Novel hybrid coating of TiN and carbon with improved corrosion resistance for bipolar plates of PEM water electrolysis

Surface modification of Ti based bipolar plates (BPs) could be an effective solution to prevent the formation of low-conductive oxide film, promote the corrosion resistance and electronic conductivity as well. In this work, a novel hybrid coating composed of nano-sized TiN and carbonaceous phases (TiN–C) was successfully established on a Ti substrate via a combined electrophoretic deposition and thermal treatment process. Various physiochemical characterizations revealed that the coating was uniform, and the formation of the nano-sized TiN and carbonaceous composites reduced the interfacial contact resistance significantly. The potentiodynamic and potentiostatic polarization tests indicated that the hybrid coating TiN–C prepared at 400 °C had a corrosion current density of only 1.41 μA cm⁻², which was an order of magnitude lower than that (36.02 μA cm⁻²) of the bare Ti. Furthermore, the as-prepared coating showed excellent durability in both the simulated PEMWE environment and the PEMWE cell under polarization at 1.7 V for more than 300 h.     

An investigation into TiN-coated 316L stainless steel as a bipolar plate material for PEM fuel cells

In order to reduce the cost, weight and volume of the bipolar plates, considerable attention is being paid to developing metallic bipolar plates to replace the non-porous graphite bipolar plates that are in current use. However, metals are prone to corrosion in the proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell environments, which decreases the ionic conductivity of the membrane and lowers the overall performance of the fuel cells. In this study, TiN was coated on SS316L using a physical vapor deposition (PVD) technology (plasma enhanced reactive evaporation) to increase the corrosion resistance of the base SS316L. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical methods were used to characterize the TiN-coated SS316L. XRD showed that the TiN coating had a face-centered-cubic (fcc) structure. Potentiodynamic tests and electrochemical impedance tests showed that the corrosion resistance of SS316L was significantly increased in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ at 70 °C by coating with TiN. In order to investigate the suitability of these coated materials as cathodes and anodes in a PEMFC, potentiostatic tests were conducted under both simulated cathode and anode conditions. The simulated anode environment was −0.1 V versus SCE purged with H₂ and the simulated cathode environment was 0.6 V versus SCE purged with O₂. In the simulated anode conditions, the corrosion current of TiN-coated SS316L is −4 × 10⁻⁵ A cm⁻², which is lower than that of the uncoated SS316L (about −1 × 10⁻⁶ A cm⁻²). In the simulated cathode conditions, the corrosion current of TiN-coated SS316L is increased to 2.5 × 10⁻⁵ A cm⁻², which is higher than that of the uncoated SS316L (about 5 × 10⁻⁶ A cm⁻²). This is because pitting corrosion had taken place on the TiN-coated specimen.     

Long-term polarization accelerated degradation of nano-thin C/Ti coated SS316L bipolar plates used in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Dynamic potentials of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) lead to the corrosion of metal bipolar plates and significantly increase their interfacial contact resistance (ICR). Herein, two nano-thin C/Ti coatings with different thicknesses are prepared on SS316L (C/Ti/SS) and examined under three types of polarization potential modes. The C₁₀₀Ti₆₀ coating has improved corrosion resistance than C₂₀Ti₁₄₀ coating. The C₁₀₀Ti₆₀ coating exhibits a low ICR of 2.67 mΩ cm² and a small corrosion rate of 1.47 μA/cm², highlighting the high electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance. Moreover, C₁₀₀Ti₆₀/SS achieves a slight degradation of ICR after polarization at 0.67 V and cyclic polarization between 0.43 and 0.73 V. However, the high potential of 1.43 V induces severe delamination of C layer, resulting in a remarkable increase of ICR. Analysis suggests that the Ti layer improves the oxidation resistance and the C layer could provide effective protection when the potential is below 1.13 V.     

