Thin Niobium and Niobium Nitride PVD Coatings on AISI 304 Stainless Steel as Bipolar Plates for PEMFCs

Atapour, Masoud; Rajaei, V.; Trasatti, Stefano P.; Casaletto, Maria Pia; Chiarello, Gian Luca

doi:10.3390/coatings10090889

Cited by 27 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Moreover, we have also demonstrated that Pt can be successfully replaced with corrosion resistant and highly conductive coatings of Nb [ 28 ]. Similarly, Nb and Nb/Ti coatings have also been used for corrosion protection of stainless-steel bipolar plates in PEM fuel cells [ 29 , 30 , 31 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards Replacing Titanium with Copper in the Bipolar Plates for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis

et al. 2022

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For proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) to become competitive, the cost of stack components, such as bipolar plates (BPP), needs to be reduced. This can be achieved by using coated low-cost materials, such as copper as alternative to titanium. Herein we report on highly corrosion-resistant copper BPP coated with niobium. All investigated samples showed excellent corrosion resistance properties, with corrosion currents lower than 0.1 µA cm−2 in a simulated PEM electrolyzer environment at two different pH values. The physico-chemical properties of the Nb coatings are thoroughly characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). A 30 µm thick Nb coating fully protects the Cu against corrosion due to the formation of a passive oxide layer on its surface, predominantly composed of Nb2O5. The thickness of the passive oxide layer determined by both EIS and XPS is in the range of 10 nm. The results reported here demonstrate the effectiveness of Nb for protecting Cu against corrosion, opening the possibility to use it for the manufacturing of BPP for PEMWE. The latter was confirmed by its successful implementation in a single cell PEMWE based on hydraulic compression technology.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards Replacing Titanium with Copper in the Bipolar Plates for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis

et al. 2022

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“…NbN, being an excellent superconductor, is considered as one of the most commonly preferred materials in the electronic industry. [203][204][205][206][207][208] NbN can be used in diversified areas such as biomedical, [196,209,210] fuel cells, [211,212] cutting tools, [213] optical industry, [214,215] diffusion barriers, [197] thermometry, [216,217] supercapacitors, [218] cryogenics, [219,220] etc. Nonetheless, it can also be considered as a nonconventional material for cutting tool protective coatings due to its better combined thermal and mechanical properties than TiN.…”

Section: Applications Of Nbn Thin Filmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnetron Sputtered Thin Films Based on Transition Metal Nitride: Structure and Properties

Bharani

Sharma

2022

Physica Status Solidi (a)

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Transition metal nitride (TMN) thin films exhibit outstanding physical, chemical, and mechanical properties, making them best suitable for a wide variety of applications. The most commonly used technique to produce metal nitride thin films with specific properties at optimum conditions is magnetron sputtering. Considering this, this review begins with advancements in the sputtering process from basic diode sputtering to the most commonly used pulsed magnetron sputtering. Further, the literature on several TMNs deposited via magnetron sputtering is summarized, referring to several articles that have been published during the last decades. The main emphasis lies on nitride-based thin films' structural, morphological, and mechanical aspects for various applications. In addition, the influence of reactive gas flow rate, substrate temperature, layer thickness, postannealing temperature, substrate bias voltage, protective layers, the sputtering technique adopted, etc. on the quality and performance of the thin films is also focused. The overall review work can be beneficial for the students and researchers in understanding the basic sputtering phenomenon with its advancements, the relationship between deposition parameters and surface properties, and to know the current research trend for exploring several research gaps in the literature.

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“…Various surface modification techniques, including nitriding, cladding, and coating, have been applied to protect the surface of bipolar plates [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. The nitriding process is known to be a useful method to improve the mechanical properties and corrosion resistivity of steels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, a modification process that operates under low temperature is needed to prevent the above problems. The coating process, in particular physical vapor deposition, could be promising due to its ready controlling of the thickness and uniformity of the protecting layer without a high treatment temperature [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. As a protecting material, pure niobium (Nb) possesses excellent chemical stability and corrosion resistance in an acidic environment with higher electric conductivity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

N+-Implantation on Nb Coating as Protective Layer for Metal Bipolar Plate in PEMFCs and Their Electrochemical Characteristics

et al. 2022

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Nitrogen ions were implanted into the coated Nb layer by plasma immersion ion implantation to improve resistance to corrosion of a metal bipolar plate. Due to nitrogen implantation, the corrosion behavior of the Nb layer was enhanced. The electron microscope observation reveals that the microstructure of the Nb layer became denser and had fewer defects with increasing implantation energy. As a result, the densified structure effectively prevented direct contact with the corrosive electrolyte. In addition, at a higher implantation rate (6.40 × 1017 N2/cm2), a thin amorphous layer was formed on the surface, and the implanted nitrogen ions reacted at neighboring Nb sites, resulting in the localized formation of nitrides. Such phase and structural changes contributed to further improve corrosion resistance. In particular, the implanted Nb layer at bias voltage of 10 kV exhibited a current density more than one order of magnitude smaller with a two times faster stabilization than the as-deposited Nb layer under the PEMFC operating conditions.

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Thin Niobium and Niobium Nitride PVD Coatings on AISI 304 Stainless Steel as Bipolar Plates for PEMFCs

Cited by 27 publications

References 46 publications

Towards Replacing Titanium with Copper in the Bipolar Plates for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis

Towards Replacing Titanium with Copper in the Bipolar Plates for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis

Magnetron Sputtered Thin Films Based on Transition Metal Nitride: Structure and Properties

N+-Implantation on Nb Coating as Protective Layer for Metal Bipolar Plate in PEMFCs and Their Electrochemical Characteristics

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