SBIR Phase I: Low-Cost Bipolar Plate for a Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

SBIR 第一阶段：用于质子交换膜燃料电池的低成本双极板

• 批准号: 2208556
• 负责人: Jay Dandrea
• 金额: $ 25.38万
• 依托单位: ELEKTRODA, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-03-01 至 2024-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2208556&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Low; Cost; Bipolar

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses the high cost of proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. As the world transitions from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles, the market for fuel cells is expected to increase substantially. Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) have a number of advantages, such as high durability, long range, and fast refueling over battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Additionally, fuel cells are less susceptible to the supply chain issues that lithium-ion batteries are beginning to suffer from. However, FCEVs are currently at a significant disadvantage to BEVs in terms of cost. Reducing the cost of the fuel cell stack will help to make FCEVs cost competitive with BEVs and will accelerate their adoption into the marketplace.This SBIR Phase I project proposes to reduce the cost of PEM fuel cells by reducing the cost of the bipolar plate component. Bipolar plates currently account for approximately 30% of the full fuel cell stack cost. Current bipolar plates are made from either metal foils or molded carbon composites. Metal plates can be produced by high-speed, low-cost forming techniques, but must be made from expensive, corrosion resistant materials. Carbon bipolar plates are made from inexpensive precursors but are manufactured by processes which scale poorly. This project aims to demonstrate that a bipolar plate can be produced from a novel, low-cost, carbon-based sheet utilizing forming techniques analogous to those used for producing metallic bipolar plates. The effort focuses on optimizing the carbon sheet for low hydrogen permeability, demonstrating that flow channels can be stamped into the sheets, and quantifying functionality and durability by testing in small scale fuel cells.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）I期项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力涉及质子交换膜（PEM）燃料电池的高成本。随着世界从内燃机车辆到电动汽车的过渡，预计燃料电池市场将大大增加。燃料电池电动汽车（FCEVS）具有许多优势，例如高耐用性，远距离和快速加油在电池电动汽车上（BEV）。此外，燃料电池不太容易受到锂离子电池开始遭受的供应链问题的影响。但是，FCEV目前在成本方面对BEV处于劣势。降低燃料电池堆栈的成本将有助于使FCEV与BEVS具有竞争力，并将加速其在市场中的采用。该SBIR I期项目提议通过降低双极板组件的成本来降低PEM燃料电池的成本。目前，双极板约占全燃料电池堆成本的30％。当前的双极板由金属箔或模制碳复合材料制成。金属板可以由高速，低成本的形成技术产生，但必须由昂贵的耐腐蚀材料制成。碳双极板由廉价的前体制成，但由尺度较差的过程制造。该项目的目的是证明，可以利用类似于用于生产金属双极板的新型，低成本的基于碳的薄板生产双极板。这项工作重点是优化碳薄荷的低氢通透性，表明可以将流通通道盖在表中，并通过在小规模的燃料电池中进行测试来量化功能和耐用性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用该基金会的智力功能和广泛的影响来评估CRITERIA CRITERIA CRITERIA。