Surface microstructure and performance of TiN monolayer film on titanium bipolar plate for PEMFC

The influence of bias voltage on surface microstructure of TiN films deposited on Ti substrate by multi-arc ion plating was systematically investigated. The TiN films were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The corrosion resistance was tested by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy at 70–80 °C in the simulated PEMFC cathode environment. The results show that the surface microstructure of TiN film depends strongly on the bias voltages. At the bias voltage of −100 V, TiN film shows the optimum surface microstructure with the lowest surface roughness R_z of 0.039 μm tested by AFM and relatively high compactness. The optimized TiN film exhibits excellent corrosion resistance with corrosion current density of 0.87 μA/cm² in a 0.5 M H₂SO₄ + 2 ppm HF solution at 80 °C with air and a low interfacial contact resistance (ICR) value of 3.0 mΩ cm² at a compaction force of 140 N/cm². These results support TiN as a promising coating material for Ti bipolar plates.     

Adjustable TiN coatings deposited with HiPIMS on titanium bipolar plates for PEMFC

TiN coatings were deposited by HiPIMS at different N₂ flow rate to improve the corrosion resistance and conductivity of metallic bipolar plates. The results show that the surface microstructure of TiN coating depends strongly on the N₂ flow rate, all the samples (N₂ flow rate: 4 to10 sccm) meet the DOE 2025 standard and exhibit good hydrophobicity, which has great potential for industrial application. Among them, at the N₂ flow rate of 8 sccm, the TiN coating shows high compactness and the optimum surface microstructure with the lowest surface roughness of 1.083 nm and the highest hardness of 31.172 GPa. The optimized TiN coating exhibits excellent corrosion resistance with corrosion current density of 0.278 μA cm^?2 and a low interfacial contact resistance value of 3.51 mΩ cm². This work has opened a new way for the large-scale preparation of high-performance metal bipolar plate coatings.     

Development of Ti bipolar plates with carbon/PTFE/TiN composites coating for PEMFCs

A highly corrosion resistant and conductive carbon/PTFE/TiN composite coating on Ti bipolar plates is prepared by a two-step hydrothermal and impregnation process. The composite coating exhibits a full coverage with uniformly distributed PTFE and TiN particles when 0.1 mol/L of glucose is used as carbon source and 10 wt % PFTE + 3 g/L TiN suspension as impregnating solution. The as-prepared composite coating film shows 0.009 μA cm^?2 of corrosion current density and 13 mΩ cm² of ICR in the simulated solution of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, respectively. Meanwhile, the potentiostatic polarization test shows that the corrosion current density of the composite coating is below 1 μA cm^?2 under real PEMFC working conditions of the cathode (0.6 V) and anode (?0.1 V). Additionally, the composite coating enhances hydrophobic property with a static contact angle of 120.2°and 115.5°before and after polarization test, respectively. In summary, the Ti substrate with carbon/PTFE/TiN composite coating shows a great potential application as bipolar plates of PEMFCs.     

Thin chromium nitride PVD coatings on stainless steel for conductive component as bipolar plates of PEM fuel cells: Ex-situ and in-situ performances evaluation

In this paper, two types of chromium PVD coatings (100 nm) have been elaborated on 316L stainless steel (SS) by adjusting the nitrogen flow rate. The first coating is a mixture of Cr₂N and Cr, the second one is a single phase CrN. It is shown that the performances of the material are strongly dependant of the nature of the passive film formed on the chromium nitride layers due to the galvanic coupling between the coating and the substrate. The CrN coated SS shows very good corrosion resistance in simulated PEMFC media. The surface conductivity of the SS is also greatly improved and the CrN coated SS shows an interfacial contact resistance of 10 mΩ cm² at 140 N cm⁻². Five single cells of stainless steel bipolar plates coated with the CrN film were assembled for performance test. This 5 cell stack does not show any mean voltage degradation over 200 h dynamic cycling. Moreover, the performances of the CrN coated SS bipolar plates are very close to the Au-coated SS bipolar plates.     

