Graphite composite bipolar plates were developed by compression molding technique for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel cell (PEMFC) using resole-phenolic resin (resole-PF),novolac–phenolic resin (novolac-PF),and vinyl ester resin (VER).The effects of different resin content on the properties of composite bipolar plate were extensively studied.The bipolar plates were characterized for total porosity,flexural strength,shore hardness,electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance.The thermogravimetric and morphological analysis were also carried out for all the samples.At optimum compositions,the in-plane electrical conductivities of the composites with resole-PF,novolac-PF and VER were found to be 363.44,201.26 and 282.30 S.cm-1 respectively,whereas the through-plane electrical conductivities for the same compositions were found to be 103.30,40.91 and 90.37 S.cm-1.The corrosion current densities for these composites were recorded as 0.017,0.270 and 0.309 μA.cm-2 respectively.The flexural strength was found to be 31.99,33.59 and 30.19 MPa for resole-PF,novolac-PF and VER respectively.However,a minimum porosity of 0.73% was recorded for novolac-PF based composite followed by VER and resole-PF.Similarly,novolac-PF based composite also showed better thermal stability as compared to other composites.The electrical and corrosion properties of the composites were achieved as per the benchmark set by U.S.Department of Energy (US–DOE) for the bipolar plate.However,there is a need of further reinforcement to achieve mechanical strength of the bipolar plate to qualify for PEMFC applications.