 1~5 kW fuel cell reformer. Ceramic burner experiments using natural gas, hydrogen gas, anode off gas, mixture of natural gas & anode off gas were carried out respectively to investigate the flame characteristics by heating capacity and equivalence ratio. Results show that the stable flat flames can be established for natural gas, hydrogen gas, anode off gas and mixture of natural gas & anode off gas as reformer fuel in the porous ceramic burner. For all of fuels, their burning velocities become smaller as the equivalence ratio goes to the lean mixture ratio, and a lift-off occurs at lean limit. Flame length in hydrogen and anode off gas became longer with increasing the heat capacity. In particular, the blue surface flame is found to be very stable at a very lean equivalence ratio at heat capacity and different fuels. The exhausted NOx and CO measurement shows that the blue surface flame represents the lowest NOx and CO emissions since it remains very stable at a lean equivalence ratio.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.349-355
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• 2018

This study interrogated multi-layer heterojunction anodes were interrogated for potential applications to water treatment. The multi-layer anodes with outer layers of $SnO_2/Bi_2O_3$ and/or $TiO_2/Bi_2O_3$ onto $IrO_2/Ta_2O_5$ electrodes were prepared by thermal decomposition and characterized in terms of reactive chlorine species (RCS) generation in 50 mM NaCl solutions. The $IrO_2/Ta_2O_5$ layer on Ti substrate (Anode 1) primarily served as an electron shuttle. The current efficiency (CE) and energy efficiency (EE) for RCS generation were significantly enhanced by the further coating of $SnO_2/Bi_2O_3$ (Anode 2) and $TiO_2/Bi_2O_3$ (Anode 3) layers onto the Anode 1, despite moderate losses in electrical conductivity and active surface area. The CE of the Anode 3 was found to show the highest RCS generation rate, whereas the multi-junction architecture (Anode 4, sequential coating of $IrO_2/Ta_2O_5$, $SnO_2/Bi_2O_3$, and $TiO_2/Bi_2O_3$) showed marginal improvement. The microscopic observations indicated that the outer $TiO_2/Bi_2O_3$ could form a crack-free layer by an incorporation of anatase $TiO_2$ particles, potentially increasing the service life of the anode. The results of this study are expected to broaden the usage of dimensionally stable anodes in water treatment with an enhanced RCS generation and lifetime.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.56 no.12
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• pp.893-899
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• 2018

In the present study, we investigated the sulfur poisoning of the Ni anode in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) as a function of operating conditions. Anode supported cells were fabricated, and sulfur poising tests were conducted as a function of current density, $H_2S$ concentration and humidity in the anode gas. The voltage drop was significant under the higher current density (${\sim}714mA/cm^2$) condition, while it was much reduced under the lower current density (${\sim}389mA/cm^2$) condition, at 100 ppm of $H_2S$. A secondary voltage drop, which occurred only at the high current density, was attributed to Ni oxidation in the anode. Thus, operation at high current density with high $H_2S$ concentration may lead to permanent deterioration in the anode. The effect of water content (10%) on the sulfur poisoning was also investigated through a constant current test (${\sim}500mA/cm^2$) at 10 ppm of $H_2S$. The cell operating with 10% wet anode gas showed a much smaller initial voltage drop, in comparison with a dry anode gas. The present study indicates that operating conditions, such as gas humidity and current density, should be carefully taken into account, especially when fuel cells are operated with $H_2S$ containing fuel.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.134-134
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• 2010

