Performance and material selection of nanocomposite bipolar plate in proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Abstract

SUMMARYIn this research, a novel woven nanocomposite was manufactured as bipolar plate of proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The developed composite includes 40 wt.% phenolic resin as binder and 45 wt.% graphite, 10 wt.% nanosheet expanded graphite, and 5 wt.% carbon fiber as fillers, as well as a woven carbon fiber cloth in the middle. A single-cell assembly was manufactured by using the developed composite bipolar plate. Subsequently, the performance and power density curves were obtained from the developed cell. The results showed that the cell performs the maximum power density as high as 812 mW/cm 2 and current density 900 mA/cm 2 at 0.6 V that are better than the cells prepared by the metallic and some commercial bipolar plates. In this research, in order to achieve the best cell performance, some of the operation factors containing the cell body temperature, oxygen inlet temperature, and hydrogen inlet temperature, as well as back pressure were optimized, and the results were properly discussed. Last, in order to select a suitable material for bipolar plate, using simple additive weighting method approach, a material selection was performed upon several alternatives including composite, graphite, SS316L, SS304, Hastelloy, Al, and Ti, which are currently being used for bipolar plate. The result of material selection specified that Al/CrN is the most suitable candidate to be used for bipolar plates.

Multi-criteria decision-making tools for material selection of natural fibre composites: A review

“…Churchman and Ackoff [61] was the first utilize the SAW method to cope with a portfolio selection problem. SAW was applied in materials selection upon several alternatives including composites and other materials used for bipolar plate in proton exchange membrane fuel cells [62]. In addition, in Taherian's [63] review paper, he discussed the details on materials, fabrication and materials selection by using SAW.…”

An overview of unsolved deficiencies of direct methanol fuel cell technology: factors and parameters affecting its widespread use

“…A comparative analysis regarding the advantages and disadvantages experienced using graphite, coated metal and composite bipolar plates has been listed in Table II. Recently, Reza et al [48] developed a nanocomposite bipolar plate, consisting of 40 wt% phenolic resin as binder and 45 wt% graphite, 10 wt% nanosheet expanded graphite and 5 wt% carbon fiber as fillers. Using this modification, the authors achieved a maximum power density as high as 812 mW cm À2 and a current density of 900 mA cm À2 at 0.6 V, which are better than the cells prepared by using metallic and commercial bipolar plates.…”

Optimizing formulations of polymer composite with high filler content: Application to bipolar plate

“…To develop some understanding, the total volume or surface of filler should be kept constant. The optimization of the conductivity may then be performed by adjusting the relative amounts of the different carbonaceous fillers [8,13,14,11,12]. A better filler compacity may thus be obtained, inducing an improvement of conducting paths between fillers allowing synergistic effect between fillers.…”

“…In some cases good mechanical properties were even maintained. These systems were sparsely studied in literature [8,[11][12][13][14]. We propose a systematic methodology to optimize this type of unusual composites.…”