Thermoset bulk molding compounds (BMC) useful for making electrically conductive components such as bipolar plates for fuel cells are described. The thermoset bulk molding compounds incorporate graphene nanoplatelets to increase the through-plane electrical conductivity by at least 20% compared to BMCs without the graphene nanoplatelets. Additionally, these compositions have low shrinkage, low density for lightweight parts, and are easily processed. The compositions can be used to prepare a variety of electrically conductive components, including bipolar plates for fuel cells and chemical storage batteries that operate at temperatures of less than 100° C.

A separator plate is produced by hot compacting a pliable and malleable material made from a blend of powder containing at least 70% carbon powder, 10-20% of poly-phenylene sulfide, PPS, and 0.005-10% PolyTetraFluoroEthylene, PTFE. Advantageously, the powder is suspended in water without using isopropanol. A method of producing a separator plate is also disclosed.

A separator plate is produced by hot compacting a pliable and malleable material made from a blend of powder containing at least 70% carbon powder, 10-20% of poly-phenylene sulfide, PPS, and 0.005-10% PolyTetraFluoroEthylene, PTFE. Advantageously, the powder is suspended in water without using isopropanol. A method of producing a separator plate is also disclosed.

A hybrid bipolar plate assembly for a fuel cell includes a formed cathode half plate and a stamped metal anode half plate. The stamped metal anode half plate is unnested with and affixed to the formed cathode half plate. Each of the half plates has a reactant side and a coolant side, a feed region, and a header with a plurality of header apertures. The coolant side of the formed cathode half plate need not correspond with cathode flow channels formed on the opposite reactant side. The coolant side of the stamped metal anode half plate has lands corresponding with anode channels formed on the opposite oxidant side. The lands define a plurality of coolant channels on the coolant side of the stamped metal anode half plate and abut the coolant side of the formed cathode half plate.

A hybrid bipolar plate assembly for a fuel cell includes a formed cathode half plate and a stamped metal anode half plate. The stamped metal anode half plate is unnested with and affixed to the formed cathode half plate. Each of the half plates has a reactant side and a coolant side, a feed region, and a header with a plurality of header apertures. The coolant side of the formed cathode half plate need not correspond with cathode flow channels formed on the opposite reactant side. The coolant side of the stamped metal anode half plate has lands corresponding with anode channels formed on the opposite oxidant side. The lands define a plurality of coolant channels on the coolant side of the stamped metal anode half plate and abut the coolant side of the formed cathode half plate.

A production method for a fuel cell separator comprises the steps of providing a powder blend of at least 70% carbon powder, 0.5-5% PTFE, PolyTetraFluoroEthylene, and 0-20% thermoplastic polymer different from PTFE. The powder is sedimented as slurry in a suspension, excess liquid removed from the slurry, and the remaining slurry press-moulded into a shape of a separator plate, for example for use in a fuel cell stack.

A production method for a fuel cell separator comprises the steps of providing a powder blend of at least 70% carbon powder, 0.5-5% PTFE, PolyTetraFluoroEthylene, and 0-20% thermoplastic polymer different from PTFE. The powder is sedimented as slurry in a suspension, excess liquid removed from the slurry, and the remaining slurry press-moulded into a shape of a separator plate, for example for use in a fuel cell stack.

A fuel cell system includes: a partial oxidation reformer; a fuel cell stack; a CO sensor configured to detect a CO concentration in a fuel gas produced in the partial oxidation reformer and introduced into the fuel cell stack; a mixing ratio adjusting unit configured to adjust a mixing ratio of a raw fuel and air supplied to the partial oxidation reformer; a target CO concentration setting unit configured to set a target CO concentration in the fuel gas introduced into the fuel cell stack; and a mixing control unit configured to control operation of the mixing ratio adjusting unit such that the CO concentration detected by the CO sensor becomes the target CO concentration.

A fuel cell system includes: a partial oxidation reformer; a fuel cell stack; a CO sensor configured to detect a CO concentration in a fuel gas produced in the partial oxidation reformer and introduced into the fuel cell stack; a mixing ratio adjusting unit configured to adjust a mixing ratio of a raw fuel and air supplied to the partial oxidation reformer; a target CO concentration setting unit configured to set a target CO concentration in the fuel gas introduced into the fuel cell stack; and a mixing control unit configured to control operation of the mixing ratio adjusting unit such that the CO concentration detected by the CO sensor becomes the target CO concentration.

A roller embossing method for flexible graphite polar plates of fuel cells comprises: (1) adjusting a clearance of an embossing roller pair of a roller press to a target thickness value of a monopolar plate; (2) feeding a flexible graphite slab in front of the embossing roller pair, and entangling the flexible graphite slab by means of opposite rotation of the embossing roller pair; (3) after the slab is entangled, continuing to forward roll the slab for 10-100 mm, and then reversely rolling the slab for 5-90 mm by means of synchronous and opposite rotation of an upper and a lower embossing roller, wherein one time of forward rolling and one time of reverse rolling are referred to as reciprocal rolling; (4) forming a polar plate after several times of reciprocal rolling, and separating the polar plate from the embossing rollers; (5) performing subsequent treatment on the roll-formed flexible graphite polar plate.