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http://dx.doi.org/10.5139/JKSAS.2013.41.10.788

Performance Evaluation of Magnesium Bipolar Plate in Lightweight PEM Fuel Cell Stack for UAV  

Park, To-Soon (Agency for Defense Development)
Oh, Ji-Hyun (Agency for Defense Development)
Ryu, Tae-Kyu (Agency for Defense Development)
Kwon, Se-Jin (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)
Publication Information
Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences / v.41, no.10, 2013 , pp. 788-795 More about this Journal
Abstract
A magnesium bipolar plate whose surface was protected by thinly deposited silver layer was investigated as an alternative to existing graphite bipolar plate of PEM fuel cells. Thin silver layer of $3{\mu}m$ was deposited on a magnesium alloy substrate by physical vapor deposition (PVD) method in an environment of $180^{\circ}C$. A number of tests were conducted on the fabricated magnesium based bipolar plates to determine their suitability for use in PEM fuel cell stacks. The test on corrosion resistance in the same pH condition as in a PEM operation demonstrated the layer protected the magnesium alloy substrate, while unprotected substrate suffered from severe corrosion. The contact resistance of the fabricated bipolar plate was less than $20m{\Omega}-cm^2$ which was superior to the conventional bipolar plates. A single cell was constructed using the fabricated bipolar plates and power output was measured. Due to the enhanced conductivity caused by low contact resistance, slight increase was observed in current density and output voltage. With low density of the magnesium substrate and ease on machining, the weight reduction of the stack of 30~40 % is possible to produce the same power output.
Keywords
PEM Fuel Cell; Magnesium Alloy; Bipolar Plate; Corrosion; Silver sputtering;
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