CNT composites have been used as bipolar plates in hydrogen fuel cells due to their high corrosion resistance, chemical stability, and high strength. However, due to the low forming elongation of CNT composites, channels were mainly manufactured through milling process. There are problems with low processing precision and damage due to vibration and tool wear that occurs during milling process. Non-traditional laser processing performs non-contact processing, which can solve the problems of tool life and vibration. Furthermore, laser processing is well-known for its advantages of high precision, fast processing speed, and suitability for complex processing tasks. Consequently, research has been conducted to utilize laser processing for fabricating microchannels. Likewise, it is expected that microchannels can be processed in graphite materials using lasers, and thin separators can also be manufactured. However, research on fabricating microchannels in graphite materials have not been conducted. Therefore, this study conducted research to manufacture channels and bipolar plates in CNT composites using a nanosecond pulse laser. Channels with a width of 1.2 mm were fabricated by irradiating lasers parallelly, and the effect of parallel irradiation intervals was observed. After laser irradiation, the change in surface chemical composition was analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and changes in surface resistance and wettability of the laser-processed area were measured. Finally, the feasibility of using laser processing to manufacture separators for CNT composites was examined.
Keywords
- Bipolar Plate
- Channel
- Fuel Cell
- Laser Processing
- Nanosecond Pulsed Laser