Bipolar plate development with additive manufacturing and protective coating for durable and high-efficiency hydrogen production
Abstract
Additive manufacturing (AM) of the complex devices for energy application remains an almost unexplored area, and the harsh acidic environment also limits the application of AM parts in water splitting for hydrogen production. Here, bipolar plates (BPs), which are used to transport reactants/products and conduct electrons in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMECs), are printed from stainless steel (SS) with selective laser melting (SLM). Then surface treatments are employed on those BPs by thin film electroplating with Au, and the protective thin layer enables the utilization of AM SS parts to both cathode and anode sides of water electrolyzer cells and exhibits superior corrosion resistances and electronic conductivities. The Au-coated AM SS BPs deliver a low interfacial contact resistance (6.4mΩcm2 under 1.45MPa) and an excellent performance in PEMECs (1.71Vat 2 A/cm2), and maintain a remarkable durability in the simulated anode environment compared with the uncoated AM SS BPs and conventional graphite BPs. This approach demonstrates the possibility of 3-dimensional printing fully integrated water electrolyzer cells at both anode and cathode sides.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2];
[1]
- Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Advanced Manufacturing Office
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1458817
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1471845; OSTI ID: 1582734
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-4A00-71855
Journal ID: ISSN 0378-7753
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308; AC05-00OR22725; FE0011585; AC05-000R22725
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Power Sources
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 396; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0378-7753
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 08 HYDROGEN; additive manufacturing; bipolar plate; electroplating; interfacial contact resistance; proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells
Citation Formats
Yang, Gaoqiang, Yu, Shule, Mo, Jingke, Kang, Zhenye, Dohrmann, Yeshi, List, III, Frederick A., Green, Jr., Johney B., Babu, Sudarsanam S., and Zhang, Feng -Yuan. Bipolar plate development with additive manufacturing and protective coating for durable and high-efficiency hydrogen production. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.06.078.
Yang, Gaoqiang, Yu, Shule, Mo, Jingke, Kang, Zhenye, Dohrmann, Yeshi, List, III, Frederick A., Green, Jr., Johney B., Babu, Sudarsanam S., & Zhang, Feng -Yuan. Bipolar plate development with additive manufacturing and protective coating for durable and high-efficiency hydrogen production. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.06.078
Yang, Gaoqiang, Yu, Shule, Mo, Jingke, Kang, Zhenye, Dohrmann, Yeshi, List, III, Frederick A., Green, Jr., Johney B., Babu, Sudarsanam S., and Zhang, Feng -Yuan. Fri .
"Bipolar plate development with additive manufacturing and protective coating for durable and high-efficiency hydrogen production". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.06.078. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1458817.
@article{osti_1458817,
title = {Bipolar plate development with additive manufacturing and protective coating for durable and high-efficiency hydrogen production},
author = {Yang, Gaoqiang and Yu, Shule and Mo, Jingke and Kang, Zhenye and Dohrmann, Yeshi and List, III, Frederick A. and Green, Jr., Johney B. and Babu, Sudarsanam S. and Zhang, Feng -Yuan},
abstractNote = {Additive manufacturing (AM) of the complex devices for energy application remains an almost unexplored area, and the harsh acidic environment also limits the application of AM parts in water splitting for hydrogen production. Here, bipolar plates (BPs), which are used to transport reactants/products and conduct electrons in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMECs), are printed from stainless steel (SS) with selective laser melting (SLM). Then surface treatments are employed on those BPs by thin film electroplating with Au, and the protective thin layer enables the utilization of AM SS parts to both cathode and anode sides of water electrolyzer cells and exhibits superior corrosion resistances and electronic conductivities. The Au-coated AM SS BPs deliver a low interfacial contact resistance (6.4mΩcm2 under 1.45MPa) and an excellent performance in PEMECs (1.71Vat 2 A/cm2), and maintain a remarkable durability in the simulated anode environment compared with the uncoated AM SS BPs and conventional graphite BPs. This approach demonstrates the possibility of 3-dimensional printing fully integrated water electrolyzer cells at both anode and cathode sides.},
doi = {10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.06.078},
journal = {Journal of Power Sources},
number = C,
volume = 396,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jun 22 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Fri Jun 22 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
Other availability
Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Cited by: 46 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:
Figure 1: Schematic of a) the internal structure of a PEMEC, b) manufacturing processes of Au-coated AM SS BPs
All figures and tables
(7 total)
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.
Works referenced in this record:
Energy and fuels from electrochemical interfaces
journal, December 2016
- Stamenkovic, Vojislav R.; Strmcnik, Dusan; Lopes, Pietro P.
