Junbom Kim, Youngmo Goo, Seungeui You

462

KURUS 20 05

Hybrid Type Bipolar Plate for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell
Junbom Kim, Youngmo GOO), Seungeul Yoo
Department of Chemical Engineering University of Ulsan Ulsan 680-749, Korea Environmental Materials Research Center Korea Automotive Technology Institute Therefore, a novel bipolar plate, which can overcome

Abstract - To overcome conductivity limitation showed in composite plate, new concept of bipolar plate was developed using metallic foam as conductivity enhancing material and various filler as gas leak preventing material. Nickel foam (specific resistance 0 . 0 6 9 ~ 1 0{ilm], porosity of 95% or ~ more, 600 [g/m], thickness of 2 [mm], Inco Technical Services Limited) was used as metallic foam structure to get superior electric and thermal conductivity. Non-conductive silicone liquid type gasket (specific resistance 10000 [Om], VAT.,QUA company) was used as Tier material to prevent gas leak Hybrid type bipolar plate (specifrc resistance 1.38~10~ [fim]) was manufactured using metallic foam as backbone and,various filler material in void space, and has high conductivity and IOW volumetric density.

the negative effect on conductivity associated with the

composite type bipolar plate and high manufacturing cost, is still required. As metal materials, stainless steel, aluminum and nickel-steel alloy can be used [SI. Applying stainless steel as substitute material for the graphite material for the purpose of reducing the manufacturing cost has been reported i5-71. Bipolar plate for fuel cell was made of metal materials and directly plated with gold on a surface in contact with the electrode. The bipolar plate is low in contact resistance between the bipolar ptate and the electrode because of the gold OF other plating [5, 6,8].

Kqword :Bipolar plate, Hybrid, Conductivity,PEMFC

U. EXPERIMENTAL
A. Fuel cell test system Experiments were carried ?ut on a single cell test station. The test station was assembled to control temperatures (cell anode and cathode gas humidifier) and flow rates (anode and cathode gas). PC is attached to HP 6050A electronic load mainframe through interface board to control load and get data. Automated experimental system was built and averages 50 cycles of current vs. potential experiment were carried out per week per system. E-tek electrode with 2 [mgPt/cm2] w s hot pressed to Nafion 115 a membrane at 1 5 C 3 metric ton for 90 second to make 3, membrane and electrode assembly.
B. Resistance o bipoiurplute f The advantages of hybrid type bipolar plate could be explained by parallel resistance theory a shown in Fig. 1 s and equations (1)-(3). Even though the surface area of nicke1 foam is significantly smaller than that of silicon based filler, the conductivity of nickel is much higher than that of silicon. The equation for parallel resistance is shown in equation (1).
1 _ --1 +-1 _

I. INTRODUCTION

The bipolar plate for PEMFC must have high

conductivity, good mechanical strength, thermal stability, high resistance to corrosive substances, and low permeability to gas [ 1, 21 The bipolar ptate of the fuel cell has a complex flow channel structure in order to pass fluid and/or by-products. As material for the bipolar plate having the flow channels, graphite, which has excellent corrosion resistance and conductivity, has been used. However, graphite is brittle and it is difficult in mechanical processes to level the surface and tu form a gas flow channel which result in increased manufacturing cost. The graphite bipolar plate has been widely used because of the good electrochemical stability and high electric and thermal conductivity of graphite. However, because the graphite bipolar plate requires a CNC(Computer Numerical Control) system using numerical control program for forming the flow channels, the manufacturing cost is increased. Recently, a composite type bipolar plate has been manufactured by press or molding method resulting in reduced manufacturing cost [3,43. However, the composite type bipolar plate has lower conductivity compared with the graphite bipoiar plate. The composite type bipolar plate having low conductivity has low power density per unit volume, and thereby, it is difficult to operate at high electric power.
I

R2

(1)

Where R is resistance, and subscript 1 or 2 represent individual property. T h e resistance in equation (1) is subdivided into its own properties as shown in equation (2).

0-7803-8943-3/05/%20.00 0 2005 IEEE

Mechanic development and new materials

KORUS '2005
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463

Junbam Kim, Youngmo Goo, Seungeul Yo0

I
0'4

Insulated

08 .

L L

m .-0.6 s

2! 0

I".;:
100

03 .
n -

,o
- 0.2
E a U

5
b z

0.4

t
0.1
p.
0

0.2

Fig. I . Resistanceof hybrid type bipolar plate

Where A is surface area, p is specific resistance, and L is length. The total resistance of hybrid type bipolar plate could be calculated using equation (3). As shown in equation (3), nickel foam material could act l i e a highway for electrical and thermal conduction,

0.08 0

2W

300

4M)

500

BW

0.0 7M)

'

Current density (mAlcmZ]

Fig.3. Comparison of performance between graphite and Hiflex plate

R =
4

PlP2L

(3)

