Development of stamped bipolar plates, integrating coating and sealing, for PEMHT – PBHT

The integration of stamped metallic bipolar plates seems to be the best way to reach the mass and volume targets for PEMFC, notably for transport applications. In case of stationary applications, where mass and volume parameters are less important, metallic bipolar plates are also corresponding to an interesting alternative solution for high power systems.
Caoted bipolar plates stamped from stainless steel have been validated during the last years notably thanks to numerous ANR research projects but the tests have been performed only for temperatures below 80°C. Nevertheless, numerous studies are performed to run PEMFC until 120°C to increase the power output and to inhibit the MEA pollution. This kind of bipolar plates looks suitable for higher temperatures and it is necessary to check their stability until these temperatures
The increase of the running temperature ramps up the corrosion and the quality of coatings becomes crucial. Similarly, the behaviour of the sealing which controls the tighness and the mechanical stress distribution has to be considered as an essential parameter because of the dilation phenomena.
This project aims to increase the knowledge about the behaviour of these components in this temperature range to show the potentiality of these metallic coated plates for high temperature PEMFC.