Category: Transient Plane Source
Author(s): B. A. Johnson, C. J. Ciarkowski, J. A. King, M. D. Via
Keywords: black carbon, Carbon nanotubes, cell bipolar plates, CNTs, conductive, Fillers, fractorial design, fuel, fuel cell, graphite, insulating polymers, Polymer composites, polypropylene, resin, synthetic graphite particles, Thermal Conductivity
Abstract: Researchers have determined the potential of increasing the thermal conductivity of insulating polymers by adding conductive fillers. One common application this may be used for, is fuel cell bipolar plates. In this article, researchers tested varying amounts of three different carbon fillers (black carbon, synthetic graphite particles, and carbon nanotubes), by adding them to polypropylene. Both single fillers and combination fillers were studied for their potential effects on the thermal conductivity of insulating polymers. When analyzing the effects of single fillers, synthetic graphite caused the largest increase in the thermal conductivity, while with the combinational fillers, composites containing 80 wt% synthetic graphite had an in-plane thermal conductivity of 28.0 W/m·K.
Reference: Polymer Composites, 31, 3 (2010) 497-506
DOI: 10.1002/pc.20830