Development and modeling of electrically conductive carbon filled liquid crystal polymer composites for fuel cell bipolar plate applications

Abstract

Fundamental and applied research is needed for the development of cost effective fuel cells for the stationary and transportation sectors. Electrically conductive bipolar plates are needed for these fuel cells. In this study, varying amounts of three different electrically conductive carbon fillers (carbon black, synthetic graphite, and carbon fiber) were added to Vectra A950RX liquid crystal polymer in incremental concentrations. The resulting single filler composites were tested for electrical conductivity and the General Effective Media (GEM) equation was used to model these three systems. The GEM equation did provide excellent agreement with the carbon black/ Vectra composite and good agreement with carbon fiber Z Vectra and synthetic graphite Z Vectra composites. Other models (Mamunya and Additive) developed previously for these composites yielded better agreements due to the number of adjustable parameters: however, only the GEM equation can be adapted to multiple filler systems which will be the subject of future research. © J. New Mat. Electrochem. Systems.