67 / 2021-03-29 11:33:26

Potential polarization accelerated degradation of interfacial electrical conductivity for Au/TiN coated 316L SS bipolar plates used in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

Au/TiN coating,interfacial contact resistance,electrical conductivity,metal bipolar plates,polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Influence of four types of potential polarization on the interfacial contact resistance (ICR) of  Au/TiN coated 316L SS bipolar plates used in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells is investigated. Au/TiN coating demonstrates superior small ICRs under single potentiostatic or cyclic potentiodynamic polarization. However, cyclic combined polarization induces significant delamination of Au dots and thus Au/TiN/SS exhibites a remarkable increase of ICR. Analysis on ICR and its dependence on Au dots suggest that 4~6% of Au surface coverage is the critical threshold value for Au/TiN coated metal bipolar plates to achieve the target of ICR.