Highly filled graphite polybenzoxazine composites for an application as bipolar plates in fuel cells

摘要

Highly filled graphite polybenzoxazine composites as bipolar plate material for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) are developed. At the maximum graphite content of 80 wt % (68 vol %), storage modulus was increased from 5.9 GPa of the neat polybenzoxazine matrix to 23 GPa in the composite. Glass transition temperatures (Tg) of the composites were ranging from 176°C to 195°C and the values substantially increased with increasing the graphite contents. Thermal conductivity as high as 10.2 W/mK and electrical conductivity of 245 S cm-1 were obtained in the graphite filled polybenzoxazine at its maximum graphite loading. The obtained properties of the graphite filled polybenzoxazine composites exhibit most values exceed the United States department of energy requirements for PEMFC applications.