Carbon-filled polymer blends

Wu, M. and Shaw, L.L., A novel concept of carbon-filled polymer blends for applications in PEM fuel cell bipolar plates, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 30, 373, 2005. 

Carbon-Filled Polymer Blends for PEM Fuel Cell Bipolar Plates... 

To address the issues of the manufacturing cost and concurrent reduction in mechanical properties when a high fiUer concentration is used, carbon-filled polymer blends containing a triple-continuous structure in 3D space have been pursued recently [24-26]. Shown in Fig. 12.1 is the schematic of the carbon-filled polymer blend with a triple-continuous structure, consisting of a binary polymer blend (i.e.. Phases A and B) and CB or CNT particles. Both polymer phases are continuous in 3D space. The conductive carbon is preferentially located in Hiase A and its concentration is... 

Fig. 12.2 Samples for (a) conductivity measurements and (b) tensile tests. The direction parallel to the injection flow direction is termed Direction 1, whereas the direction perpendicular to the injection flow direction is called Direction 11 in the text. (From M. Wu and L. Shaw, A novel concept of carbon-filled polymer blends for applications of PEM fuel cell bipolar plates, Int. J. Hydrogen Energ. 2005 30 (4) 373-380, with permission.)...

In spite of the substantial progress made with the concept of carbon-filled polymer blends containing a triple-continuous structure, the carbon-filled polymer blends studied so far only contain relatively low carbon concentrations. As a result, their electrical conductivities are still far below the desired values (such as >100 S cm ) for the application of PEM fuel cell bipolar plates. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate (a) whether such a triple-continuous structure can still be injection molded for polymer blends with high carbon concentrations (e.g., >30 vol% carbon) and (b) whether the polymer blends with high carbon concentrations and a triple-continuous structure, if injection moldable, still possess superior electrical conductivity and mechanical properties. Both issues will be the topics of future studies. 

The effectiveness of carbon-filled polymer blends in improving simultaneously the electrical conductivity and the mechanical strength has been demonstrated by Shaw. Carbon-filled polymer blends with a triple-continuous structure, consisting of... 

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