Suitability of Composite Feed-Stock Material for Bi-Polar Plates Using Low-Cost Additive Manufacturing

Sunday, 9 October 2022: 09:00
Galleria 7 (The Hilton Atlanta)
D. Alexander IV (Los Alamos National Laboratory), B. M. Ceballos (Los Alamos National Lab), D. Yapell, C. Ruiz, R. L. Borup, and T. Rockward (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Extrusion-based 3D printing processes have the lowest cost for equipment and materials used in additive manufacturing (AM). Recently, the AM technology has been extended beyond the typical polymer-based parts to include the capability of printing metal parts via Bound Metal Deposition (BMD). This technological advancement has, in turn, increased the potential application range of printed components particularly for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells (PEFC). Although AM offers some design and cost advantages over traditional manufacturing, the finished part, post processing, must yield acceptable bi-polar plate properties outlined by the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO). The post-processing techniques employed are de-binding, sintering, and surface treatment which are performed in a single step process. Here we focus on corrosion resistance, electrical conductivity, area specific resistance and porosity as the key parameters to qualify the candidate bi-polar plate material. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of thermal processing parameters on the commercial metal composite filament via various characterization methods such as linear sweep voltammetry, area specific resistance, and x-ray computed tomography.