TY - JOUR
T1 - Experimental investigations on the corrosion resistance characteristics of coated metallic bipolar plates for PEMFC
AU - Dur, Ender
AU - Cora, Ömer Necati
AU - Ko, Muammer
PY - 2011/6
Y1 - 2011/6
N2 - Bipolar plates (BPPs) made of stainless steels preferred in PEM Fuel Cell (PEMFC) applications due to their high electrical conductivity, low material and production costs, low weight and mechanical strength. However, their corrosion resistances are not at desired levels for real PEMFC working conditions. To overcome this issue, different coating types are suggested. In this study, corrosion resistance behavior of 51 μm-thick SS316L metallic bipolar plates that were coated with the three different PVD coatings (TiN, CrN, and ZrN) at three thicknesses (0.1 μm, 0.5 μm, and 1 μm), and then were formed with two different manufacturing processes (stamping and hydroforming) investigated. Potentiodynamic and potentiostatic corrosion experiments were performed on the coated-formed SS316L plates, and coated-unformed blanks. Corrosion test results indicate that 1 μm ZrN coating demonstrated the highest corrosion resistance among the tested cases regardless of the manufacturing process employed. Moreover, hydroformed bipolar plates exhibited higher corrosion resistance than the stamped BPPs, but lower than the blank samples. Hardness measurements were also performed on the coated samples and resulted in higher corrosion resistance for harder surfaces.
AB - Bipolar plates (BPPs) made of stainless steels preferred in PEM Fuel Cell (PEMFC) applications due to their high electrical conductivity, low material and production costs, low weight and mechanical strength. However, their corrosion resistances are not at desired levels for real PEMFC working conditions. To overcome this issue, different coating types are suggested. In this study, corrosion resistance behavior of 51 μm-thick SS316L metallic bipolar plates that were coated with the three different PVD coatings (TiN, CrN, and ZrN) at three thicknesses (0.1 μm, 0.5 μm, and 1 μm), and then were formed with two different manufacturing processes (stamping and hydroforming) investigated. Potentiodynamic and potentiostatic corrosion experiments were performed on the coated-formed SS316L plates, and coated-unformed blanks. Corrosion test results indicate that 1 μm ZrN coating demonstrated the highest corrosion resistance among the tested cases regardless of the manufacturing process employed. Moreover, hydroformed bipolar plates exhibited higher corrosion resistance than the stamped BPPs, but lower than the blank samples. Hardness measurements were also performed on the coated samples and resulted in higher corrosion resistance for harder surfaces.
KW - Bipolar plate
KW - Coating
KW - Corrosion
KW - Fuel cell
KW - Hydroforming
KW - Stamping
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79955890614&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.03.014
DO - 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.03.014
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79955890614
SN - 0360-3199
VL - 36
SP - 7162
EP - 7173
JO - International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
JF - International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
IS - 12
ER -