DEVELOPMENT OF POLYMER-BASED MATERIALS FOR PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELL BIPOLAR PLATES: WAYS TO INCREASE THROUGH- PLANE ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY AND TO DECREASE GAS PERMEABILITY

摘要

This research work aimed at developing, by twin-screw extrusion process, electrically conductive sheets for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) bipolar plates. For this, a series of highly conductive blends were carefully formulated from a co-continuous mixture of polythylene terephthalatern(PET)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and high specific surface area carbon black (CB) and graphite (GR) conductive additives. Several major factors, such as CB/GR content, PVDF/PET composition and morphology, and also PET crystallinity were shown to have remarkable effects on these three main properties.