Pre-oxidized and nitrided stainless steel alloy foil for proton exchange membrane fuel cell bipolar plates. Part 2: Single-cell fuel cell evaluation of stamped plates

Thermal (gas) nitridation of stainless steel alloys can yield low interfacial contact resistance (ICR), electrically conductive and corrosion-resistant nitride containing surface layers (Cr 2N, CrN, TiN, V 2N, VN, etc.) of interest for fuel cells, batteries, and sensors. This paper presents results...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of power sources Vol. 195; no. 17; pp. 5619 - 5627
Main Authors:	Toops, Todd J., Brady, Michael P., Tortorelli, Peter F., Pihl, Josh A., Estevez, Francisco, Connors, Daniel, Garzon, Fernando, Rockward, Tommy, Gervasio, Don, Mylan, William, Kosaraju, Sree Harsha
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-09-2010 Elsevier
Subjects:	Alloy development Alloy plating Alloy steels Applied sciences Corrosion resistance Direct energy conversion and energy accumulation Duplex stainless steels Durability Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering Electrical power engineering Electrochemical conversion: primary and secondary batteries, fuel cells Energy Energy. Thermal use of fuels Equipments for energy generation and conversion: thermal, electrical, mechanical energy, etc Exact sciences and technology Ferrous alloys Fuel cells Graphite Metallic bipolar plates Nitride Plates Polymer electrolyte/proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells Stainless steels Polymer electrolyte/proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells Corrosion resistance Durability Nitride Metallic bipolar plates Polymer electrolytes Bipolar plate Stainless steel Proton exchange membrane fuel cells Fuel cell
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Summary:	Thermal (gas) nitridation of stainless steel alloys can yield low interfacial contact resistance (ICR), electrically conductive and corrosion-resistant nitride containing surface layers (Cr 2N, CrN, TiN, V 2N, VN, etc.) of interest for fuel cells, batteries, and sensors. This paper presents results of proton exchange membrane (PEM) single-cell fuel cell studies of stamped and pre-oxidized/nitrided developmental Fe–20Cr–4V weight percent (wt.%) and commercial type 2205 stainless steel alloy foils. The single-cell fuel cell behavior of the stamped and pre-oxidized/nitrided material was compared to as-stamped (no surface treatment) 904L, 2205, and Fe–20Cr–4V stainless steel alloy foils and machined graphite of similar flow field design. The best fuel cell behavior among the alloys was exhibited by the pre-oxidized/nitrided Fe–20Cr–4V, which exhibited ∼5–20% better peak power output than untreated Fe–20Cr–4V, 2205, and 904L metal stampings. Durability was assessed for pre-oxidized/nitrided Fe–20Cr–4V, 904L metal, and graphite plates by 1000+ h of cyclic single-cell fuel cell testing. All three materials showed good durability with no significant degradation in cell power output. Post-test analysis indicated no metal ion contamination of the membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) occurred with the pre-oxidized and nitrided Fe–20Cr–4V or graphite plates, and only a minor amount of contamination with the 904L plates.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0378-7753 1873-2755
DOI:	10.1016/j.jpowsour.2010.03.056