Surface Modification of Titanium Bipolar Plates with TiN/SBR Coating for PEM Water Electrolysis

A coating consisting of titanium nitride (TiN) microparticles and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) was developed as a surface treatment for titanium (Ti) anode bipolar plates used in proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis, in place of conventional precious metal coatings. The TiN/SBR coatin...

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Main Authors: Ayumu MINOURA, Masanobu KUMAGAI, Hitoshi YASHIRO, Harumi OKABE, Hideo MICHIBATA, Masatsugu MURASE
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Electrochemical Society of Japan 2025-07-01
Series:Electrochemistry
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Online Access:https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/electrochemistry/93/7/93_25-00068/_html/-char/en
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author Ayumu MINOURA
Masanobu KUMAGAI
Hitoshi YASHIRO
Harumi OKABE
Hideo MICHIBATA
Masatsugu MURASE
author_facet Ayumu MINOURA
Masanobu KUMAGAI
Hitoshi YASHIRO
Harumi OKABE
Hideo MICHIBATA
Masatsugu MURASE
author_sort Ayumu MINOURA
collection DOAJ
description A coating consisting of titanium nitride (TiN) microparticles and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) was developed as a surface treatment for titanium (Ti) anode bipolar plates used in proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis, in place of conventional precious metal coatings. The TiN/SBR coating significantly reduced the interfacial contact resistance between the Ti bipolar plate and the porous transport layer (PTL), resulting in initial high-frequency resistance (HFR) comparable to that of Au plating. The performance and durability of the Ti bipolar plate with the TiN/SBR coating were investigated by cyclic voltammetry for 1800 cycles. A single cell using the TiN/SBR-coated Ti bipolar plate exhibited clearly improved iV performance compared with a cell using bare Ti bipolar plate. Surface analysis after durability testing revealed that the SBR layer underwent local degradation, particularly in areas not covered by TiN particles, leading to exposure and partial oxidation of the Ti substrate. In contrast, TiN particles largely remained on the surface and contributed to maintaining low interfacial contact resistance. The extent of TiN oxidation appeared minimal compared with that of bare Ti, suggesting that TiN/SBR coatings offer a promising non-precious metal coating for bipolar plates in PEM water electrolysis.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2186-2451
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publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher The Electrochemical Society of Japan
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series Electrochemistry
spelling doaj-art-73b47ba04bc84f5ba847c4cb968d21082025-08-20T03:32:23ZengThe Electrochemical Society of JapanElectrochemistry2186-24512025-07-0193707700207700210.5796/electrochemistry.25-00068electrochemistrySurface Modification of Titanium Bipolar Plates with TiN/SBR Coating for PEM Water ElectrolysisAyumu MINOURA0Masanobu KUMAGAI1Hitoshi YASHIRO2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4238-364XHarumi OKABE3Hideo MICHIBATA4Masatsugu MURASE5JFE Techno-Research CorporationJFE Techno-Research CorporationFaculty of Science and Engineering, Iwate UniversityTokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.JFE Techno-Research CorporationA coating consisting of titanium nitride (TiN) microparticles and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) was developed as a surface treatment for titanium (Ti) anode bipolar plates used in proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis, in place of conventional precious metal coatings. The TiN/SBR coating significantly reduced the interfacial contact resistance between the Ti bipolar plate and the porous transport layer (PTL), resulting in initial high-frequency resistance (HFR) comparable to that of Au plating. The performance and durability of the Ti bipolar plate with the TiN/SBR coating were investigated by cyclic voltammetry for 1800 cycles. A single cell using the TiN/SBR-coated Ti bipolar plate exhibited clearly improved iV performance compared with a cell using bare Ti bipolar plate. Surface analysis after durability testing revealed that the SBR layer underwent local degradation, particularly in areas not covered by TiN particles, leading to exposure and partial oxidation of the Ti substrate. In contrast, TiN particles largely remained on the surface and contributed to maintaining low interfacial contact resistance. The extent of TiN oxidation appeared minimal compared with that of bare Ti, suggesting that TiN/SBR coatings offer a promising non-precious metal coating for bipolar plates in PEM water electrolysis.https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/electrochemistry/93/7/93_25-00068/_html/-char/enpem water electrolysisbipolar platecorrosion resistancetitanium nitride
spellingShingle Ayumu MINOURA
Masanobu KUMAGAI
Hitoshi YASHIRO
Harumi OKABE
Hideo MICHIBATA
Masatsugu MURASE
Surface Modification of Titanium Bipolar Plates with TiN/SBR Coating for PEM Water Electrolysis
Electrochemistry
pem water electrolysis
bipolar plate
corrosion resistance
titanium nitride
title Surface Modification of Titanium Bipolar Plates with TiN/SBR Coating for PEM Water Electrolysis
title_full Surface Modification of Titanium Bipolar Plates with TiN/SBR Coating for PEM Water Electrolysis
title_fullStr Surface Modification of Titanium Bipolar Plates with TiN/SBR Coating for PEM Water Electrolysis
title_full_unstemmed Surface Modification of Titanium Bipolar Plates with TiN/SBR Coating for PEM Water Electrolysis
title_short Surface Modification of Titanium Bipolar Plates with TiN/SBR Coating for PEM Water Electrolysis
title_sort surface modification of titanium bipolar plates with tin sbr coating for pem water electrolysis
topic pem water electrolysis
bipolar plate
corrosion resistance
titanium nitride
url https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/electrochemistry/93/7/93_25-00068/_html/-char/en
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