Degradation of the Tensile Properties of an Au-Coated 316L Stainless Steel Bipolar Plate in a Fuel Cell Stack

Abstract

Cost reduction for fuel cell stainless steel bipolar plate (BPP)’s Au-coating requires in depth understanding of its corrosion behavior. To this end, this paper explores the degradation of the tensile properties of an Au-coated 316L stainless steel bipolar plate in a real fuel cell stack. 4 BPPs were randomly chosen and removed from a stack that had run for 1600 h and, along with 2 pristine BPPs, were subsequently tested for surface morphology and tensile properties. Results suggest that (1) Pristine BPPs have initial pinhole flaws on the surface, whereas corroded BPPs have punctate (on O₂ side) and continual (on H₂ side) corrosions. (2) The tensile ultimate elongation for a BPP significantly decreases after corrosion on both O₂ and H₂ sides. (3) The degradation of tensile properties is attributed to primary cell effect.