Pre-Oxidized and Nitrided Stainless Steel Foil for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Bipolar Plates: Part 1 Corrosion, Interfacial Contact Resistance, and Surface Structure

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Journal of Power Sources

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2010.03.055· OSTI ID:983820

Brady, Michael P ^[1]; Wang, Heli ^[2]; Turner, John ^[2]; Meyer, III, Harry M ^[1]; More, Karren Leslie ^[1]; Tortorelli, Peter F ^[1]; McCarthy, Brian D ^[1]

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1. ORNL
2. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Thermal (gas) nitridation of stainless steels can yield low interfacial contact resistance (ICR), electrically-conductive and corrosion-resistant nitride containing surfaces (Cr2N, CrN, TiN, V2N, VN, etc) of interest for fuel cells, batteries, and sensors. This paper presents the results of scale up studies to determine the feasibility of extending the nitridation approach to thin 0.1 mm stainless steel alloy foils for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) bipolar plates. A major emphasis was placed on selection of alloy foil composition and nitidation conditions potentially capable of meeting the stringent cost goals for automotive PEMFC applications. Developmental Fe-20Cr-4V alloy and type 2205 stainless steel foils were treated by pre-oxidation and nitridation to form low-ICR, corrosion-resistant surfaces. Promising behavior was observed under simulated aggressive anode- and cathode- side bipolar plate conditions for both materials. Variation in ICR values were observed for treated 2205 foil, with lower (better) values generally observed for the treated Fe-20Cr-4V. This behavior was linked to the nature of the pre-oxidized and nitrided surface structure, which contained through surface layer thickness V-nitride particles in the case of Fe-20Cr-4V but near continuous chromia in the case of 2205 stainless steel. The implications of these findings for stamped bipolar plate foils are discussed.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Shared Research Equipment Collaborative Research Center
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 983820
• Journal Information: Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 195, Issue 17; ISSN 0378-7753
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALLOYS
CHROMIUM NITRIDES
CORROSION
COST
ELECTRIC BATTERIES
FOILS
FUEL CELLS
ION CYCLOTRON-RESONANCE
LAYERS
MATERIALS
MEETINGS
NITRIDATION
NITRIDES
PARTICLES
PLATES
PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELLS
SENSORS
STAINLESS STEELS
SURFACES
THICKNESS
TITANIUM NITRIDES
USES
VANADIUM NITRIDES