Coating of stainless steel and titanium bipolar plates for anticorrosion in PEMFC: A review

Anticorrosion coating for stainless steel (SS) and titanium bipolar plates were evaluated to improve the corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity in PEMFC. The PEMFC offers clean and environmentally friendly usage in electrical power systems. The bipolar plates contribute 60%–80% of the total components of PEMFC stack with electrical conductivity >100 S cm^?1. Therefore, high conductivity and corrosion resistance are observed for long-term operations in PEMFC. Recent works has developed the cost-effective and feasible alternative materials to replace graphite bipolar plates. Metallic materials, such as SS and titanium, possess good electrical conductivity but poor corrosion resistance. Coating of SS and titanium bipolar plates can improve the corrosion resistance of metallic bipolar plates. Excellent performance of bipolar plates was recorded by using NbC coating for stainless steel materials. The ICR value using plasma surface alloying method was 8.47 mΩ cm² with a low current density (I_corr) between 0.051 and 0.058 μA cm^?2. The criteria for both current densities (<1 μA cm^?2) and electrical conductivity (<10 mΩ cm²) met the DOE's 2020 technical targets. In addition, conventional air brush method can be used for fabricating multilayer coatings onto substrates because it is self-cleaning, low cost and offers high volume and large area production. Vapor deposition method, a highly advanced coating technology using PVD, suitable for coating bipolar plates because it is environmentally friendly and can be used in high temperatures, producing materials with good impact strength and excellent abrasion resistance. PEMFC cost is still too high for large scale commercialization, which is the cost of raw material and processing to allow fabrication of thinner plates contributes substantially to the total PEMFC cost. Some future works on fuel cell anticorrosion research with reasonable coating method is suggested to reduce the cost in order to facilitate the move toward commercialization especially for SS and titanium bipolar plates.     

Effect of manufacturing conditions on the corrosion resistance behavior of metallic bipolar plates in proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Metallic bipolar plates are one of the promising alternatives to the graphite bipolar plates in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) systems. In this study, stainless steel (SS304, SS316L, and SS430), nickel (Ni 270), and titanium (Grade 2 Ti) plates with an initial thickness of 51 μm were experimented as bipolar plate substrate materials in corrosion resistance tests. In addition to unformed blanks, SS316L plates were formed with stamping and hydroforming processes to obtain bipolar plates under different process conditions (stamping force, hydroforming pressure, stamping speed, hydroforming pressure rate). These bipolar plates, then, were subjected to corrosion tests, and the results were presented and discussed in detail. Potentiodynamic polarizations were performed to observe corrosion resistance of metallic bipolar plates by simulating the anodic and cathodic environments in the PEMFC. In order to determine the statistical significance of the corrosion resistance differences between different manufacturing conditions, analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique was used on the corrosion current density (I_corr, μA cm⁻²) values obtained from experiments. ANOVA for the unformed substrate materials indicated that SS430 and Ni have less corrosion resistance than the other substrate materials tested. There was a significant difference between blank (unformed) and stamped SS316L plates only in the anodic environment. Although there was no noteworthy difference between unformed and hydroformed specimens for SS316L material, neither of these materials meet the Department of Energy‘s (DOE) target corrosion rate of ≤1 μA cm⁻² by 2015 without coating. Finally, stamping parameters (i.e. speed and force levels) and hydroforming parameters (i.e. the pressure and pressure rate) significantly affected the corrosion behavior of bipolar plates.     

Improvement of corrosion and electrical conductivity of 316L stainless steel as bipolar plate by TiN nanoparticle implantation using plasma focus

The present work reports the results of TiN-ions implantation into the SS316L samples as bipolar plates by a 4 kJ Mather type Plasma Focus (PF) device operated with nitrogen gas for 10, 20, and 30 shots in order to improve the corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity of samples. The PF can generate short lived (10–100 ns) but high temperature (0.1–2.0 keV) and high density (10¹⁸–10²⁰ cm⁻³) plasma, and the whole process of PF lasts just a few microseconds. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results reveal the formation of a nanocrystalline titanium nitride coating on the surface of substrate. The interfacial contact resistance (ICR) of samples is measured, and the results show that the conductivity of samples increase after coating because of high electrical conductivity of TiN coating. The electrochemical results show that the corrosion resistances are significantly improved when TiN films are deposited into SS316L substrate. The corrosion potential of the TiN coated samples increases compared with that of the bare SSI316L and corrosion currents decrease in TiN implanted samples. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) indicates changes in surface morphology before and after potentiostatic test. The thickness of coated layer which is obtained by cross sectional SEM is about 19 μm.     

