Study on metallic bipolar plate for proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Abstract

Cost reduction is the most critical issue for ensuring the practical use of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). In current designs, the bipolar plate is the most expensive part in the repeating-parts of the PEMFC. To address this issue, bipolar plates made of several kinds of materials are being developed by various companies. Above all, a metallic bipolar plate is said to have a highest potential for achieving the cost target. However, in order to implement metallic bipolar plates, several issues must be addressed, including corrosion of the metal, electric contact between cell parts, press forming and so on. In this paper, the electric contact between a metallic bipolar plate and another cell part was evaluated by a structural analysis with a finite element method and a compression test. Then, power generation tests were conducted on single cells in which metallic bipolar plates were mounted.