Conductive polymer composites with high electrical and mechanical properties are in demand for bipolar plates of phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC). In this study, composites based on natural graphite/fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) and different ratios of carbon black are mixed and hot formed into bars. The overall content of natural graphite is replaced by carbon black (0.2 wt% to 3.0 wt%). It is found that the addition of carbon black reduces electrical resistivity and density. The density of composite materials added with carbon black 3.0 wt% is 2.168 g/cm3, which is 0.017 g/cm3 less than that of non-additive composites. In-plane electrical resistivity is 7.68 μΩm and through-plane electrical resistivity is 27.66 μΩm. Compared with non-additive composites, in-plane electrical resistivity decreases by 95.7 % and through-plane decreases by 95.9 %. Also, the bending strength is about 30 % improved when carbon black is added at 2.0 wt% compared to non-additive cases. The decrease of electrical resistivity of composites is estimated to stem from the carbon black, which is a conductive material located between melted FEP and acts a path for electrons; the increasing mechanical properties are estimated to result from carbon black filling up pores in the composites.

A composite material was prepared for the bipolar plates of phosphoric acid fuel cells(PAFC) by hot pressing a flake type natural graphite powder as a filler material and a fluorine resin as a binder. Average particle sizes of the powders were 610.3, 401.6, 99.5, and 37.7 μm. The density of the composite increased from 2.25 to 2.72 g/cm3 as the graphite size increased from 37.7 to 610.3 μm. The anisotropy ratio of the composite increased from 1.8 to 490.9 as the graphite size increased. The flexural strength of the composite decreased from 15.60 to 8.94MPa as the graphite size increased. The porosity and the resistivity of the composite showed the same tendencies, and decreased as the graphite size increased. The lowest resistivity and porosity of the composite were 1.99 × 10−3 Ωcm and 2.02 %, respectively, when the graphite size was 401.6 μm. The flexural strength of the composite was 10.3MPa when the graphite size was 401.6 μm. The lowest resistance to electron mobility was well correlated with the composite with lowest porosity. It was possible the flaky large graphite particles survive after the hot pressing process.

This study is focused on the channel design of bipolar plate in the electrode of hydrogen gas generator. The characteristics of hydrogen gas generation was studied in view of efficiency of hydrogen gas generation rate and a tendency of gas flow through the riv design of electrode. Since the flow rate and flow pattern of generated gas in the two phase flow system are the most crucial in determining the efficiency of hydrogen gas generator, we adopted the commercial analytical program of COMSOL MultiphysicsTM to calculate the theoretical flow rate of hydrogen gas from the outlet of gas generator and flow pattern of two phase fluid in the electrode. In this study, liquid electrolyte flows into the bipolar plate and decomposed into gas phase, two phase flow simulation is applied to measure the efficiency of hydrogen gas generation.

For this paper, we investigated the area specific resistance (ASR) of commercially available ferritic stainless steels with different chemical compositions for use as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) interconnect. After 430h of oxidation, the STS446M alloy demonstrated excellent oxidation resistance and low ASR, of approximately 40 mΩcm2, of the thermally grown oxide scale, compared to those of other stainless steels. The reason for the low ASR is that the contact resistance between the Pt paste and the oxide scale is reduced due to the plate-like shape of the Cr2O3(s). However, the acceptable ASR level is considered to be below 100 mΩcm2 after 40,000 h of use. To further improve the electrical conductivity of the thermally grown oxide on stainless steels, the Co layer was deposited on the stainless steel by means of an electroless deposition method; it was then thermally oxidized to obtain the Co3O4 layer, which is a highly conductive layer. With the increase of the Co coating thickness, the ASR value decreased. For Co deposited STS444 with 2 μmhickness, the measured ASR at 800˚ after 300 h oxidation is around 10 mΩcm2, which is lower than that of the STS446M, which alloy has a lower ASR value than that of the non-coated STS. The reason for this improved high temperature conductivity seems to be that the Mn is efficiently diffused into the coating layer, which diffusion formed the highly conductive (Mn,Co)3O4 spinel phases and the thickness of the Cr2O3(S), which is the rate controlling layer of the electrical conductivity in the SOFC environment and is very thin

Chromium nitride (CrN) samples with two different layer structures (multilayer and single layer) were coated on bipolar plates of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) using the reactive sputtering method. The effects with respect to layer structure on corrosion resistance and overall cell performance were investigated. A continuous and thin chromium nitride layer (Cr0.48 N0.52) was formed on the surface of the SUS 316L when the nitrogen flow rate was 10 sccm. The electrochemical stability of the coated layers was examined using the potentiodynamic and potentiostatic methods in the simulated corrosive circumstances of the PEMFC under 80˚C. Interfacial contact resistance (ICR) between the CrN coated sample and the gas diffusion layer was measured by using Wang's method. A single cell performance test was also conducted. The test results showed that CrN coated SUS316L with multilayer structure had excellent corrosion resistance compared to single layer structures and single cell performance results with 25 cm2 in effective area also showed the same tendency. The difference of the electrochemical properties between the single and multilayer samples was attributed to the Cr interlayer layer, which improved the corrosion resistance. Because the coating layer was damaged by pinholes, the Cr layer prevented the penetration of corrosive media into the substrate. Therefore, the CrN with a multilayer structure is an effective coating method to increase the corrosion resistance and to decrease the ICR for metallic bipolar plates in PEMFC.

This study is focused on the modeling of two phase fluid flow system in the electrode of hydrogen gas generator. The characteristics of hydrogen gas generation was studied in view of efficiency of hydrogen gas generation rate and a tendency of gas flow through the riv of electrode. Since the flow rate of generated gas is the most crucial in determining the efficiency of hydrogen gas generator, we adopted the commercial analytical program of COMSOL MultiphysicsTM to calculate the theoretical flow rate of hydrogen gas from the outlet of gas generator.

The molten carbonate fuel cell has conspicuous features and high potential in being used as an energy converter of various fuels to electricity and heat. However, the MCFC which use strongly corrosive molten carbonate at 650℃ have many problem. Systematic investigation on corrosion behavior of Fe/20Cr/Ti has been done in (62+38)mol % (Li+K) CO3 melt at 923K by using. steady state polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy method. It found that the corrosion current of these Febased alloys decreased with increasing Ti content, and this attribute to the formation of LiCrO2 layer at the surface.

본 연구에서는 용융탄산염 연료전지용 분리판으로서 오스테나이트계 스테인레스강 중, 310S를 사용하여 용융염 전해질 및 양극측 분위기에서 부식거동, 부식생성물의 형성과정 및 기구에 관한 고찰을 실시하였다. 분리판의 부식 진행과정은 부식반응 이후 안정 부식생성물이 형성되기까지 빠른 부식이 진행되는 부식생성물 형성단계와 안정 부식생성물 형성 후 보호파괴가 일어나기 까지의 부식 억제단계, 그리고 보호파괴 이후 부식이 다시 증가되는 부식 진행단계의 3단계 과정을 경유하며 진행하였다. 분리판 내 원소들의 농도분포는 부식생성물 형성영역에서는 Fe가, 부식 방어영역에서는 Cr이, 그리고 Ni은 Cr 고갈영역과 기지 안쪽에서 높게 형성되었다. 또한 양극측에서 분리판은 전해질의 이온화에 의한 부식이 주된 부식기구였으며, 최종 부식생성물은 LiFeO2와 LiCrO2였다.