TY - JOUR
T1 - Pre-oxidized and nitrided stainless steel alloy foil for proton exchange membrane fuel cell bipolar plates. Part 2
T2 - Single-cell fuel cell evaluation of stamped plates
AU - Toops, Todd J.
AU - Brady, Michael P.
AU - Tortorelli, Peter F.
AU - Pihl, Josh A.
AU - Estevez, Francisco
AU - Connors, Daniel
AU - Garzon, Fernando
AU - Rockward, Tommy
AU - Gervasio, Don
AU - Mylan, William
AU - Kosaraju, Sree Harsha
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank William P. Partridge and Burak Ozpineci for reviewing this manuscript. The authors also thank G.W. Garner for performing the pre-oxidation nitridation exposures, and J.M. Rakowski of ATI Allegheny Ludlum for the Fe–20Cr–4V, 2205, and 904L foils. Funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and Infrastructure Program is gratefully acknowledged. ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC for the US DOE under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. Notice: This submission was sponsored by a contractor of the United States Government under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the United States Department of Energy. The United States Government retains, and the publisher, by accepting this submission for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains, a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this submission, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes.
PY - 2010/9/1
Y1 - 2010/9/1
N2 - Thermal (gas) nitridation of stainless steel alloys can yield low interfacial contact resistance (ICR), electrically conductive and corrosion-resistant nitride containing surface layers (Cr2N, CrN, TiN, V2N, 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.
AB - Thermal (gas) nitridation of stainless steel alloys can yield low interfacial contact resistance (ICR), electrically conductive and corrosion-resistant nitride containing surface layers (Cr2N, CrN, TiN, V2N, 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.
KW - Corrosion resistance
KW - Durability
KW - Metallic bipolar plates
KW - Nitride
KW - Polymer electrolyte/proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/77953134677
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/77953134677#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2010.03.056
DO - 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2010.03.056
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:77953134677
SN - 0378-7753
VL - 195
SP - 5619
EP - 5627
JO - Journal of Power Sources
JF - Journal of Power Sources
IS - 17
ER -