Compound material for injection molded PEM fuel cell bipolar plates

This paper develops a novel composite material for the bipolar plates in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In general, the materials used to fabricate PEMFC bipolar plates must be low-cost, easily fabricated, light, strong, mechanically stable, and have a low surface contact resistance. Therefore, this study fabricates bipolar plates using a composite material comprising Nylon-6 and S316L stainless steel alloy fibers. The PEMFC plates are fabricated via an injection molding process, which yields better production rates than coating or treating metal plates with a suitable surface material. It is shown that the developed composite material has a suitable combination of properties and processability for PEMFC bipolar plate applications. Specifically, the chemical and electrochemical properties of the plates are found to be stable, and the plates demonstrate good anti-corrosion characteristics, resulting in an enhanced electrical conductivity, a stable cell performance, and an extended cell life.