Bipolar plate thermoset-based

Thermoset-based graphite composite is one of fhe composite materials often used to fabricate bipolar plates. The major filler or reinforcemenf in fhe composite is graphite in a form of powder, flake, or fiber, with additions of carbon powder/fiber (mainly to reduce the cost). 

Bornbaum (2010) exposed epoxy-based and phenohc-bonded composite bipolar plates for 14 days in phosphoric acid (W = 85 wt%) at 160°C and after exposure a rockwell hardness test (HR 10/40) was applied to determine the changes in the physical and/or chemical nature of the different thermosetting matrices. 

Although both polymer types are of thermosetting nature the authors operate the epoxy-based bipolar plates successfully in their low temperatm-e fuel cell stacks, it obviously can be seen that there are significant differences between the epoxy-based and the phenoUc-bonded composite and the epoxy one seems to be not suitable for use in high-temperature fuel cells. 

Recently a significant amount of work has been conducted to develop carbon-based composite bipolar plates. Both thermoplastic and thermosetting... 

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