INVESTIGATIONS ON THE CORROSION RESISTANCE OF METALLIC BIPOLAR PLATES (BPP) IN PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELLS (PEMFC) - UNDERSTANDING OF THE EFFECTS OF MATERIAL, COATING AND MANUFACTURING

摘要

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) systems are promising technology for contributing to meet the deficiency of world`s clean and sustainable energy requirements in the near future. Metallic bipolar plate (BPP) as one of the most significant components of PEMFC device accounts for the largest part of the fuel cell`s stack. Corrosion for metallic bipolar plates is a critical issue, which influences the performance and durability of PEMFC. Corrosion causes adverse impacts on the PEMFC`s performance jeopardizing commercialization. This research is aimed at determining the corrosion resistance of metallic BPPs, particularly stainless steels, used in PEMFC from different aspects. Material selection, coating selection, manufacturing process development and cost considerations need to be addressed in terms of the corrosion behavior to justify the use of stainless steels as a BPP material in PEMFC and to make them commercially feasible in industrial applications. In this study, Ti, Ni, SS304, SS316L, and SS 430 blanks, and BPPs comprised of SS304 and SS316L were examined in terms of the corrosion behavior. SS316L plates were coated to investigate the effect of coatings on the corrosion resistance performance. Stamping and hydroforming as manufacturing processes, and three different coatings (TiN, CrN, ZrN) applied via the Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) method in three different thicknesses were selected to observe the effects of manufacturing processes, coating types and coating thicknesses on the corrosion resistance of BPP, respectively. Uncoated-coated blank and formed BPP were subjected to two different corrosion tests: potentiostatic and potentiodynamic. Some of the substantial results: 1- Manufacturing processes have an adverse impact on the corrosion resistance. 2- Hydroformed plates have slightly higher corrosion resistance than stamped samples. 3- BPPs with higher channel size showed better corrosion resistance. 4- Since none of the uncoated samples meet the 2015 target of the U.S. Department of Energy, surface coating is required. 5- ZrN and CrN coated BPPs exhibited higher corrosion resistance meeting DOE target while TiN coated samples had the lowest corrosion resistance. Higher coating thicknesses improved the corrosion resistance of the BPPs. 6- Process sequence between coating and manufacturing is not significant for hydroforming case (ZrN and CrN) and stamping case (CrN) in terms of the corrosion resistance. In other words, coating the BPP`s substrate material before manufacturing process does not always decrease the corrosion resistance of the BPPs.