Investigation of corrosion properties with Ni–P/TiNO coating on aluminum alloy bipolar plates in proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Aluminum alloy bipolar plates have unique application potential in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) due to the characteristics of lightweight and low cost. However, extreme susceptibility to corrosion in PEMFC operation condition limits the application. To promote the corrosion resistance of aluminum alloy bipolar plates, a Ni–P/TiNO coating was prepared by electroless plating and closed field unbalanced magnetron sputter ion plating (CFUMSIP) technology on the 6061 Al substrate. The research results show that Ni–P interlayer improves the deposition effect of TiNO outer layer and increase the content of TiN and TiO_xN_y phases. Compared to Ni–P and TiNO single-layer coatings, the Ni–P/TiNO coating samples exhibited the lowest current density value of (1.10 ± 0.02) × 10^?6 A·cm^?2 in simulated PEMFC cathode environment. Additionally, potential cyclic polarization measurements were carried out aiming to evaluate the durability of the aluminum alloy bipolar plate during the PEMFC start-up/shut-up process. The results illustrate that the Ni–P/TiNO coating samples exhibit excellent stability and corrosion resistance.     

Evaluation of anticorrosion and contact resistance behavior of poly(orthophenylenediamine)- coated 316L SS bipolar plate for proton exchange membrane fuel cell

The present work was focused on the corrosion properties and contact resistance behavior of poly(orthophenlyenediamine) (PoPD) coating on 316L SS bipolar plates. To reduce the corrosion rate and increase the interfacial conductivity of 316L SS bipolar plates, PoPD coating was deposited using an electropolymerization technique by the various monomer concentration of orthophenlyenediamine (oPD) on its surface. The presence of 1, 2, 4, 5- tetra substituted benzene nuclei of phenazine units in the polymer coating was confirmed by infrared spectroscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis has confirmed the (%) of chemical composition in PoPD coating. The results of scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that the uniform and compact coating with complete cover on 316L SS. The corrosion properties were investigated in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ and 2 ppm HF solution at 80 °C. The polarization test results showed that the PoPD coating reduced the corrosion current density both in the PEMFC anode and cathode environments. The charge transfer resistance values were in the order of 316L SS ? 0.02 M PoPD ? 0.06 M PoPD ? 0.04 M PoPD. A very low interfacial contact resistance and good adhesion strength was observed for 0.04 M PoPD coating. The higher contact angle of 0.04 M PoPD coating explained the hydrophobic property and more benefit of water management in the PEMFC environment. The results of the analysis of total metal ion releases clearly explained that the low level of metal ions released for 0.04 M PoPD coating. The overall studies revealed the PoPD coating with optimized 0.04 M oPD concentration showed best performance and provided more anodic protection to 316L SS bipolar plates.     

Electrodeposition of conductive PAMT/PPY bilayer composite coatings on 316L stainless steel plate for PEMFC application

