Manufacturing and performance assessment of stamped, laser welded, and nitrided FeCrV stainless steel bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

M. P. Brady, M. Abd Elhamid, G. Dadheech, J. Bradley, T. J. Toops, H. M. Meyer, P. F. Tortorelli

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

A manufacturing and single-cell fuel cell performance study of stamped, laser welded, and gas nitrided ferritic stainless steel foils in an advanced automotive bipolar plate assembly design was performed. Two developmental foil compositions were studied: Fe-20Cr-4V and Fe-23Cr-4V wt.%. Foils 0.1 mm thick were stamped and then laser welded together to create single bipolar plate assemblies with cooling channels. The plates were then surface treated by pre-oxidation and nitridation in N2-4H2 based gas mixtures using either a conventional furnace or a short-cycle quartz lamp infrared heating system. Single-cell fuel cell testing was performed at 80°C for 500 h at 0.3 A/cm2 using 100% humidification and a 100%/40% humidification cycle that stresses the membrane and enhances release of the fluoride ion and promotes a more corrosive environment for the bipolar plates. Periodic high frequency resistance potential-current scans during the 500 h fuel cell test and post-test analysis of the membrane indicated no resistance increase of the plates and only trace levels of metal ion contamination.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4734-4739
Number of pages6
JournalInternational Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Volume38
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 15 2013

Funding

This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The authors thank J. Thomson, D. Wilson, B.A. Pint, and D. Wood for helpful comments on this manuscript. This work was funded by the United States Department of Energy (US DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fuel Cells Technologies Program. Research supported by ORNL’s Shared Research Equipment (ShaRE) User Program, which is sponsored by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences, the U.S. Department of Energy.

Keywords

  • Bipolar plate
  • Corrosion
  • Nitridation
  • Nitride
  • Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)
  • Stainless steel

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