Characterization of bipolar plates manufactured with various Pb/C ratios for unitized regenerative fuel cell system

Chanmin Jo; Yoongu Lim; Dae Jun Moon; Seungryul Yoo; Dong Chan Seok; Seon Yeop Jung; Seunghun Jung; Ho-Young Jung; Uk Sim

doi:10.3389/fchem.2023.1178787

Characterization of bipolar plates manufactured with various Pb/C ratios for unitized regenerative fuel cell system

Front Chem. 2023 May 4:11:1178787. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2023.1178787. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Chanmin Jo¹, Yoongu Lim¹, Dae Jun Moon¹, Seungryul Yoo², Dong Chan Seok², Seon Yeop Jung³, Seunghun Jung⁴, Ho-Young Jung⁵, Uk Sim^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Hydrogen Energy Technology Laboratory, Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH), Naju, Republic of Korea.
² Institute of Plasma Technology, Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE), Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering, Dankook University, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Department of Environment and Energy Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.
⁶ Center for Energy Storage System, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

The weight reduction of the bipolar plate (BP) is essential for commercializing unitized regenerative fuel cells (URFCs). In order to lighten the weight of the bipolar plate, we have used Pb/C composite powder as a cost-effective primary material, which is a mixture of low-density graphite and lead. Further, varied lead-carbon weight ratios (1: 8, 1:4, 1:1, 4:1, and 8:1) were investigated for fabricating the bipolar plate by hot-pressing process adding styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) as a binder. The specific surface area, porosity, and microstructure characteristics corresponding to the varied lead-graphite ratio of the prepared bipolar plates were studied. The relative difference in conductivity upon the compressibility of the plates is also examined. Finally, the wettability and electrochemical properties of the prepared bipolar plates were evaluated through water contact angle and cyclic voltammetry analysis.

Keywords: Pb/C; bipolar plate; composite materials; metal-carbon; unitized regenerative fuel cell (URFC).

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Agency for Defense Development by the Korean Government (UD2200061D). This work was supported by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning(KETEP) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy(MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea (No. 20224000000320). This research was supported by Nano·Material Technology Development Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (2020M3H4A3106313). This work was supported by the KENTECH Research Grant funded by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology, Republic of Korea (KRG2022-01-016). This work was supported by Development of high-power capacitor (supercapacitor) performance enhancement technology customized for companies by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology [Project No: 00155725/Project Name: Development of battery capacitors for long-term, high-capacity, and high power energy storage system]. This work was supported by the Outsourced R&D Project of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) under Project R22XO01. KEPCO was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication.