Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 23 No 2 (2019): 355 - 361

EFFECTS OF GRAPHITE/POLYPROPYLENE ON THE ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF MANUFACTURED BIPOLAR PLATE

(Kesan Komposit Polimer Pengalir Grafit/Polipropilena Komposit Polimer Pengalir Ke atas Sifat Kekonduksian Elektrik bagi Pembuatan Plat Dwikutub)

Iswandi^1,2, Abu Bakar Sulong¹, Teuku Husaini^1,3*

¹Fuel Cell Institute,

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

²Department of Mechanical Engineering,

Institut Teknologi Medan, Medan 20152, Indonesia

³Department of Chemical Engineering,

Universitas Sumatera Utara, USU 20155, Indonesia

*Corresponding author: t.husaini.st@gmail.com

Received: 13 April 2017; Accepted: 17 April 2018

Abstract

Conductive polymer composite (CPC) has been used on bipolar plates by compression and injection molding methods. The CPC material comprises 25% polypropylene and 75%graphite with size variation (40, 100, 150, and 200 µm) according to particle size dispersion test. The composite is mixed using an internal mixer to obtain a homogeneous mixture at a process temperature of 200 °C. Electrical conductivity tests are performed on each particle size composition. The highest electrical conductivity produced by compression and injection molding methods is 17 and 12 S/cm, respectively. These values are both obtained on a 40 μm graphite filler. Results show that the type of manufacturing process affects the value of electrical conductivity using the same material.

Keywords: injection molding, compression molding, bipolar plate

Abstrak

Komposit polimer pengalir (KPP) telah digunakan pada plat dwikutub dengan kaedah pengacuan mampatan dan pengacuan suntikan. Komposisi bahan KPP adalah polipropilena (PP) 25% dan grafit (G) 75% berat dengan variasi saiz 40 µm, 100 µm, 150 µm dan 200 µm dan dijalankan ujian serakan partikel saiz. Komposit dicampur menggunakan campuran dalaman untuk mendapatkan campuran yang sekata pada suhu proses 200 °C. Pengujian kekonduksian elektrik dijalankan pada masing-masing komposisi saiz partikel. Nilai kekonduksian elektrik tertinggi ditunjukkan pada pengisi grafit saiz 40 µm, pada masing-masing kaedah pembuatan. Kekonduksian elektrik tertinggi dihasilkan melalui kaedah pengacuan mampatan iaitu 17 S/cm dan proses pengacuan suntikan adalah 12 S/cm. Keputusan ujian menunjukkan bahawa proses pembuatan memberi kesan ke atas nilai kekonduksian elektrik menggunakan bahan yang sama.

Kata kunci: pengacuan suntikan, pengacuan mampatan, plat dwikutub

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