A novel material fabrication method for the PEM fuel cell bipolar plate

Gelcasting, a near net-shape forming process, is suitable for manufacturing of structural ceramics with various shapes. In this study, the gelcasting process was adopted to obtain the material for PEM fuel cell bipolar plates. The mesocarbon microbead (MCMB) that has the unique self-sintering property was chosen as the starting material. In order to optimize the MCMB suspensions for gelcasting, the zeta potentials of the MCMB particles dispersing in water were investigated. A stable MCMB suspension with solid loading up to 66.7 wt.% was prepared from which the uniform green parts with complex structures were successfully molded. Finally, the physical properties of green parts and sintered samples were evaluated.