ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF BIPOLAR PLATE MATERIALS FOR PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE (PEM) FUEL CELLS

摘要

With the recent escalating prices of heating oil and gasoline in the US, the need for alternative sources of energy is very critical to the national economy. A fuel cell is environmentally friendly renewable source of energy that simply converts fuel (such as hydrogen, methane, propane, etc.,) directly into D.C. electricity. Most fuel cells involve a simple chemical reaction between a fuel and an oxidizer. Various fuel cell designs operate using many different fuel/oxidizer combinations with the most common being hydrogen and oxygen. Generally, fuel cells require a catalyst, which is a material that helps the chemical reaction between the fuel and the oxidizer, but is not a part of the process. There are many types of catalysts, but for this study, we will consider the "Proton Exchange Membrane" (PEM). In a PEM based fuel cell, the hydrogen and oxygen gases are fed into two sealed chambers separated by the membrane and two electrodes (one on each side of the membrane). The combination of the membrane and the electrode constitute the electrolyte. Considerable amount of research and development work is still required to render fuel cells as commercially viable by the end of this century. Fuel cells are known to generate efficient energy and produce drinkable water as a byproduct. Because of the environmental advantages of FC, it gained the interest of scientists and engineers working in the field. The goal of the applied research work in this area is to develop mass fabrication methods that produce leak free oxygen and hydrogen chambers, highly conductive and anticorrosion bipolar plates. Accordingly, the present work will provide some electrical conductivity measurements for different materials that are considered good candidates for fuel cells bipolar plates material.