Electrically conductive thermoplastic blends for injection and compression molding of bipolar plates in the fuel cell application

This study aimed at developing highly conductive, lightweight, and low-cost bipolar plates for use in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. injection and compression molding of carbon-filled polypropylene, PP, and polyphenylene sulfide, PPS, were used to fabricate the bipolar plates. Loadings up to 60 wt% in the form of graphite, conductive carbon black, and carbon fibers were investigated. The developed compositions have a combination of properties and processability suitable for fuel cell bipolar plate manufacturing, such as good chemical resistance, sufficient fluidity, and good electrical and thermal conductivity. Two bipolar plate designs were successfully fabricated by molding the gas flow channels over aluminum plates to form a metallic/polymer composite plate or simply by direct injection molding of the conductive polymer composite. For the first design, overall plate volume resistivities of 0.2 and 0.1 Ohm-cm were respectively attained using PP and PPS based blends as the conductive overmolded layer. A lower volume resistivity of around 0.06 Ohm-cm was attained for the second design with injection molded plates made of the PPS-based blend. (C) 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers.