Work

Effects of Mold Deformation and Heat Transfer on the Consistency of Composite Bipolar Plates

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT Bipolar plates are multifunctional components of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, responsible for electron transfer, gas distribution, water management, and structural support. Compression molding dominates the manufacture of composite bipolar plates. Mold pressure and temperature govern plate properties, dimensional accuracy, durability, and safety. This study combines Finite Element Method and experiments to account for simultaneous mold deformation and heat conduction and quantifies how mold thickness affects pressure and temperature fields. A thick mold plus preheat strategy is proposed. Increasing mold thickness improves molding quality, but thicker molds develop marked temperature gradients that create regional property variations. A mold with a thickness of 40 mm reduces pressure non‐uniformity by 21.5%, while experimental and predicted values deviate < 5%. However, this change introduces a 4°C–10°C temperature difference of the mold forming surface. Consequently, mold preheating is mandatory. Under the tested material system and processing window, the optimized process yields composite bipolar plates with 143 S cm −1 electrical conductivity, 4.3 mΩ cm 2 contact resistance at 2 MPa, 1.9 × 10 −7 cm 3 cm −2 s −1 helium permeability, and 80.06 MPa flexural strength. These measured properties meet the Department of Energy standards and fuel cell requirements.

Source: Journal of Applied Polymer Science

DOI: 10.1002/app.71472

Authors: Junsheng Zheng, Chenyao Li, Xiaomin Meng, Chengxin Li, Pingwen Ming

Institution: Tongji University

Language: English

Topic: Fuel Cells and Related Materials

Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: National Key Research and Development Program of China