Arc ion plated Cr/CrN/Cr multilayers on 316L stainless steel as bipolar plates for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

▶ The design and synthesis by arc ion plating of sandwich-like Cr/CrN/Cr multilayers with high adhesion strength and enhanced microhardness. ▶ The application of multilayers on stainless steel 316L (SS316L) as bipolar plates to improve their performances in PEMFC operating conditions. ▶ Compared with the bare SS316L, the coated samples exhibit lower interfacial contact resistance (one order of magnitude lower) and better anticorrosion performance.