SBIR Phase I: Conducting Polymer Based Bipolar Plates for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

*摘要9661134墨菲这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将展示使用导电聚合物制造质子交换膜燃料电池双极板的可行性。为了使电动汽车用PEM燃料电池电源在成本上具有竞争力，必须确定比目前使用的碳/树脂复合材料更便宜的双极板材料，并开发与碳/树脂复合材料的高温石墨化相比更具成本效益的制造双极板的方法。该项目的目标是利用最近开发的电子导电聚合物技术，开发出与传统使用的石墨化碳基材料相比，用于PEM燃料电池组的性能更好、成本效益更高的双极板。其目的是用电化学方法合成净状、高强度的导电聚合物结构，这种结构在有氧存在的高温下表现出高的电子传导性，并且在高温下不会在氧饱和的酸性环境中受到氧化/腐蚀过程的影响。这种方法的吸引力在于，它将允许在室温下制备高强度、高导电性的聚合物材料，不仅适用于PEM燃料电池组中的双极板，也适用于其他酸性燃料电池系统，如磷酸燃料电池(PAFC)系统。因此，由该项目产生的开发技术应该是导致制造低成本燃料电池堆的使能技术。低温甲醇/空气和氢/空气质子交换膜燃料电池作为电动汽车的动力源具有很大的商业潜力。其他商业应用包括：用于住宅和小型商业建筑的电力和供热；用于通信和新闻采集设备的便携式电源；用于救援队的便携式医疗仪器；以及用于人工心脏和脑室辅助设备的外部电源。***

*** ABSTRACT 9661134 Murphy This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of using conducting polymers to fabricate bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. To make PEM fuel cell power sources for electric vehicles cost-competitive with competing technologies, materials cheaper than presently used carbon/resin composites for bipolar plates must be identified and more cost-effective methods of manufacturing these plates compared to high temperature graphitization of carbon/resin composites must be developed. The goal of this project is to take advantage of recently developed electronically conducting polymer technology for the development of superior and cost effective bipolar plates for PEM fuel cell stacks compared to the conventionally used graphitized carbon-based materials. The aim is to electrochemically synthesize net shape, high strength conducting polymer structures that exhibit high electronic conductivity at elevated temperatures in the presence of oxygen and that are not subject to oxidation/corrosion processes in oxygen-saturated acidic environments at elevated temperatures. The attractiveness of the approach is that it will allow the room temperature preparation of high strength, highly conducting polymer materials suitable for use not only as bipolar plates in PEM fuel cell stacks but also in other acid fuel cell systems, such as the phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) system. Thus, developed technology arising from this project should be an enabling technology leading to the manufacture of low cost fuel cell stacks. Low temperature methanol/air and hydrogen/air PEM fuel cells have considerable commercial potential as power sources for electric vehicles. Other commercial applications include: electricity and heat production for residential and small commercial buildings; portable power sources for communications and news gathering equipment; portable medical instrumentation used by rescue teams; and external electrical power sources for artificial heart and ventricular-assist devices. ***