Corrosion behavior and electrical conductivity of niobium implanted 316L stainless steel used as bipolar plates in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

The corrosion behavior and interfacial contact resistance (ICR) of niobium implanted SS316L used as the bipolar plate in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) are investigated. The ICR values of the bare and niobium implanted SS316L are measured to evaluate the electrical conductivity. The effects of ion implantation on the corrosion behavior are investigated by potentiodynamic and potentiostatic tests in the simulated PEMFC anode and cathode environments. The solutions after the potentiostatic test are analyzed by inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The surface topography of the samples before and after the potentiostatic test is monitored by SEM in order to investigate the mechanism and degree of corrosion. The XPS results indicate that the composition on the surface is altered by ion implantation. The electrochemical results reveal that the passivation current density of the Nb implanted SS316L decreases and has higher chemical stability in the simulated PEMFC environment. However, the ion implantation fluence affects the current density. The ICP results are in agreement with those of the electrochemical test disclosing that the bare SS316L has the highest dissolution rate in both the cathode and anode environments and niobium implantation reduces the dissolution rate significantly. SEM shows that the bare SS316L undergoes serious corrosion whereas after Nb ion implantation, corrosion is greatly retarded. The XPS depth profiles indicate that a passive film with a new composition consisting mainly of niobium oxide is formed after the potentiostatic test. Our results suggest that niobium implantation with proper ion fluences can significantly improve the corrosion resistance and the electric conductivity of SS316L in the simulated PEMFC environments.