PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell bipolar plates

Stainless steel 316, 304 bipolar plates were fabricated from metallic film and conductive oxide film by sputtering method and E-beam method, respectively. The conductive oxide film and the metallic film of 100 nm thickness were coated on the stainless steel plates. The XRD patterns of the conductive oxide coating showed the typical indium-tin oxide crystalline phase. Surface microstructural morphologies of the treated specimens were observed by AFM and FE-SEM. The metallic films coated on the stainless steel plates showed the microstructural pattern composed of the fine sticks with 10 nm diameter and 60 nm length in FE-SEM images. The electrical resistivity and contact angle of the coated-stainless steel bipolar plates were examined with the thickness of the conductive oxide film.