Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells bipolar plates

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... 

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. 

Wang, F., Alazemi, M., Dutta, I., Blunk, R.H., and Angelopoulos, A.P. 2010. Layer by layer assembly of hybrid nanoparticle coatings for proton exchange membrane fuel cell bipolar plates. J. Power Sources 195, 7504—7560. 

T. Matsuura, M. Kato, and M. Hori. Study on metallic bipolar plate for proton exchange membrane fuel cell. Journal of Power Sources 161 (2006) 74-78. 

Besmann, T.M. et al., Carbon/carbon composite bipolar plate for proton exchange membrane fuel cells, J. Electrochem. Soc., 147, 4083, 2000. 

Kim M, Yu HN, Lim JW, Lee DG (2012) Bipolar plates made of plain weave carbon/epoxy composite for proton exchange membrane fuel cell. Int J Hydrogen Energy 37 4300 308... 

T. M. Besmann et al., Carbon/Carbon Composite Bipolar Plate for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 147(11), 4083-4086 (2000). 

Kinumoto, T., Nagano, K., Tsumura, T., and Toyoda, M. (2010) Thermal and electrochemical durability of carbonaceous composites used as a bipolar plate of proton exchange membrane fuel cell. 

Joseph, S., McClure, J. C., Chianelli, R. et al. 2005. Conducting polymer-coated stainless steel bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFG). International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 30 1339-1344. 

Brady, M.P, K. Weisbrod, I. Paulauskas et al. 2004. Preferential thermal nitridation to form pin-hole free Cr-nitrides to protect proton exchange membrane fuel cell metallic bipolar plates. Scripta Materialia 50 1017-1022. 

GB/T 20042.6-2011 Proton exchange membrane fuel cell—Test method of bipolar plate properties (China)... 

Carbon in various forms is commonly used in phosphoric acid fuel cells and proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) as a catalyst support, gas-diffusion media (GDM), and bipolar plate material (Dicks 2006). Among these carbon materials, carbon black is used as a catalyst support for PEMFC apphcation because of its unique pn tolies... 

One such example is the formation of protective layers for metallic bipolar plates in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Bipolar plates serve to electrically connect the anode of one cell to the cathode of the next in a fuel cell stack to achieve a useful voltage. Metallic alloys would be ideal as bipolar plates because they are amenable to low-cost/high-volume manufacturing, offer high thermal and electrical conductivities, and can be made into thin sheet or foil form (0.1-1 mm thick) to achieve high power densities [16-18], However, most metals exhibit inadequate corrosion behavior in PEMFC environments (aqueous/acidic in the 60-80°C temperature range) due to formation of passive oxide layer(s), which increase cell resistance. 

The polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) also known as proton exchange membrane fuel cell, polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) and solid polymer fuel cell (SPFC) was first developed by General Electric in the USA in the 1960 s for use by NASA in their initial space applications. The electrolyte is an ion conducting polymer membrane, described in more details in Section 2.2. Anode and cathode are bonded to either side of the membrane. This assembly is normally called membrane electrode assembly (MEA) or EMA which is placed between the two flow field plates (bipolar plates) (Section 2.5) to form what is known as stack . The basic operation of the PEMFC is the same as that of an acid electrolyte cell as the mobile ions in the polymer are or proton. 

Highly Conductive Epoxy Composites for Application as Bipolar Plates in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs)... 

Figure 4.1 shows a schematic of a typical polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). A typical membrane electrode assembly (MEA) consists of a proton exchange membrane that is in contact with a cathode catalyst layer (CL) on one side and an anode CL on the other side they are sandwiched together between two diffusion layers (DLs). These layers are usually treated (coated) with a hydrophobic agent such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in order to improve the water removal within the DL and the fuel cell. It is also common to have a catalyst-backing layer or microporous layer (MPL) between the CL and DL. Usually, bipolar plates with flow field (FF) channels are located on each side of the MFA in order to transport reactants to the... 

In PEMFCs working at low temperatures (20-90 °C), several problems need to be solved before the technological development of fuel cell stacks for different applications. This concerns the properties of the components of the elementary cell, that is, the proton exchange membrane, the electrode (anode and cathode) catalysts, the membrane-electrode assemblies and the bipolar plates [19, 20]. This also concerns the overall system vdth its control and management equipment (circulation of reactants and water, heat exhaust, membrane humidification, etc.). 

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