- Nature Materials, Vol. 16, Issue 1
Bipolar plate materials development using Fe-based alloys for solid polymer fuel cells
journal, March 1998
- Hornung, R.; Kappelt, G.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 72, Issue 1
Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Acidic Environments - Reaction Mechanisms and Catalysts
journal, October 2016
- Reier, Tobias; Nong, Hong Nhan; Teschner, Detre
- Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 7, Issue 1
A comprehensive review on PEM water electrolysis
journal, April 2013
- Carmo, Marcelo; Fritz, David L.; Mergel, Jürgen
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 38, Issue 12, p. 4901-4934
Cost and performance prospects for composite bipolar plates in fuel cells and redox flow batteries
journal, February 2016
- Minke, Christine; Hickmann, Thorsten; dos Santos, Antonio R.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 305
Hydrogen or batteries for grid storage? A net energy analysis
journal, January 2015
- Pellow, Matthew A.; Emmott, Christopher J. M.; Barnhart, Charles J.
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 8, Issue 7
Gas diffusion layer for proton exchange membrane fuel cells—A review
journal, October 2009
- Cindrella, L.; Kannan, A. M.; Lin, J. F.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 194, Issue 1
Performance of gold-coated titanium bipolar plates in unitized regenerative fuel cell operation
journal, December 2009
- Jung, Ho-Young; Huang, Sheng-Yang; Ganesan, Prabhu
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 194, Issue 2
Evaluation of carbon-supported Pt and Pd nanoparticles for the hydrogen evolution reaction in PEM water electrolysers
journal, March 2008
- Grigoriev, S. A.; Millet, P.; Fateev, V. N.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 177, Issue 2
Oxygen reduction reaction increased tolerance and fuel cell performance of Pt and RuxSey onto oxide–carbon composites
journal, May 2011
- Timperman, Laure; Gago, Aldo S.; Alonso-Vante, Nicolas
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 196, Issue 9
Power-to-What? – Environmental assessment of energy storage systems
journal, January 2015
- Sternberg, André; Bardow, André
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 8, Issue 2
Research Advances towards Low Cost, High Efficiency PEM Electrolysis
conference, January 2010
- Ayers, Katherine E.; Anderson, Everett B.; Capuano, Christopher
- 218th ECS Meeting, ECS Transactions
Investigation of thin/well-tunable liquid/gas diffusion layers exhibiting superior multifunctional performance in low-temperature electrolytic water splitting
journal, January 2017
- Kang, Zhenye; Mo, Jingke; Yang, Gaoqiang
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 10, Issue 1
Fully printed and integrated electrolyzer cells with additive manufacturing for high-efficiency water splitting
journal, April 2018
- Yang, Gaoqiang; Mo, Jingke; Kang, Zhenye
- Applied Energy, Vol. 215
Novel thin/tunable gas diffusion electrodes with ultra-low catalyst loading for hydrogen evolution reactions in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells
journal, May 2018
- Kang, Zhenye; Yang, Gaoqiang; Mo, Jingke
- Nano Energy, Vol. 47
Rapid prototyping of electrolyzer flow field plates
journal, January 2016
- Hudkins, Jesse R.; Wheeler, Danika G.; Peña, Bruno
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 9, Issue 11
Additive manufactured bipolar plate for high-efficiency hydrogen production in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells
journal, May 2017
- Yang, Gaoqiang; Mo, Jingke; Kang, Zhenye
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 42, Issue 21
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells for electrical power generation on-board commercial airplanes
journal, January 2013
- Pratt, Joseph W.; Klebanoff, Leonard E.; Munoz-Ramos, Karina
- Applied Energy, Vol. 101
Protective nitride formation on stainless steel alloys for proton exchange membrane fuel cell bipolar plates
journal, November 2007
- Yang, B.; Brady, M. P.; Wang, H.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 174, Issue 1
Investigation of titanium liquid/gas diffusion layers in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells
journal, November 2016
- Steen, Stuart M.; Mo, Jingke; Kang, Zhenye
- International Journal of Green Energy, Vol. 14, Issue 2
Performance Modeling and Current Mapping of Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzer Cells with Novel Thin/Tunable Liquid/Gas Diffusion Layers
journal, November 2017
- Kang, Zhenye; Mo, Jingke; Yang, Gaoqiang
- Electrochimica Acta, Vol. 255
Protective coatings on stainless steel bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers
journal, March 2016
- Gago, A. S.; Ansar, S. A.; Saruhan, B.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 307
Validation and characterization of suitable materials for bipolar plates in PEM water electrolysis
journal, September 2015
- Langemann, Manuel; Fritz, David L.; Müller, Martin
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 40, Issue 35
Thin liquid/gas diffusion layers for high-efficiency hydrogen production from water splitting
journal, September 2016
- Mo, Jingke; Kang, Zhenye; Yang, Gaoqiang
- Applied Energy, Vol. 177
Low-Cost and Durable Bipolar Plates for Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzers
journal, March 2017
- Lettenmeier, P.; Wang, R.; Abouatallah, R.
