RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY AND PERFORMANCE OF BIPOLAR PLATES IN PEM FUEL CELL: POLYBENZOXAZINE/GRAPHENE NANOPARTICLE COMPOSITES

Abstract

Thermosetting composites are thought to be one of promising candidate materials for fabricating bipolar plates (BPs) used in ultra-lightweight fuel cells. Nevertheless, it is difficult to meet desirable electrical conductivity when using the composite plates while maintaining processability. The production of BPs via conductive composite formulating is an important approach in material invention and modification for fuel cells. The electrical conductivity of BPs significantly affects on the fuel cell performance. In this regard, relationships among the conductive filler loading, the electrical conductivity of BPs, and the fuel cell performance are interesting to be studied. Experimental activities reported in this article were created to predict changes in fuel cell performance when the conductivity of BPs changed due to a variation in material types or conductive filler concentrations. The BPs made from functionalized graphene nanoplatelet filled polybenzoxazine composites were used as one of case studies for the comparative investigation of theoretical estimations and experimental results.