American Fuel Cell LLC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: 11a

Description

The polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells membrane electrode assemblies market was valued at $460 million in 2014, with expected growth of approximately 29.4% until 2020. However, using established manufacturing methods, the scaled commercial cost of bipolar plate in automotive polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells is over two times higher than the US DoE 2020 target. A new cost-focused approach to bipolar plate design that enables a simpler gas diffusion layer that can be manufactured in a continuous process along with the other layers in a fuel cell has the potential to make a significant impact. A low-cost bipolar plate with reduced mass will be developed, utilizing a plastic frame in the non-active regions. The development will be constrained by a design for roll-to-roll manufacturing technology that reduces diffusion layer stiffness constraints with narrow flow channels. Ultimately, a unitized and fully bonded fuel cell with plastic headers and significantly reduced cost and mass will result. This innovation will accelerate commercial deployment of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, helping the DoE achieve its goal of providing clean, safe, and domestically produced energy. The Phase 1 effort will focus on demonstrating the validity of the underlying concepts of the proposed design. We will to demonstrate solutions to the key technical hurdles related to the process of roll-to-roll polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells manufacturing. This work will be organized by milestones related to corrugation and plastic frame sealing demonstrations, conductive fiber coating, hydrophobic coating, MPL coating, catalyst coating and membrane coating. Successful completion of this Phase I project and subsequent Phase II development will result in a low-cost bipolar plate with modified interface and more flexible substrate that enables a complete roll-to-roll high-volume manufacturing system. Reducing the cost of fuel cells will ease entry into initial markets, and developing high throughput fuel cell manufacturing methods will facilitate growth to high-volume markets. The adoption of clean energy provides social benefits by reducing both local emissions for health considerations and greenhouse gas emission for global warming concerns. Clean energy also increases American independence from foreign oil, thus improving geopolitical stability.