Corrosion Resistant Metal Bipolar Plate for a PEMFC Including a Radical Scavenger

Abstract

The present disclosure includes fuel cell bipolar plates and methods of forming a radical scavenging coating on a bipolar plate. The bipolar plates may include a steel substrate, a middle layer contacting the steel substrate and including a bulk material and a radical scavenging material, and a conductive layer contacting the middle layer. The radical scavenging material may include cerium, such as metallic cerium or a cerium oxide. The conductive layer may include a conductive carbon, such as a diamond-like carbon or coating (DLC). The radical scavenging material may comprise 0.1 wt % to 30 wt % of the middle layer. The middle layer may be deposited using PVD, and the radical scavenging material may be doped into the middle layer, for example, by co-sputtering it with the bulk material of the middle layer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.