On the Effect of Bipolar Plate Mechanical Properties on the Current Distribution of Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis

The durability and lifetime of the proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is directly affected by local current distribution (LCD). Uniform LCD indicates uniform electrochemical reaction and vice versa. LCD might be affected by the mechanical properties of the bipolar plate (BP) such as the elasticity and bristliness. In this work, the LCD is measured at the cathode side using S segmented plate with 100 segments over the 50 cm active area. To study the effect of BP mechanical properties on LCD of the PEMWE, graphite and titanium BPs materials are used in this work. The titanium BP has shown a non-uniform LCD at higher clamping torque (CT), and a uniform LCD at lower one. Meanwhile, the graphite BP has shown a uniform LCD at higher CT and less uniform LCD at lower CT. Also, it is concluded that higher PEMWE cell performance not necessary means more uniform LCD.