PERMEABLE · Powder Metallurgy Approaches for Next-Generation Bipolar Plate Materials
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2021-06-01 → 2023-05-31
- EU contribution
- €172,932
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
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Results in brief
Powder Metallurgy Approaches for Next-Generation Bipolar Plate Materials
The implementation of hydrogen technologies is moving at a fast pace while many aspects of the technology are still requiring further research. One of these are the bipolar plates in the dominant type of fuel cells, the Proton-Exchange Membrane (PEM). These plates are key for the performance of the system, because they are in charge of distribution of reactants and products, transport of electrons between cells and help with thermal management, while they are responsible for up to 40% of the cost of the cell. While the conventional flow structure for the gases is made consisting of channels, that are either machined or formed, alternative designs using porous materials to create 3D flow fields have shown improvements in the efficiency of the cells. However, the features of this porosity is dependent on the technique, and most of the available evidence is gathered with techniques that are limited in terms of pore size and volume. In a scenario where millions of fuel cells will need to be manufactured per year, technologies that are able to allow the fabrication of plates with specific flow geometries while also being able to reach the production needs are required. The objective of the project is to evaluate the feasibility of powder metallurgy as a technology to manufacture porous structures based in titanium with a variety of features and the application of surface modification techniques that are suitable for these type of structures and that result in improvement of the properties of the material. It is feasible to use powder metallurgy techniques to manufacture open pore flow field bipolar plates, thanks to the effective control on the pore size and amount of porosity and to the development of surface modifications that improve the corrosion resistance and improve the performance of the material in the conditions of the fuel cell.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The proposed 24-month fellowship aims to reintegrate the researcher, Dr. Carlos Romero Villarreal, in Europe after 3.5 years in New Zealand. He will address the feasibility of using powder metallurgy (PM) approaches and coatings to process highly efficient, lightweight bipolar plates (BP) for PEM fuel cells (FC) based on porous flow fields. This fellowship will be carried out in the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), in Spain, under the supervision of Professor Elena Gordo Odériz. As part of this, the researcher will carry out a 6-month secondment in ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel manufacturer, under the co-supervision of Dr. Domínguez and Dr. Botas.The scientific objective of the proposal is to develop materials for metallic BP based on porous flow fields that have low density in order to reduce considerably the weight of PEMFCs while keeping a high performance, to increase the energy efficiency of transportation systems. This contributes to key EU and UN objectives like low-carbon and climate-neutral economies. The low-density candidate materials are titanium and Ti-based MAX phases, which have good mechanical and conductive properties. These materials will be processed using PM techniques that allow the fabrication of dense and porous materials. To improve their performance, corrosion-resistant and electrically-conductive coatings based on TiN and graphene will be developed. The mechanical, conductive and corrosion properties of these materials will be characterised to assess if they achieve the PEMFC target properties.Along with the training in the relevant scientific skills, this proposal also has the objective to establish Dr. Romero as an independent researcher by training in several transferable skills key for academic and industrial environments such as leadership, teaching and supervision, project management, IPR and knowledge transfer and scientific communication (especially to non-specialist audiences).
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSIDAD CARLOS III DE MADRID · Getafe (Madrid)CoordinatorSpain
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union