Polymer based flow field plates for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell and the scope of additive manufacturing: A techno-economic review

Abstract

Flow field plate (FFP) is an integral polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack component that has multifunctional applications, such as facilitation of the reactant flow, transfer current from cell-to-cell, heat dissipation and product water removal. The conventional FFPs are made of graphite or metals, with their limitations, such as low corrosion resistance, heavyweight, high-cost and complex manufacturability, which hinders the commercialization of PEMFCs. On the contrary, polymer composites are lightweight and low-cost materials with good anti-corrosion attributes. It is also evident that polymer composites are the primary choice of material in a wide range of additive manufacturing (AM) processes, given their unique attributes such as design freedom, the capability to fabricate intricate flow channel geometry and minimize material wastage. However, incorporating the AM process for FFP design involves substantial challenges and consequently the present paper performs a comprehensive review on the diverse literature limited to polymer composite FFPs developed in recent years (2011–2021) with an intention of providing a holistic insight on development of cost-effective, high-strength-weight FFPs. The review also provides the prospectus of applying AM technology for fabricating polymer-based composites for FFP applications. Finally, a holistic meta-analysis is performed on strength and weakness of using polymer composite FFP, and the outlook is summarized. © 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.