Low-Cost and Durable Bipolar Plates for Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzers

Abstract

Cost reduction and high efficiency are the mayor challenges for sustainable H2 production via proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis. Titanium-based components such as bipolar plates (BPP) have the largest contribution to the capital cost. This work proposes the use of stainless steel BPPs coated with Nb and Ti by magnetron sputtering physical vapor deposition (PVD) and vacuum plasma spraying (VPS), respectively. The physical properties of the coatings are thoroughly characterized by scanning electron, atomic force microscopies (SEM, AFM); and X-ray diffraction, photoelectron spectroscopies (XRD, XPS). The Ti coating (50 μm) protects the stainless steel substrate against corrosion, while a 50-fold thinner layer of Nb decreases the contact resistance by almost one order of magnitude. The Nb/Ti-coated stainless steel bipolar BPPs endure the harsh environment of the anode for more than 1000 h of operation under nominal conditions, showing a potential use in PEM electrolyzers for large-scale H2 production from renewables.

Manufacturing of Large‐Scale Titanium‐Based Porous Transport Layers for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Electrolysis by Tape Casting

“…In order to reliably prevent breakthrough corrosion on the anode side, the PTL must form a stable passivation layer, which might reduce electrochemical performance due to the higher area‐specific resistance of the passivation layer compared to the blank metal . To overcome this limitation, functional coatings on the PTL might be a promising alternative to keep the contact resistance low …”

Communication—Contribution of Catalyst Layer Proton Transport Resistance to Voltage Loss in Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolyzers

“…The ohmic overpotential is associated with the charge transport (ionic, electronic) in cell components and contact resistances. [1][2][3] Kinetic losses (η act ) are related to the electrochemical reactions, mainly the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER). 4 The mass-transport overpotential (η mt x ) is still not well understood.…”

Highly active screen-printed Ir Ti4O7 anodes for proton exchange membrane electrolyzers

“…Ti-coated stainless steel bipolar plates by vacuum plasma spraying [38][39][40] diffusion layer (GDL) to prevent the destruction of the carbon paper upon the pressure increase caused by the evolution of H 2 . A protocol of measurements was defined using mild conditions for electrolyzer operation to avoid a possible fast degradation of the produced CCMs.…”