Effect of conductive carbon material content and structure in carbon fiber paper made from carbon felt on the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell

In this study, phenolic resin is used as a conductive carbon material, and is subjected to heat treatment at temperatures of 700 °C, 1000 °C, and 1400 °C, which changes its structure. Before carbon fiber paper is prepared from carbon felt, the felt is treated with phenolic resin solutions with resin content of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 wt%. During fuel cell testing, torsion of 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 kgf-cm is applied. The study found that when the phenolic resin content is 15 wt%, the heat treatment temperature 1400 °C, the test area 25 cm2, and the test temperature 65 °C, a fuel cell can achieve a current density of 2020 mA cm−2 at 0.5 V and torque of 120 kgf-cm.