The project ran between May 2022 and March 2023..
Bipolar plates (BPPs) are a multifunctional component within cell stacks in a fuel cell (FC), providing electrical conduction between cells and physical strength to the cell stack. It accounts for 80% of a FC’s weight, 50-65% of its volume and 40% of its total cost. Recently, carbon/polymer composite materials are increasingly studied for constructing BPPs, exploited resins and carbon materials, are however, mostly from fossil- and non-sustainable mineral resources.
The overall aim of BioBPP is to develop renewable carbon/polymer composite materials and advanced processing techniques for cost-effective manufacturing of full-scale renewable composite BPPs for sustainable FC technology. Currently, Swedish producers are not among the global key players of graphite BPPs. We are, however, pioneer in this field for more sustainable solutions. The success of this project will unlock the potential of sustainable resources for applications in the energy field, hence allow significantly reduced reliance on imported raw materials, especially those from fossil- and non-sustainable resources, for BPPs and FC systems in Sweden and Europe.
Participants
RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, EnviGas AB och SSAC Scandinavian Scalable Advanced Composites AB.
Budget
The project’s budget was 1 MSEK.
The project has been granted funding for a step 2-project.
Read about Renewable bipolar plates for sustainable fuel cell technology (BioBPP 2) – step 2.