Manufacturing of a new nanocomposite bipolar plate by graphite powder from proton exchange fuel cells

The bipolar plates are responsible of two thirds of the weight and 80% of volume of PEM fuel cells stacks. Also, they contribute to the high cost of fuel cells stack. The bipolar plate has a key role inincreasing power density and reducing cost. The bipolar plates in a fuel cell stack serve a number of functions including the electrical connection, structural support, and physical separation between successive fuel cells, and enable reactant gases to access the anode and cathode electrodes via flow fields. Desirable properties of a bipolar plate include high electronic and thermal conductivity, lowcontact resistance, corrosion resistance in the harsh cell environment, mechanical toughness, and low cost. Preparation and study of the conducting composites of epoxy/graphite with varied composition were carried out for fuel cells application. The electrical and thermal conductivity, permeability andtensile properties of epoxy/graphite composite were investigated.SEM and optic microscopes were used to microstructure investigation. this material selection is conducted by using simple additive weighting method(SAWM). Thus, in this paper, shows mechanical properties that is suitable for fuel cell application.

کلیدواژه ها:

Bipolar plate ، nanocomposite ، polymer exchange fuel cell ، graphite powder