This review describes some recent developments in the area of flow field plates (FFPs) for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The function, parameters and design of FFPs in PEM fuel cells are outlined and considered in light of their performance. FFP materials and manufacturing methods are discussed and current in situ and ex situ characterisation techniques are described.

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) Flow Field Plate: Design, Materials and Characterisation

Electrochemical energy storage and conversion systems such as electrochemical capacitors, batteries and fuel cells are considered as the most important technologies proposing environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions to address rapidly growing global energy demands and environmental concerns. Their commercial applications individually or in combination of two or more devices are based on their distinguishing properties e.g., energy/power densities, cyclability and efficiencies. In this review article, we have discussed some of the major electrochemical energy storage and conversion systems and encapsulated their technological advancement in recent years. Fundamental working principles and material compositions of various components such as electrodes and electrolytes have also been discussed. Furthermore, future challenges and perspectives for the applications of these technologies are discussed.

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/21/5847/pdf

Current State and Future Prospects for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion Systems

Fuel cells in the near future are going to challenge the recent strong progress of the battery-based energy system. Despite many challenges, including material composition, storage and distribution, hydrogen fuel cell has demonstrated its potential in the trucking and fleet transportation systems due to its ability to be safely transported and used resulting in sharp drop in CO2 and particulate emissions. Review works revealed that Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) technology is reaching a commercialization phase for the fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Study further disclosed the need for a more focused investigation into materials' properties and plate design to enhance the efficacy of composite bipolar plates (BPP), specially their electrical and mechanical properties, as one of the main components of PEMFC. Carbon fiber, expanded graphite and carbon nanotubes are promising functional materials that can be utilized to enhance the performance of bipolar plates further by addressing their critical challenges such as agglomeration and poor thermodynamic compatibility. Conductive polymer embedded carbon nanomaterials showed high promise to improve the performance of PEMFC. Herein, the critical parameters affecting the introduction of carbon materials in fuel cell components are discussed with a focus on electrical, mechanical and durability performance of BPP. Recommendations are made related to cost vs performance for future development. This paper has also outlined the scope and future perspectives to fuel cell technology by reviewing the areas of recent developments with carbon-polymer based BPP as an attempt to highlight their potential commercial applications as high-performance bipolar plates for PEMFC.

Recent advances and future perspectives of carbon materials for fuel cell

The effects of carbon filler type on the properties and performance of composite bipolar plates fabricated by compression molding of carbon fillers such as graphite, carbon black (CB), multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT), carbon fiber (CF) and powder type epoxy have been investigated. The electrical conductivity and flexural properties of the composites are increased by increasing the content of fibrous conducting fillers, e.g. MWNT and CF. On the contrary, incorporation of particulate fillers such as CB and graphite plays a significant role in enhancing the electrical conductivity but has a negative effect on the flexural properties of the composites. The current–voltage curve of the fuel cell indicates that the performance of the fuel cell is improved upon selection of an optimum amount of carbon filler in the composite bipolar plates.

Effects of hybrid carbon fillers of polymer composite bipolar plates on the performance of direct methanol fuel cells

The most essential and costly component of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells is the bipolar plate. The production of suitable composite bipolar plates for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with good mechanical properties and high electrical conductivity is scientifically and technically very challenging. This paper reports the development of composite bipolar plates using exfoliated graphite, carbon black, and graphite powder in resole-typed phenol formaldehyde. The exfoliated graphite with maximum exfoliated volume of 570 ± 10 mL g−1 used in this study was prepared by microwave irradiation of chemically intercalated natural flake graphite in a few minutes. The composite plates were prepared by varying exfoliated graphite content from 10 to 35 wt.% in phenolic resin along with fixed weight percentage of carbon black (5 wt.%) and graphite powder (3 wt.%) by compression molding. The composite plates with filler weight percentage of 35/5/3/exfoliated graphite/carbon black/graphite powder offer in-plane and trough-plane electrical conductivities of 374.42 and 97.32 S cm−1, bulk density 1.58 g cm−3, compressive strength 70.43 MPa, flexural strength 61.82 MPa, storage modulus 10.25 GPa, microhardness 73.23 HV and water absorption 0.22%. Further, I–V characteristics notify that exfoliated graphite/carbon black/graphite powder/resin composite bipolar plates in unit fuel cell shows better cell performance compared exfoliated graphite/resin composite bipolar plates. The composite plates own desired mechanical properties with low bulk density, high electrical conductivity, and good thermal stability as per the U.S. department of energy targets at low filler concentration and can be used as bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

Synergistic Effects of Carbon Fillers of Phenolic Resin Based Composite Bipolar Plates on the Performance of PEM Fuel Cell

The bipolar plate is one of the most imperative components of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) which consumes up to 80% of weight and near about 50% of the total cost of the cell. Development of cost-effective composite bipolar plate with high electrical conductivity and high mechanical strength is both technically and economically demanding. In this paper, a low-cost advanced composite bipolar plate is developed by bulk moulding compression (BMC) technique. It is clear from the experiments that by increasing the matrix volume fraction, bulk density and electrical conductivity of a composite bipolar plate decrease but shore hardness increases. Test results clearly show that best overall properties are achieved when a constant volume fraction of polymer matrix and natural graphite is reinforced with synthetic graphite, carbon black and carbon fibre. This bipolar plate was found to have high conductivity, less porosity and high mechanical strength. The I–V characteristics in single cell test exhibited more uniform power density at both higher and lower current densities

Development of Low‐Cost Advanced Composite Bipolar Plate for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

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Development of Low‐Cost Advanced Composite Bipolar Plate for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell