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Study on dimensional and corrosion properties of thixoformed A356 and AA7075 aluminum bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

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  • Bolouri, Amir
  • Kang, Chung Gil

Abstract

Metallic bipolar plates for polymer exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are currently manufactured by stamping of thin sheets. However, there are dimensional and shape errors of microchannels because of forming limitation such as spring back of thin sheets after stamping. On the other hand, stamping process is limited to commercially available sheet alloys, which restricts the development of a high corrosion resistant substrate aluminum alloy. Here, thixoforming (a commercial semisolid route) that is applicable to a wide range of aluminum alloys is proposed for net-shape micromanufacturing of aluminum bipolar plates with high dimensional stability. High corrosion resistance cast A356 (Cu-free) and wrought AA7075 (∼2% Cu) aluminum billets are used for this study. Initial billets are heated at different semisolid temperatures. Subsequently, the semisolid slurries are injected into the die cavity. A356 and AA7075 aluminum bipolar plates are successfully fabricated by thixoforming with very small deviation of 0.7% and 1.5% from the nominal value of 0.300 mm in the microchannel depth, respectively. A multilayer coating of TiN/CrN is deposited on the surface of thixoformed bipolar plates through a commercially available magnetron sputtering technique. Electrochemical corrosion tests show that coated-thixoformed A356 (Cu-free) bipolar plates have significantly lower corrosion current densities than coated-thixoformed AA7075 (∼2% Cu) bipolar plates. This seems to be due to the deleterious effect of Cu alloying element on the corrosion resistance of aluminum alloys that clearly confirms the importance of substrate material development for corrosive PEM fuel cell environment. It is suggested that specific high corrosion resistance aluminum alloy for PEM fuel cell application can be simply designed and then thixoforming can be efficiently and cost effectively employed to fabricate net-shape aluminum bipolar plates.

Suggested Citation

  • Bolouri, Amir & Kang, Chung Gil, 2014. "Study on dimensional and corrosion properties of thixoformed A356 and AA7075 aluminum bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 616-628.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:71:y:2014:i:c:p:616-628
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2014.06.021
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wang, Yun & Chen, Ken S. & Mishler, Jeffrey & Cho, Sung Chan & Adroher, Xavier Cordobes, 2011. "A review of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells: Technology, applications, and needs on fundamental research," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(4), pages 981-1007, April.
    2. Lee, Choong-Hyun & Lee, Yang-Bok & Kim, Kyung-Min & Jeong, Min-Gun & Lim, Dae-Soon, 2013. "Electrically conductive polymer composite coating on aluminum for PEM fuel cells bipolar plate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 46-50.
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    Cited by:

    1. Qiu, Diankai & Peng, Linfa & Yi, Peiyun & Lehnert, Werner & Lai, Xinmin, 2021. "Review on proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack assembly: Quality evaluation, assembly method, contact behavior and process design," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    2. Yan, Wei-Mon & Lin, Jian-Cheng & Chen, Chen-Yu & Amani, Mohammad, 2023. "Performance evaluation of TiN/Ti coatings on the aluminum alloy bipolar plates for PEM fuel cells," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    3. Ren, Peng & Pei, Pucheng & Chen, Dongfang & Zhang, Lu & Li, Yuehua & Song, Xin & Wang, Mingkai & Wang, He, 2022. "Corrosion of metallic bipolar plates accelerated by operating conditions in a simulated PEM fuel cell cathode environment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 1277-1287.

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