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Steel based Bipolar Plates for Proton Exchange Water Electrolysis

Water electrolysis is a process that uses electricity, potentially from renewable energy sources, to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Among water electrolysis technologies, alkaline electrolysis is the most developed and commercially available, but PEM electrolysis is emerging as a more efficient solution. It presents several advantages, such as the possibility to operate at high pressure and high current density for production of hydrogen.

Product Number: 51323-19236-SG
Author: Katie McCay, Corneliu Craciunescu, Sara Andrenacci, Andrea Kellenberger, Marit Stange, Mircea Dan, Thulile Khoza, Sigrid Lædre
Publication Date: 2023
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$20.00

Titanium is the most common Bipolar Plate (BPP) material used in Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers (PEMWE) today, but compared to other metals, titanium is expensive, hard to machine and a critical raw material. The objective of this work has been to reduce the cost of BPPs for PEMWE by using stainless steel instead of titanium as base material. However, the electrochemical potential inside an operating PEMWE can reach 2 V vs the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE) which will result in corrosion of bare stainless steel. Corrosion resistant titanium-based coatings have thus been added to the steel surface by use of magnetron sputtering. Ex-situ corrosion testing of the different coatings in a simulated PEMWE environment has been performed. Initial testing has shown that titanium coated stainless steel is a promising alternative to titanium BPPs.

Titanium is the most common Bipolar Plate (BPP) material used in Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers (PEMWE) today, but compared to other metals, titanium is expensive, hard to machine and a critical raw material. The objective of this work has been to reduce the cost of BPPs for PEMWE by using stainless steel instead of titanium as base material. However, the electrochemical potential inside an operating PEMWE can reach 2 V vs the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE) which will result in corrosion of bare stainless steel. Corrosion resistant titanium-based coatings have thus been added to the steel surface by use of magnetron sputtering. Ex-situ corrosion testing of the different coatings in a simulated PEMWE environment has been performed. Initial testing has shown that titanium coated stainless steel is a promising alternative to titanium BPPs.

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