Komposit-Strömungsfeldplatten und Formprozess dafür

摘要

An improved flowfield plate design and a process for fabricating such a plate is provided. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a process of fabricating a bipolar plate is provided. The bipolar plate comprises a flowfield defined between opposite, electrically conductive sides of the bipolar plate. According to the process, a flowfield skeleton is provided. The flowfield skeleton comprises a sacrificial core overplated by a hydrogen permeation barrier layer. An electrically conductive polymeric composite material is molded about the flowfield skeleton to define the opposite sides of the bipolar plate. The molded polymeric composite material is cured such that the hydrogen permeation barrier layer adheres to the composite material and the sacrificial core melts away from the composite material and the barrier layer to define a flowfield cavity between the opposite sides of the bipolar plate.