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

Abstract

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.