| A proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has come to the forefront of fuel cell technology. Its high fuel efficiency, versatility, and cleanliness are overshadowed by its high overall cost. Stainless steel 316L has been investigated as alternative material for bipolar plates. Unfortunately, a PEMFC environment causes the resistivity of stainless steel to increase. Coating the plate surfaces with a conductive and chemically stable layer can prevent this degradation. The end purpose is to aid the development of stamped, bonded, and coated metallic bipolar plate systems that can be used in a PEMFC for a stack life in excess of 1000 hours.;The effects of coupling laser welding and brazing with coatings A and B will be presented. Stack performance was quantified with polarization and voltage degradation curves, and changes in through plane resistivity of the plates. Forensic investigations of the plates were conducted to understand the degradation in performance of the fuel cells. |
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