2 .I- A2Pl

LII. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A. Gasket fype bipolar plate Flexible graphite material (Hiflex) was used to make bipolar plate of 50 [ c d ] reaction areas. The flow channel of bipolar plate was imprinted on Hiflex by mold pressing method. The mold was manufactured by laser cutting machine. As shown in Fig. 2, rectangular shape gas manifold in. bipolar plate was arranged around reaction area for fuel cell stack. Round shape guidance hole was made to aiign bipolar plate and MEA in stack. Fig. 3 shows performance of graphite and Hiflex plate. Hydrogen and

oxygen was used at atmospheric pressure, and cell temperature was maintained at 70 'c . At current density of 400 [mA/cm2], the performance o f graphite pIate was 0.26 [W/cm2], and that of Hiflex plate was 0.23 [W/cm2]. The performance difference was caused by resistance difference. The mechanical strength of Hiflex was not strong enough compare to graphite plate. The surface of flow channel was deformed after long time operation and exfoliation of surface was observed at some region, Hiflex gasket was united in Hiflex bipolar plate to reduce time required to assemble stack. However the membrane should be extended larger than bipolar plate to separate direct electric connection between bipolar plates. Thus, non conductive material was coated on gasket area of Hiflex plate. Another type of bipolar plate which has flow channel on both sides was manufactured. At current density of 400mA/cm2, the performance of this type was 0.17 [W/cm2]which is lower than Hiflex bipolar pIate which has flow channel on one side. The performance of Hiffex bipolar which has Bow channel on both sides was Iower than the others because it w s a thicker than the others to prevent gas leakage. Because the mechanical strength of Hiflex pIate was not strong enough, there was Iimit in assembie pressure in stack, The increase of contact resistance of Hiflex plate was main problem to solve.
B. Hybrid tjpe bipolarplate Commercially available nickel foam (porosity > 95%) and silicon base filler were used to make hybrid type bipolar plate. As shown in Fig. 4, the manufacturing method of hybrid type bipolar plate is as follows. Hardness and density of the metal structure was increased by applying pressure to the metal structure. The filler was impregnated into the manufactured metal structure through brushing or rolling method.

Fig. 2. Hiflex bipolar plate using moId pressing

Mechanic developme'nt and new materials

Junbom Kim, Youngmo Goo, Seungeul Yo0

464

channels

+
surface treating

(a) Before filler material applied

Fig. 4. Manufacturing procedure of bipolar plate based on nickel foam

The laser cutting machine, Bystar 4020 (Bystronic Co., Switzerland) was used to avoid shape deformation of soft nickeI foam and to remave flow channel region whose width and depth is about 1 [mm] each. The hybrid type bipolar plate using soft and hard filler were shown in Fig. 5 and 6, respectively. Various type of bipolar plate based on nickel foam were tested with hydrogen and oxygen at atmospheric pressure and 5OoC celf temperature as shown i Fig. 7. n

(b) After filler material applied

Fig. 6. Hybrid type bipolar plate using hard filler

1.o

0.8

5 111
C

0.6

' J

n
Fig. 5. Hybrid type bipolar plate using saft filler

0.4

The metal structure, i which the filler is impregnated, n was dried at the temperature of 90-1100 for 20-40minutes. The surface of the metal structure, on which one or more flow channels are. formed, was treated with solvent to get more conductive area on surface. If the impregnated filler is soft, one or more flow channels were formed on the metat structure after the impregnated

nn
Y.Y

200

400

600

800

1000

Current density (mMcmz)

Fig. 7. Various type of bipolar plate based on nickel foam

Mechanic development and new materials

KOR US '2005

465

Junbom Kim, Youngmo Goo, Seungeul Yo0

filler has been dried. The flow channel was imprinted to bipolar plate by mold pressing method. On the other hand, if the filler is hard, the filler is impregnated and dried after forming one or more flow channels on the metal structure. ln case of all the active area was covered by nickel foam without filler, cell performance could not reach to high current density. The direct gas passage between inlet and outlet holes would have lower resistance to flow and most of gases would go through this relatively small area. Most of other area covered by nickel foam would be filled with water that is difficult to be removed due to capillary force. As shown in Fig. 6(a), cut nickel foam that has serpentine gas channel without filler was tested and showed a little higher performance than that Without channel and filler case but still showed lower performance than that of nickel foam with channel and filler. Foam type bipolar plates which have porous structure seem to be filled wt water and cause flooding of eIectrode and ih consequentlyreduce fuel cell performance. Thus, nickel foam with channel and filler was used in following experiments. However, porous structure that has advantage to hold water would worth to be researched in area of humidity control to reduce supplied gas humidity and improves energy efficiency.

IV. CONCLUSIONS

Gasket type material (Hiflex) was used to make bipolar plate. The performance of Hificx bipolar plate was less than that of graphite about 10%. Also, Hiflex surface was exfoliated and the surface of flow channel was deformed. Nickel foam and non-conductive filler were used to make hybrid type bipolar-plate. The performance was decreased if porous region is left in bipolar plate that may cause flooding of electrode.
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Mechanic development and new materials