Experimental Implementation of a New Composite Fabrication Method: Exposing Bare Fibers on the Composite Surface by the Soft Layer Method.

The bipolar plate is a key component in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs). It is a multi-functional component that should have high electrical conductivity, high mechanical properties, and high productivity. In this regard, a carbon fiber/epoxy resin composite can be an ideal material to replace the conventional graphite bipolar plate, which often leads to the catastrophic failure of the entire system because of its inherent brittleness. Though the carbon/epoxy composite has high mechanical properties and is easy to manufacture, the electrical conductivity in the through-thickness direction is poor because of the resin-rich layer that forms on its surface. Therefore, an expanded graphite coating was adopted to solve the electrical conductivity issue. However, the expanded graphite coating not only increases the manufacturing costs but also has poor mechanical properties. In this study, a method to expose fibers on the composite surface is demonstrated. There are currently many methods that can expose fibers by surface treatment after the fabrication of the composite. This new method, however, does not require surface treatment because the fibers are exposed during the manufacture of the composite. By exposing bare carbon fibers on the surface, the electrical conductivity and mechanical strength of the composite are increased drastically.

Three-Dimensional Interlocking Interface: Mechanical Nanofastener for High Interfacial Robustness of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells.

A scalable nanofastener featuring a 3D interlocked interfacial structure between the hydrocarbon membrane and perfluorinated sulfonic acid based catalyst layer is presented to overcome the interfacial issue of hydrocarbon membrane based polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. The nanofastener-introduced membrane electrode assembly (MEA) withstands more than 3000 humidity cycles, which is 20 times higher durability than that of MEA without nanofastener.

Interlocking membrane/catalyst layer interface for high mechanical robustness of hydrocarbon-membrane-based polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.

A physical interlocking interface that can tightly bind a sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (SPAES) membrane and a Nafion catalyst layer in polymer electrolyte fuel cells is demonstrated. Owing to higher expansion with hydration for SPAES than for Nafion, a strong normal force is generated at the interface of a SPAES pillar and a Nafion hole, resulting in an 8-fold increase of the interfacial bonding strength at RH 50% and a 4.7-times increase of the wet/dry cycling durability.

Nanometer-scale surface modification of epoxy with carbon black and electromagnetic waves.

The surface morphology of polymers and polymer composites strongly influences both the adhesive bonding strength of composite structures and the electrical conduction through carbon fiber composites. Conventional surface modification techniques (such as mechanical abrading, chemical treatment, plasma treatment and flame treatment) not only damage the surfaces of polymers and polymer composites but also increase production cost. In this study, the surface of epoxy was modified by heating carbon black with electromagnetic waves in order to generate nanometer-sized grooves. A thermal transfer model was developed to investigate the generation mechanism of the grooves and the process variables. In the surface modification technique, electromagnetic waves and carbon black were used to improve both the bonding strength and the electrical conductivity of the composite in a fast and efficient way.