- Scientific Reports, Vol. 7, Issue 1
Electrochemical investigation of stainless steel corrosion in a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cell
journal, September 2015
- Mo, Jingke; Steen, Stuart M.; Zhang, Feng-Yuan
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 40, Issue 36
Study on corrosion migrations within catalyst-coated membranes of proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells
journal, November 2017
- Mo, Jingke; Steen, Stuart; Kang, Zhenye
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 42, Issue 44
Nanostructured catalysts for electrochemical water splitting: current state and prospects
journal, January 2016
- Li, Xiumin; Hao, Xiaogang; Abudula, Abuliti
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 4, Issue 31
Additive manufacturing of liquid/gas diffusion layers for low-cost and high-efficiency hydrogen production
journal, January 2016
- Mo, Jingke; Dehoff, Ryan R.; Peter, William H.
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 41, Issue 4
Discovery of true electrochemical reactions for ultrahigh catalyst mass activity in water splitting
journal, November 2016
- Mo, Jingke; Kang, Zhenye; Retterer, Scott T.
- Science Advances, Vol. 2, Issue 11
Oxygen evolution catalysts on supports with a 3-D ordered array structure and intrinsic proton conductivity for proton exchange membrane steam electrolysis
journal, January 2014
- Xu, Junyuan; Aili, David; Li, Qingfeng
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 7, Issue 2
Manganese oxides supported on hydrogenated TiO 2 nanowire array catalysts for the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction in water electrolysis
journal, January 2015
- Li, Nan; Xia, Wei-Yan; Wang, Jing
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 3, Issue 42
Layer-by-layer assembly of transparent amorphous Co3O4 nanoparticles/graphene composite electrodes for sustained oxygen evolution reaction
journal, January 2013
- Suryanto, Bryan H. R.; Lu, Xunyu; Zhao, Chuan
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 1, Issue 41
Carbon supported ruthenium chalcogenide as cathode catalyst in a microfluidic formic acid fuel cell
journal, February 2011
- Gago, A. S.; Morales-Acosta, D.; Arriaga, L. G.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 196, Issue 3
Carbon monoxide tolerant platinum electrocatalysts on niobium doped titania and carbon nanotube composite supports
journal, December 2014
- Rigdon, William A.; Huang, Xinyu
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 272
Thin film surface modifications of thin/tunable liquid/gas diffusion layers for high-efficiency proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells
journal, November 2017
- Kang, Zhenye; Mo, Jingke; Yang, Gaoqiang
- Applied Energy, Vol. 206
Numerical investigation of water dynamics in a novel proton exchange membrane fuel cell flow channel
journal, January 2013
- Qin, Yanzhou; Du, Qing; Yin, Yan
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 222
Investigation of a copper etching technique to fabricate metallic gas diffusion media
journal, September 2006
- Zhang, Feng-Yuan; Prasad, Ajay K.; Advani, Suresh G.
- Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, Vol. 16, Issue 11
Performance of a metallic gas diffusion layer for PEM fuel cells
journal, January 2008
- Zhang, Feng-Yuan; Advani, Suresh G.; Prasad, Ajay K.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 176, Issue 1
Review of bipolar plates in PEM fuel cells: Flow-field designs
journal, March 2005
- Li, Xianguo; Sabir, Imran
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 30, Issue 4, p. 359-371
Effect of flow and temperature distribution on the performance of a PEM fuel cell stack
journal, November 2006
- Park, Jaewan; Li, Xianguo
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 162, Issue 1
Thermally nitrided stainless steels for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell bipolar plates
journal, November 2004
- Wang, H.; Brady, M. P.; Teeter, G.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 138, Issue 1-2, p. 86-93
Stainless steel as bipolar plate material for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells
journal, April 2003
- Wang, H.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 115, Issue 2
The development of economical bipolar plates for fuel cells
journal, January 2006
- Cunningham, Brent; Baird, Donald G.
- Journal of Materials Chemistry, Vol. 16, Issue 45
Laser additive manufacturing of stainless steel micro fuel cells
journal, December 2014
- Scotti, Gianmario; Matilainen, Ville; Kanninen, Petri
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 272
Coated Stainless Steel Bipolar Plates for Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzers
journal, January 2016
- Lettenmeier, P.; Wang, R.; Abouatallah, R.
