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Influence of oxyfluorinated graphite on fluorinated ethylene–propylene composites as bipolar plates

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Abstract

Numerous studies have reported that good adhesion and fluorination of carbon materials in a fluoropolymer matrix enhance their electrical and mechanical properties. However, a composite reinforced with oxyfluorinated graphite has not been reported for improving mechanical properties. This paper discusses the fabrication of conductive fluorinated ethylene–propylene (FEP)/oxyfluorinated graphite (f-graphite) composite bipolar plates (BPs) via compression molding. To investigate the effects of fluorinating graphite, graphite with a large particle size of 500 μm was mixed with FEP powder with a small particle size of 8 μm through ball milling. The FEP/graphite composites exhibited high anisotropic electrical conductivity with the in-plane conductivity much higher than the through-plane conductivity because of the planar orientation of the graphite sheets. Therefore, the mechanical properties of the composites such as flexural strength tended to deteriorate with increasing graphite content. In particular, the FEP/f-graphite composites exhibited excellent flexural strength of 12 MPa, much higher than that of FEP/graphite composites at 9 MPa with a graphite content of 80 wt%. The interfacial interaction between FEP and f-graphite led to improved physical compatibilization, which contributed to enhance the mechanical properties of these composites. Our results are a step toward develo** BPs for use in high-temperature fuel cells and heat-sink components.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF-2016M1A2A2937163), the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT-10077710) and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP-20163010032040).

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  1. Moon Hee Lee and Ho Young Kim contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Center of Engineering, Morgan Advanced Materials, 23, Dalseong2cha 4-ro, Guji-myeon, Dalseong-gun, Daegu, 43013, Korea

    Moon Hee Lee & Jong Seok Woo

  2. Department of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, Korea

    Ho Young Kim

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 34134, Korea

    Jiwook Kim & Young-Seak Lee

  4. Nano Hybrid Technology Research Center, Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, Changwon, 51543, Korea

    Joong Tark Han

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  1. Moon Hee Lee
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Lee, M.H., Kim, H.Y., Kim, J. et al. Influence of oxyfluorinated graphite on fluorinated ethylene–propylene composites as bipolar plates. Carbon Lett. 30, 345–352 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-019-00103-2

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