Study on the electrical and mechanical properties of polyvinylidene fluroide/titanium silicon carbide composite bipolar plates

A new composite bipolar plate was fabricated by compression molding technique using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as binder and titanium silicon carbide (Ti3SiC2) as conductive filler. The effects of Ti3SiC2 content, the particle size of Ti3SiC2, the mould pressure and mould pressing time on the electrical conductivity and the flexural strength of the conductive composite are discussed. The electrical conductivity and flexural strength of the composite bipolar plate with 80 wt.% Ti3SiC2 content, prepared with a mould pressure of 10 MPa for 10 min, was 28.83 S cm−1 and 24.92 MPa, respectively, and can be improved by optimizing the Ti3SiC2 content and Ti3SiC2 particle size. The electrical conductivity of the composite can also be improved by improving the mould pressure and prolonging the mould pressing time.