The CrN (Cr2N)-chromium-ITO (indium-tin oxide) system and the gold-titanium system were deposited on the stainless steel 316 and 304 plates by a sputtering method and an E-beam method, respectively. The XRD patterns of the stainless steel plates deposited showed the crystalline phase of a typical indium-tin oxide, metallic phases such as chromium, gold and the metal substrate as well as external chromium nitride films. The nitride films were composed of two metal nitride phases of CrN and Cr2N compounds. Surface morphologies of the stainless steel bipolar plates deposited were observed by AFM and FE-SEM. The stainless steel plates deposited with CrN (Cr2N)-chromium-ITO system represented the surface microstructural morphology of the fine columnar grains of 10nm diameter and 60nm length. The external gold films formed on the stainless steel plates showed microstructure of grains of about 100nm diameter. The grain size of the external surface of the stainless steel plates deposited with gold-titanium system increased with the gold film thickness. The electrical resistance and water contact angle of the stainless steel bipolar plates covered with multi-layered coatings were examined with the thickness of ITO film or external gold film.
Yun, Y., Jeon, G., Cha, I., Choi, J., Kim, D., Jang, G. and Jung, J. (2008). 'Stainless steel bipolar plates for PEMFC application'. SET Proceedings, 7(1), pp. 1279-1285. https://doi.org/10.65582/set.2008.175
