Future of Engineering

Fuel cells constitute one of the most promising sources of environmental friendly energy for the future. A proton exchange membrane (pem) fuel cell is a stack of electrochemical cell systems (figure) placed in series.

American engineering group (aeg, akron, oh) has developed a new elastomer-carbon fiber composite bipolar plate for pem fuel cells with high electrical conductivity, high strength, light weight and very low permeability. This new unique composite bipolar plate is a less-expensive and light-weight alternative to graphite and steel. The use of highly conductive elastomer compound and multi-stage molding technology enables the fabrication of bipolar plates with high carbon fiber content. This composite bipolar plate is a promising solution, and this plate has the potential for being produced at low cost. The plate is produced using short carbon fiber structure with elastomer impregnation into pre-form uncured structures.

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Keywords: Carbon fib6er-elastomer, proton exchange membrane (pem), electrochemical cell systems, mass-production technologies, fuel cell system assembly, elastomer-carbon fiber, multi-stage molding technology

Labels: Energy-Environment-Engineering, Material-Sciences