Metallic Bipolar Plates for High Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

Abstract

High temperature polymer membrane fuel cells (HTPEMFCs) are promising devices for future mobile applications. To minimize phosphoric acid migration from the membranes and to reduce the total stack weight and size metallic bipolar plates are a promising alternative. So far only very few published results are available on the use of metallic bipolar plates in HTPEMFCs. During this work a single test cell was equipped with metallic endplates to investigate the possibility of using metallic bipolar plates in HTPEMFC stacks. Furthermore we tried to simulate the environments present in an HTPEMFC by furnace exposures in an attempt to develop a simplified test method for accelerated corrosion of bipolar plate materials. It was found that the performance of the HTPEM test cell decreased by about 15 µV h−1. More corrosion products were seen on the cathode side samples, whereas on the anode side sample the corrosion attack of the steel was more severe. These results were successfully replicated in simulated furnace experiments.

Assessment of the durability of low-cost Al bipolar plates for High Temperature PEM fuel cells

“…However, metallic BPPs have also been considered, particularly for LT-PEMFCs, due to their lower cost, lower weight and volume (especially when thin films are used), and an easier manufacture than graphitebased ones [31,32]. For HT-PEMFCs, the use of metallic BPPs has only been recently considered [18,[33][34][35][36][37][38]. HT-PEMFCs present a more corrosive environment in comparison to LT-PEMFCs, due to the higher temperature of operation, that enhances corrosion processes in acidic environments.…”

High-Efficiency Combined Heat and Power through a High-Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell and Gas Turbine Hybrid System

“…Moreover, innovative acid base membranes that implement non-aqueous solvents and alternative polymers have been developed [80][81][82][83]. Several bipolar plate materials such as graphite [84,85], and different types of stainless steel [86,87], have been investigated. Moreover, several techniques, such as coatings [88][89][90][91] and innovative manufacturing processes, have been studied to improve the performance of such components [86,92,93].…”

Impact of Graphite on Thermomechanical, Mechanical, Thermal, Electrical Properties, and Thermal Conductivity of HDPE/Copper Composites

“…Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have attracted great scientific interest in the field of energy conversion devices, due to the high energy density, low operating temperature, convenient fuel efficiency, long cycle life, etc. . Bipolar plate (BP) as one of the major component of fuel cell accounts ∼80% of total weight and 40% of cost of a PEMFC stack .…”