Stainless steel fulfills most of the requirements as bipolar plates in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell. However, it undergoes severe corrosion in fuel cell operating condition. This can be resolved by coating the stainless steel with corrosion resistive conducting polymers. In this study, homogeneous and adherent conductive Poly(2-amino-5-mercapto-1,3,4- thiadiazole)/Polypyrrole (PAMT/PPY) mono and bilayer polymer composite coatings are electrosynthesized on 316L SS in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ by cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry. The hydrophobicity and surface morphology of the coatings are analyzed by contact angle and scanning electron microscopy respectively. The polymer coatings are evaluated in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ medium by potentiodynamic polarization and impedance techniques at 25 °C. The polarization results reveal that PAMT on PPY composite coating shifts the E_corr of the 316L SS towards noble direction. The EIS study reveals that the R_f value of PAMT on PPY coating is significantly higher by three orders (x10³ Ωcm²) of magnitude than uncoated 316L SS. The corrosion performance of the coatings in simulated PEMFC environment is investigated by potentiodynamic and potentiostatic studies. Results show that the PAMT on PPY and PPY on PAMT bilayer coatings are stable and increased the corrosion potential by about 410–470 mV and 275–310 mV (SCE) in simulated cathodic and anodic conditions respectively. This investigation reports that the PAMT on PPY bilayer coating is serving as a good physical barrier and protecting the 316L SS against corrosion in PEMFC environment.     

Durability and degradation of CrMoN coated SS316L in simulated PEMFCs environment: High potential polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)

The high potential on the cathode side originated from the start-up/shut-down processes is the one that cannot be ignored, which will accelerate degradation of the bipolar plates and increase the interfacial contact resistance (ICR) eventually degrade the performance of PEMFCs. Therefore, the coating with corrosion resistance and conductivity is in urgent need of development. CrMoN coating is deposited on SS316L by closed field unbalanced magnetron sputter ion plating (CFUMSIP) with an aim to improve corrosion resistance and conductivity of SS316L under PEMFCs at shut-up/shut-down stages. In terms of high potential polarization test, the corrosion current density and ICR values are found to increase as the applied potential increases. The electrochemical degradation of CrMoN coated SS316L is investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). After 40 days of immersion, the charge transfer resistance (R_ct) of the CrMoN-4A coated SS316L is approximately 14 times greater than that of the uncoated SS316L and the ICR values are 11.2 mΩ cm², indicating that the CrMoN-4A coating still has high corrosion resistance and well conductivity after long time immersion.     

Anticorrosion properties of Ta-coated 316L stainless steel as bipolar plate material in proton exchange membrane fuel cells

In order to reduce the cost, volume and weight of the bipolar plates used in the proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), more attention is being paid to metallic materials, among which 316L stainless steel (SS316L) is quite attractive. In this study, metallic Ta is deposited on SS316L using physical vapor deposition (PVD) to enhance the corrosion resistance of the bipolar plates. Simulative working environment of PEMFC is applied for testing the corrosion property of uncoated and Ta-coated SS316L. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical methods (potentiodynamic and potentiostatic polarization) are also used for analyzing characteristics of uncoated and Ta-coated SS316L. Results show that, Ta-coated SS316L has significantly better anticorrosion property than that of uncoated SS316L, with corrosion current densities of uncoated SS316L being 44.61 μA cm⁻² versus 9.25 μA cm⁻² for Ta-coated SS316L, a decrease of about 5 times. Moreover, corrosion current densities of Ta-coated SS316L in both simulative anode (purged with H₂) and cathode (purged with air) conditions are smaller than those of uncoated SS316L.     

Corrosion characteristics and fuel cell performance of a cost-effective high Mn–Low Ni austenitic stainless steel as an alternative to SS 316L bipolar plate