Fuel cell is a device that directly converts chemical energy in the form of a fuel into electrical energy by way of an electrochemical reaction. In the anode for a high temperature fuel cell, nickel or nickel alloy has been used in consideration of the cost, oxidation catalystic ability of hydrogen which is used as fuel, electron conductivity, and high temperature stability in reducing atmosphere. Most MCFC stacks currently operate at an average temperature of $650^{\circ}C$. There is some gains with decreased temperature in MCFC to diminish the electrolyte loss from evaporation and the material corrosion, which could improve the MCFC life. However, operating temperature has a strong related on a number of electrode reaction rates and ohmic losses. Baker et al. reported the effect of temperature (575 to $650^{\circ}C$). The rates of cell voltage loss were 1.4mV/$^{\circ}C$ for a reduction in temperature from 650 to $600^{\circ}C$, and 2.16mV/$^{\circ}C$ for a decrease from 600 to $575^{\circ}C$. The two major contributors responsible for the change in cell voltage with reducing operation temperature are the ohmic polarization and electrode polarization. It appears that in the temperature range of 550 to $650^{\circ}C$, about 1/3 of the total change in cell voltage with decreasing temperature is due to an increase in ohmic polarization, and the electrode polarization at the anode and cathode. In addition, the oxidation reaction of hydrogen on an ordinary nickel alloy anode in MCFC is generally considered to take place in the three phase zone, but anyway the area contributing to this reaction is limited. Therefore, in order to maintain a high performance of the fuel cell, it is necessary to keep this reaction responsible area as wide as possible, that is, it is needed to keep the porosity and specific surface area of the anode at a high level. In this study effective anodes are prepared for low temperature MCFC capable of enhancing the cell performance by using zirconium hydride at least in part of anode material.

• Carbon letters
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.198-202
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• 2015

Carbon-supported Pt catalyst systems containing defect adsorption sites on the anode of direct methanol fuel cells were investigated, to elucidate the mechanisms of H₂ dissociation and carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Density functional theory calculations were carried out to determine the effect of defect sites located neighboring to or distant from the Pt catalyst on H₂ and CO adsorption properties, based on electronic properties such as adsorption energy and electronic band gap. Interestingly, the presence of neighboring defect sites led to a reduction of H₂ dissociation and CO poisoning due to atomic Pt filling the defect sites. At distant sites, H₂ dissociation was active on Pt, but CO filled the defect sites to form carbon π-π bonds, thus enhancing the oxidation of the carbon surface. It should be noted that defect sites can cause CO poisoning, thereby deactivating the anode gradually.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.1071-1077
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• 2009

A novel pretreatment technique was applied to the conventional Pt/alumina catalyst to prepare for the highly efficient catalyst for the preferential oxidation of carbon monoxide in hydrogen-rich condition. Their performance was investigated by selective CO oxidation reaction. CO conversion with the oxygen-treated Pt/Alumina catalyst increased remarkably especially at the low temperature below $100^{\circ}C$. This result is promising for the normal operation of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) without CO poisoning of the anode catalyst. XRD analysis results showed that metallic Pt peaks were not observed for the oxygen-treated catalyst. This implies that well dispersed small Pt particles exist on the catalyst. This result was continued by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) analysis. Consequently, it can be concluded that highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles could be prepared by the novel pretreatment technique and thus, CO conversion could be increased considerably especially at the low temperatures below $100^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1307-1314
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• 2008

Hydrogen gas is used as a fuel for the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Trace amount of carbon monoxide present in the reformate $H_2$ gas can poison the anode of the PEMFC. Therefore, preferential oxidation (PROX) of CO is essential for reducing the concentration of CO from a hydrogen-rich reformate gas. In this study, conventional Pt/$Al_2O_3$ catalyst was prepared for the preferential oxidation of CO. The effects of catalyst preparation method, additive, and hydrogen on the performances of PROX reaction of CO were investigated. Water treatment and addition of Ce enhanced catalytic activity of the Pt/$Al_2O_3$ catalyst at low temperature below $100^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.34-39
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• 2010

This work investigated the effect of anode thickness on the anodic overpotential with $100\;cm^2$ class MCFC single cells. The hydrogen oxidation rate in the molten carbonate is sufficiently high, which may lead to weak relation of overpotential with anode geometrical area. The relation of anode surface area and overpotential was analysed in terms of anode thickness in this work. Steady state polarization, inert gas step addition (ISA), and reactant gas addition (RA) methods were employed to the two cells with 0.77 mm and 0.36 mm thickness of anode. The result represented that the anodic overpotential at the cells were identical. It implied that the anodic overpotential was independent on the electrode thickness within the tested range.