• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.248-251
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• 2005

Graphite reinforced conductive polymer composites for PEMFC bipolar plates were fabricated by the compression molding technique. Graphite powder was mixed with an phenol resin to impart electrical property in composites. In this study, conductive polymer composites with high filler $loadings(>60wt.\%)$ were manufactured to accomplish high electrical conductivity above 100S/cm. The level of compaction is important because graphite powder increase electrical conductivity of composites by direct physical contact between particles. The optimum molding pressure according to filler was proposed experimentally. Various tests(electrical conductivity, flexural strength, compressive strength, leach test, etc) were carried out to verify the performance of fabricated composites for PEMFC bipolar plates. Fabricated composites have good electrical conductivity and mechanical strength. The results of leach test and contact angle measurement showed similar characteristics compared with commercial bipolar plates.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.2007-2010
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• 2008

Vanadium pentoxide ($V_2O_5$) powder was prepared and mixed with Molybdenum Oxides ($MoM_3$) to form Mo-doped and -undoped $VO_2$ films by a sol-gel method on graphite conductive substrates. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to investigate the chemical compositions and microstructures of the Mo-doped and -undoped $VO_2$ films. The variation of electrical resistance was measured as a function of temperature and stoichiometric composition between vanadium and molybdenum. In this study, it was found that Mo-doped and -undoped $VO_2$ shows the typical negative temperature coefficient (NTC) behavior. As the amount of the molybdenum increases, the electrical resistance of Modoped $VO_2$ film gets reduced under the transition temperature and a linear decrease in the transition temperature is observed. From these experimental results, we can conclude that the electrical resistance behavior with temperature change of $VO_2$ films can be utilized as a self-heating source with the electrical current flowing through the graphite substrate.

• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.259-275
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• 2008

This study aims to optimize the mechanical and electrical properties of electrically conductive polymer composites (CPCs) for use as a material of bipolar plates for PEM fuel cells. The thin CPCs consisting of conductive fillers and polymer resin were fabricated by a preform molding technique. Expanded graphite (EG), flake-type graphite (FG) and carbon fiber (CF) were used as conductive fillers. This study tested two types of CPCs, EG/FG filled CPCs and EG/CF filled CPCs, to optimize the material properties. First, the characteristics of EG/FG filled CPCs were investigated according to the FG ratio for 7 and $100{\mu}m$ sized FG. CPCs using $100{\mu}m$ FG showed optimal material properties at 60 wt% FG ratio, which were an electrical conductivity of 390 S/cm and flexural strength of 51 MPa. The particle size was an important parameter to change the mechanical and electrical behaviors. The flexural strength was sensitive to the particle size due to the different levels of densification. The electrical conductivity also showed size-dependent behavior because of the different contributions to the conductive network. Meanwhile, the material properties of EG/CF filled CPCs was also optimized according to the CF ratio, and the optimized electrical conductivity and flexural strength were 290 S/cm and 58 MPa, respectively. The electrical conductivity of this case decreased similarly to the EG/FG filled case. On the other hand, the behavior of the flexural strength was more complicated than the EG/FG filled case, and the reason was attributed to the interaction between the strengthening effect of CF and the deterioration of voids.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.172-175
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• 2009

A bipolar plate is an important component in a fuel cell in the sense of cost and weight. This study aimed at developing highly conductive, lightweight, and low cost bipolar plates. Hybrid carbons filled poly(phenylene sulfide)(PPS) composite bipolar plates were prepared by using the compression molding technique. Various types and amounts of conducting carbon fillers such as graphite, carbon black, carbon fibers, and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were adopted for the composites. Electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of the composites were measured in order to investigate effects of each components of fillers. When the graphite is only used as a conducting filler, the electrical conductivity of the composites increases with increasing the content, but the flexural strength decreases dramatically. However, for CNTs and carbon fibers, the flexural strength initially increases and then decreases with increasing the amount of the conducting fillers. The amount of graphite corresponding to the peak of flexural strength was moved to lower content with increasing the amount of CNTs or carbon fiber. When hybrid conducting fillers such as fibrous and particulate fillers were used, the synergy effect in mechanical and electrical properties was observed.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.522-532
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• 2020

Conductive polymer composites with high electrical and mechanical properties are in demand for bipolar plates of phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC). In this study, composites based on natural graphite/fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) and different ratios of carbon black are mixed and hot formed into bars. The overall content of natural graphite is replaced by carbon black (0.2 wt% to 3.0 wt%). It is found that the addition of carbon black reduces electrical resistivity and density. The density of composite materials added with carbon black 3.0 wt% is 2.168 g/㎤, which is 0.017 g/㎤ less than that of non-additive composites. In-plane electrical resistivity is 7.68 μΩm and through-plane electrical resistivity is 27.66 μΩm. Compared with non-additive composites, in-plane electrical resistivity decreases by 95.7 % and through-plane decreases by 95.9 %. Also, the bending strength is about 30 % improved when carbon black is added at 2.0 wt% compared to non-additive cases. The decrease of electrical resistivity of composites is estimated to stem from the carbon black, which is a conductive material located between melted FEP and acts a path for electrons; the increasing mechanical properties are estimated to result from carbon black filling up pores in the composites.

• Composites Research
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.222-228
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• 2019

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system has many potential uses as an environmentally friendly power source. Carbon fiber composite bipolar plates are highly corrosion resistant and have high specific strength and stiffness in acidic environments, however, the relatively low electrical conductivity is a major issue which reduces the efficiency of PEMFC. In this study, electrically conductive particles (graphite powder and carbon black) are applied to carbon-epoxy composite prepregs to reduce the electrical resistance of the bipolar plates. The electrical resistance and mechanical properties are measured using conventional test methods, and a unit cell performance evaluation of developed carbon composite bipolar plates is performed to compare with the conventional bipolar plate.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.169-174
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• 2014

The effect of varying amounts of graphite and $TiB_2$ on the electrical conductivity of composite bipolar plates was systematically studied. In this study, Titanium diboride ($TiB_2$) which has a high electrical conductivity, was selected as a filler and a additive material instead of conventional graphite. For proper distribution of the filler and matrix materials, ball milling using alumina balls was conducted for 1h, and then the hot press method was applied for the preparation of composite samples. The results showed a rapid increase in the electrical conductivity of composite bipolar plates at the critical filler content. However, $TiB_2$ and graphite composite bipolar plates showed similar increases in the electrical conductivity even though $TiB_2$ has a higher electrical conductivity than graphite. In addition, it was also found that a small addition of $TiB_2$ to graphite filler could be very effective for increasing the electrical conductivity and flexural strength of the composite bipolar plate.