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 163, Issue 11
Critical Review—Identifying Critical Gaps for Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolysis Development
journal, January 2017
- Babic, Ugljesa; Suermann, Michel; Büchi, Felix N.
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 164, Issue 4
A review of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells: Technology, applications, and needs on fundamental research
journal, April 2011
- Wang, Yun; Chen, Ken S.; Mishler, Jeffrey
- Applied Energy, Vol. 88, Issue 4
Stainless steel micro fuel cells with enclosed channels by laser additive manufacturing
journal, July 2016
- Scotti, Gianmario; Kanninen, Petri; Matilainen, Ville-Pekka
- Energy, Vol. 106
Corrosion behavior of TiN coated type 316 stainless steel in simulated PEMFC environments
journal, June 2004
- Li, Moucheng; Luo, Suzhen; Zeng, Chaoliu
- Corrosion Science, Vol. 46, Issue 6
3D printed flow plates for the electrolysis of water: an economic and adaptable approach to device manufacture
journal, January 2014
- Chisholm, Greig; Kitson, Philip J.; Kirkaldy, Niall D.
- Energy Environ. Sci., Vol. 7, Issue 9
A review of metal separator plate materials suitable for automotive PEMfuel cells
journal, January 2009
- de las Heras, N.; Roberts, E. P. L.; Langton, R.
- Energy Environ. Sci., Vol. 2, Issue 2
A review of the gas diffusion layer in proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Durability and degradation
journal, October 2015
- Park, Jaeman; Oh, Hwanyeong; Ha, Taehun
- Applied Energy, Vol. 155
(Invited) Coatings for Robust Metal Bipolar Plates
journal, August 2014
- Wang, C.; Tao, Y.
- ECS Transactions, Vol. 64, Issue 3
Metal bipolar plates for PEM fuel cell—A review
journal, January 2007
- Tawfik, H.; Hung, Y.; Mahajan, D.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 163, Issue 2
Efficient syngas generation for electricity storage through carbon gasification assisted solid oxide co-electrolysis
journal, July 2016
- Lei, Libin; Wang, Yao; Fang, Shumin
- Applied Energy, Vol. 173, p. 52-58
An investigation into TiN-coated 316L stainless steel as a bipolar plate material for PEM fuel cells
journal, February 2007
- Wang, Yan; Northwood, Derek O.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 165, Issue 1
Evaluation of coated metallic bipolar plates for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells
journal, April 2008
- Yoon, Wonseok; Huang, Xinyu; Fazzino, Paul
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 179, Issue 1
Corrosion behavior of TiN-coated stainless steel as bipolar plate for proton exchange membrane fuel cell
journal, April 2010
- Zhang, Dongming; Duan, Liangtao; Guo, Lu
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 35, Issue 8
Deposition of gold–titanium and gold–nickel coatings on electropolished 316L stainless steel bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel cells
journal, February 2010
- Yun, Young-Hoon
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 35, Issue 4
Performance of Ti–Ag-deposited titanium bipolar plates in simulated unitized regenerative fuel cell (URFC) environment
journal, May 2011
- Zhang, Huabing; Hou, Ming; Lin, Guoqiang
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 36, Issue 9
Modeling of two-phase transport in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells for hydrogen energy
journal, February 2017
- Han, Bo; Mo, Jingke; Kang, Zhenye
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 42, Issue 7
Electrochemical performances of PEM water electrolysis cells and perspectives
journal, March 2011
- Millet, P.; Mbemba, N.; Grigoriev, S. A.
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 36, Issue 6
Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Model
journal, January 1991
- Springer, T. E.
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 138, Issue 8
Ex situ evaluation of nanometer range gold coating on stainless steel substrate for automotive polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell bipolar plate
journal, March 2010
- Kumar, A.; Ricketts, M.; Hirano, S.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 195, Issue 5
Works referencing / citing this record:
From Bad Electrochemical Practices to an Environmental and Waste Reducing Approach for the Generation of Active Hydrogen Evolving Electrodes
journal, November 2019
- Ring, Lisa; Pollet, Bruno G.; Chatenet, Marian
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 58, Issue 48
From Bad Electrochemical Practices to an Environmental and Waste Reducing Approach for the Generation of Active Hydrogen Evolving Electrodes
journal, November 2019
- Ring, Lisa; Pollet, Bruno G.; Chatenet, Marian
- Angewandte Chemie, Vol. 131, Issue 48
Figures / Tables found in this record:
Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.