A comprehensive review of current research on various materials used for developing composite bipolar plates in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Abstract Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells or proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) is a clean, reliable, and efficient power source, especially in fuel cell electric vehicles for converting chemical energy stored in hydrogen and oxygen directly into electrical energy. Bipolar plates (BP) are vital components in PEMFC since they contribute significantly to fuel cells weight, volume, and cost. Traditionally BP was fabricated from high‐density graphite material. However, the drawbacks of graphite plates like high volume, weight, and difficulty in machining lead to research in developing alternative materials for BP. Metals and composite materials have attracted attention as alternative materials in recent studies. Composite BP was preferred more due to corrosion problems and expensive coating requirements of metallic plates. This article presents a comprehensive review of current research on various materials used for developing polymer composite BP. The properties of polymer composite BP made of traditional and recently developed thermosetting or thermoplastic resins reinforced with conductive carbon‐based fillers like expanded graphite, carbon black, carbon fiber, carbon nanotube and graphene are discussed. The challenges and future research trends on materials and processes for developing composite BP are also proposed.