This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project plans to demonstrate how to limit the costs of the bipolar plate by the choice of materials that can be molded or extruded. The usual choice of material is a mixture of graphite and polymeric binders. Since the bipolar plate must exhibit sufficient electrical and thermal conductivity, the content of polymeric binder must be minimized, but maintained at a level to assure moldability. As a consequence, the toughness of the bipolar plate is not very high and may retain some porosity. In this effort we will synthesize a new ceramic material that is more conductive and stronger than graphite. This material can be fabricated into the desired shapes using powder processing methods and sintered to full density. If the proposed research is successful, we will have identified a new ceramic material that has conductive properties superior to graphite, can be fabricated into shapes using powder processing techniques, and pressureless sintered to give a material that will have potential applications as a bipolar plat for use in PEM fuel cells. This material could also replace molded graphite electrodes in other applications that require a higher strength material.
