Corrosion behavior of TiN coated type 316 stainless steel in simulated PEMFC environments

The corrosion behavior of TiN coated type 316 stainless steel (SS) was investigated in simulated proton exchange membrane fuel cell environments, i.e. 0.01 M HCl + 0.01 M Na2SO4 solutions bubbled with pure oxygen and hydrogen gases, respectively, by using electrochemical measurement techniques. 316SS substrate can passivate spontaneously in simulated cathode environment, while it is in active state at the corrosion potential in simulated anode environment. TiN coatings have much better corrosion resistance and passivity under both simulated conditions. No significant degradation takes place in TiN coatings under the typical load conditions of fuel cell for 4 h. The loss of small part of coatings occurs during the immersion tests of TiN coatings in the oxygen environment for 1000 h and in the hydrogen environment for 240 h, respectively, but the exposed substrate areas are passivated in both environments. The results reveal that TiN coating can offer 316SS higher corrosion resistance and electric conductivity, and that further effort to improve the coating quality and to evaluate the long-term stability of 316SS/TiN coating systems under simulated conditions are deserved. in addition, the characteristics of corrosion process for TiN coatings on passivatable substrate were discussed in detail. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.