Study on the carbon composite bipolar plates for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

As alternative bipolar plate for PEMFCs, the carbon composites bipolar plates were fabricated by machining and compression molding methods. To examine the leasibility of the compression molding method for fabrication of bipolar plate, contact resistance, flexural strength, density, gas tightness, water absorption and plate uniformity used for the carbon composite bipolar plate Using compression molding method were measured and compared with those of machined graphite and carbon composite bipolar plate, which are the most commonly used bipolar plate for conventional bipolar plate. All results of them showed that the carbon composite bipolar plate using compression molding method was promising candidate for PEMFC bipolar plate material. In case of i-V characteristics of the single cell test, the single cell using carbon composite bipolar plate made by compression molding exhibited considerable initial and long-term performance compared with conventional bipolar plates.