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The Effects of Conductive Additives on the Overall Performance of Composite Bipolar Plate in PEMFCs

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Proceedings of the 10th Hydrogen Technology Convention, Volume 2 (WHTC 2023)

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Abstract

Obtaining high electrical properties on high mechanical performance of composite bipolar plates (CBP) is crucial for their application in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). Various conductive additives have been investigated for electrical enhancement; while the effects on overall properties of CBP has not been systematically evaluated. Hence, in this study, we report overall properties evaluation of epoxy resin base CBPs with four different conductive additives. Overall properties of theses CBPs are tested, including electrical conductivity, mechanical properties, hydrophobic properties and corrosion resistance. The results indicate the electrical conductivity of CBP could be enhanced by the minor additive such as carbon (CB) and carbon nanotubes (CNT). Further, the mechanical properties would be enhanced by the addition of CNT; while the mechanical properties would be weakened with the addition of CB. Moreover, the addition of carbon fiber (CF) would enhance the mechanical properties, but the electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity would be weakened. Due to the special structure of expand graphite (EG), the CBP with EG exhibits excellent overall performance. Specifically, CBP with 20% EG and 5% CF exhibits well, which could meet all properties requirement of Department of Energy (DOE) target. This work could provide a guideline for researchers investigating CBP formulation and highlights the challenges between additive structure and CBP performance.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial supports from the Key Technologies Research and Development Program (2020YFB1505904 and 2018YFB1502502-04), and Shanghai Science and Technology Development Foundation (2015BAG06B00).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clean Energy Automotive Engineering Center and School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, 4800 Cao’an Road, Shanghai, 201804, China

    Jing Chen, Nan Qin, Liming Jin, Junsheng Zheng, Pingwen Ming & Cunman Zhang

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA

    Jim P. Zheng

Authors
  1. Jing Chen
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  2. Nan Qin
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  3. Liming Jin
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  4. Junsheng Zheng
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  5. Pingwen Ming
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  6. Jim P. Zheng
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  7. Cunman Zhang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Junsheng Zheng , Pingwen Ming or Jim P. Zheng .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hebei University of Science and Technology, Shijiazhuang, China

    Hexu Sun

  2. Power Grid Sciences and Technology Lab, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Wei Pei

  3. Department of New Energy Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, China

    Yan Dong

  4. Department of Fuel Cells, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China

    Hongmei Yu

  5. Department of Wind and Energy Systems, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

    Shi You

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© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Chen, J. et al. (2024). The Effects of Conductive Additives on the Overall Performance of Composite Bipolar Plate in PEMFCs. In: Sun, H., Pei, W., Dong, Y., Yu, H., You, S. (eds) Proceedings of the 10th Hydrogen Technology Convention, Volume 2. WHTC 2023. Springer Proceedings in Physics, vol 394. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8585-2_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8585-2_21

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-99-8584-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-99-8585-2

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