Fuel Cells Bipolar Plates

Tai L-W and Lessing PA. Tape casting and sintering of strontium-doped lanthanum chromite for a planar solid oxide fuel cell bipolar plate. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 1991 74 155—160. 

Kumar, A., and R. G. Reddy. 2002. PEM fuel cell bipolar plate—Materials selection, design and integration. In Fundamentals of advanced materials and energy conversion proceedings, ed. D. Chandra and R. G. Bautista, 41-53. Seattle, WA IMS. 

Wang, H., and J. A. Turner. 2004. Investigation of a duplex stainless steel as polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell bipolar plate material. Journal of Power Sources. 128 193-200. 

Brady, M. R, B. Yang, J. A. Wang, et al. 2006. Formation of protective nitride surface for PEM fuel cell bipolar plates. Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society 8 50-57. 

Plansee AC is developing chrome-based alloys for SOFC fuel cell bipolar plates deployed in residential applications. 

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cell bipolar plates, discussion of the difficulties associated with confronting bipolar plate development... 

Overall, the component reliability is a challenge to fnel cell mannfactnrers as well as their component snppliers. The stack is only one of several snbsystems in a PEM fuel cell system with hundreds of parts and components. Component compatibility, which includes both chemical and mechanical properties, plays an important role in system reliability and overall performance. To select the best materials/design for a system component, one mnst first stndy its properties (physical, chemical, mechanical, and electrochanical) nnder relevant conditions snch as temperature, pressure, and composition. Eor example, the reactant side of a PEM fuel cell bipolar plate (all sealing materials and plate components) mnst be able to tolerate high humidity, temperature... 

Blunk, R., Zhong, R, and Owens, J., Automotive composite fuel cell bipolar plates hydrogen permeation concerns, J. Power Sources, 159, 533, 2006. 

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. 

Huang, J., Baird, D.G., and McGrath, J.E., Development of fuel cell bipolar plates from graphite filled wet-lay thermoplastic composite materials, J. Power Sources, 150, 110, 2005. 

Kuo, J.-K. et al., A novel Nylon-6-S316L fiber compound material for injection molded PEM fuel cell bipolar plates, J. Power Sources, 162, 207, 2006. 

European legislation will soon require conductive coatings in chemical plants that use volatile fuel. This is a further opportunity for carbon nanotubes, which could also gain entry to markets for specialist cable insulation and (in competition with graphite systems such as the one mentioned above) fuel cell bipolar plates. 

Dweiri and Sahari [16] investigated the electrical properties of fuel cell bipolar plates of carbon-based PP composites. Combinations of carbon black and graphite lead to composites with a higher electrical conductivity. 

Joseph S, McClure JC, Sebastian PJ, Morerra J, Valenzuela E (2008) Polyaniline and polypyrrole coatings on aluminum for PEM fuel cell bipolar plates. J Power Sources 177 161-166... 

Fig. 12.5 UTC s phosphoric acid fuel cell bipolar plate...

Brady MP, Wang H, Turner JA, Meyer HM, More KL, Tortorelli PF, McCarthy BD (2010) Pre-oxidized and nitrided stainless steel alloy foil for proton exchange membrane fuel cell bipolar plates Part 1. Corrosion, interfacial contact resistance, and surface structure. J Power Sources 195 5610-5618... 

Performance Requirements for PEM Fuel Cell Bipolar Plates... 

Although it is a matter of common knowledge that stainless steel is quite prone to corrosion in fuel cells, bare substrates of different alloys were tested in past material investigations. In 1998, Hornung and Kappelt (1998) selected different iron-based materials for Solid Polymer Fuel Cell bipolar plates by using the pitting resistance equivalent (PRE = %Cr + 3.3%Mo + 30%N) as corrosion resistance criterion. The authors exposed that some iron-based materials with PRE >25 (the material compositions are not given... 

Cho, K. H., Lee, S. B., Lee, W. G. et al. 2009. Improved corrosion resistance and interfacial contact resistance of 316L stainless-steel for proton exchange membrane fuel cell bipolar plates by chromizing surface treatment. Journal of Power Sources 187 318-323. 

Heo, S. I., Oh, K. S., Yun, J. C. et al. 2007. Development of preform moulding technique using expanded graphite for proton exchange membrane fuel cell bipolar plates. Journal of Power Sources 171 396-403. 

Hou, M., Fu, Y., Lin, G. et al. 2009. Optimized Gr-nitride film on 316L stainless steel as proton exchange membrane fuel cell bipolar plate. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 34 453—458. 

Nam, D.-G. and Lee, H.-C. 2007. Thermal nitridation of chromium electroplated AISI316L stainless steel for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell bipolar plate. Journal of Power Sources 170 268-274. Nam, N. D., Han, J. H., Tai, P. H. et al. 2010. Electrochemical properties of TiNCrN-coated bipolar plates in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell environment. Thin Solid Films, doi 10.1016/j. 

Wang, H., Brady, M. R, Teeter, G. et al. 2004. Thermally nitrided stainless steels for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell bipolar plates Part 1 Model Ni-50Cr and austenitic 349TM alloys, lournal of Power Sources 138 86-93. 

Applications adhesives, aerospace structures, audiovisual equipment, barrier films, bobbins, cameras, capsules for electronic devices, coatings, composites, connectors and sockets, electric motor components, fiber optic connectors, fuel cells bipolar plates, Information storage devices, lamp sockets, LED, microwave cookware, precision molded components, printers and copiers parts, SMT components, sporting goods, under-bonnet automotive components, watches ... 

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. 

M. Wu and L. Shaw, A Novel Concept of Carbon-FiUed Polymer Blends for AppUcations of PEM Fuel Cell Bipolar Plates, Int. J. Hydrogen Energ. 30(4), 373-380 (2005). 

Ajersch, M. J., M. W. Fowler, K. Karan and B. A. Peppley. PEM Fuel cell bipolar plate reliability and material selection. Proceedings of the Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology, FUELCELL2003-1727, Rochester, New York, 2003. 

Wang, H., Sweikart, M. A. and Turner J. A. (2(X)3) Stainless steel as bipolar plate material for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. J. Power Sources 115, 243-251 Wang, X., Kumar, R. and Myers, D. J. (2006) Effect of voltage on platinum dissolution -Relevance to polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Electrochem. Sohd-State Lett. 9, A225-A227 Wang, H., Turner, J. A., Li, X. and Bhattacharya, R. (2007) SnOj F coated austenite stainless steels for PEM fuel cell bipolar plates. J. Power Sources 171, 567-574 Wind, J., Spah, R., Kaiser, W. and Bohm, G. (2002) MetaUic bipolar plates for PEM fuel cells. J. Power Sources 105, 256-260... 

Tolerance and Flatness of Individual Fuel Cell Bipolar Plates To achieve a uniform compression on a stack that can have as many as 300 fuel cells in series, a very tight manufacturing tolerance on the flamess of individual bipolar plates must be achieved. The change in a hundred or so micrometers can have a major effect on the distributed contact resistance. 

Because of the low bulk conductivity losses, in practical low-temperature fuel cell apphca-tions, a passivation oxide layer on the metal can dominate the bulk electron transfer losses. Metal fuel cell bipolar plates are highly robust and can be less than 0.5 mm in total thickness. Because the current collectors and flow fields are often used for mechanical support, they must have higher electrical conductivity to assure low losses. Remember, each fuel cell has only 1 V to work with, so even millivolts are important. 

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