Carbon coated stainless steel bipolar plates in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

The desirable properties of the metallic bipolar plates in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are good corrosion resistance, high electrical conductance, hydrophobicity, and low cost. In this study, carbon films are deposited on stainless steel 316L (SS316L) samples by close field unbalanced magnetron sputtering. The AFM, SEM, and Raman results show that the carbon film is dense, continuous, and amorphous. The corrosion resistance, hydrophobicity, and interfacial contact resistance (ICR) of the carbon coated steel are investigated and compared to those of uncoated SS316L. The deposited carbon film has high chemical inertness thereby significantly enhancing the corrosion resistance of the coated SS316L. Furthermore, the carbon coated SS316L is more hydrophobic and the resulting ICR is elevated to that of graphite. Our results indicate that the properties of the carbon coated SS316L are better than those of conventional graphite bipolar plates.