In this study, newly developed high manganese (Mn) and low nickel (Ni) austenitic stainless steels were investigated as an alternative to conventionally used SS 316L for bipolar plate applications in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Systematic studies on the corrosion behavior were carried out in simulated hydrogen and oxygen environments, for both half- and fuel-cell conditions. The Mn-based SS revealed nobler corrosion potential and comparable passive current densities to that of SS 316L. The passive current density of Mn-based SS is well within the DoE 2020 target of <1 μA cm⁻². Though MnSS1 steel has lean Ni content, the addition of Mn and N is beneficial for improving the corrosion performance, which is comparable to SS 316L. The recorded ICR values for Mn SS1 and SS 316L are 234.6 ± 20 and 155 ± 20 mΩ cm² at a compaction force of 140 N cm⁻², respectively. Both the steels do not to meet the DoE ICR target of 10 mΩ cm², which requires conductive coating or improvement in oxide conductivity. The performances of the steels (both Mn-SS and 316L SS) with varying thickness were also investigated in a single fuel cell condition with serpentine flow field design as bipolar plates with varying thickness (10, 5 and 2 mm). A maximum power density of 370 mW cm⁻² was achieved with the Mn-based metallic bipolar plates, whereas SS 316L showed 354 mW cm⁻². By changing the composition of austenitic stainless steel, that is, using Mn SS1 instead of SS 316L the overall fuel cell cost decreases by three times.     

Surface modification and performance of inexpensive Fe-based bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

A reforming pack chromization with rolling pretreatment process is utilized to develop inexpensive and high-performance Fe-based metal bipolar plates (SS 420, SS 430, and SS 316 stainless steels) for PEMFC systems. Rolling process is previously performed to reduce the chromizing temperature and generate a coating possessing excellent conductivity and corrosion resistance on the steels during chromization. The power efficiencies of rolled-chromized and simple chromized bipolar plates are compared with graphite bipolar plates employed in PEMFCs. The results show that the rolled-chromized bipolar plates have a corrosion current (I_corr) of 7.87 × 10⁻⁸ A cm⁻² and an interfacial contact resistance of 9.7 mΩ cm². Moreover, the power density of the single cell assembled with rolled-chromized bipolar plates is 0.46 W cm⁻², which is very close to that of graphite (0.50 W cm⁻²), in the tested conditions of this study.     

Mechanical properties,corrosion resistance,and rubber pad forming of cold differential speed-rolled pure titanium for bipolar plates of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells

Due to problems such as pores on surface-treated coatings, the corrosion resistance of pure titanium bipolar plates for proton-exchange membrane fuel cells can be further improved by increasing the corrosion resistance of pure titanium by using differential speed-rolling (DSR); however, these materials have not yet reached the standard requirements of bipolar plates (corrosion current density i_corr＜10³ nA·cm^?2). In this work, the corrosion resistance of pure titanium was improved by optimizing the DSR process while the strength was maintained. The best corrosion resistance of the DSR pure titanium was achieved when the roller speed ratio was 2, while i_corr was 429 nA·cm^?2 in a solution of 0.5 M H₂SO₄ and 2 mg/L HF at room temperature. The formability of the DSR pure titanium for bipolar plates was verified. The optimal holding pressure range was 6.8–7.0 kN.     

A Ti3C2Tx-carbon black-acrylic epoxy coating for 304SS bipolar plates with enhanced corrosion resistant and conductivity

A conducting and anticorrosive coating is crucial for the application of metal bipolar plates (BP) in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). In this work, a Ti₃C₂T_x (T)-carbon black (C)-acrylic epoxy (AE) coating is prepared on 304 stainless steel (SS) with enhanced corrosion resistance and conductivity. The corrosion resistance of the T-C-AE coating is investigated in a 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution as compared to the AE, T, and T-AE coatings. The T-C-AE coated 304SS exhibits the strongest corrosion resistance with the most positive corrosion potential and the lowest corrosion current density of 0.00673 μA cm^?2 in all the samples, while retaining intact and compact surface morphology with the lowest metal ion dissolution even after immersed for 720 h. The addition of Ti₃C₂T_x and carbon black into the AE matrix greatly decreases interfacial contact resistance (ICR), and the T-C-AE coating achieves a low ICR of 15.5 mΩ cm^?2 under 140 N cm^?2 compaction force. The excellent anticorrosion performance is mainly attributed to the physical barrier and the cathodic protection provided by the stacked Ti₃C₂T_x (MXene) nanosheets in the T-C-AE coating. This eco-friendly, conducting, and anticorrosive T-C-AE coating has a good application prospect on SS BP of PEMFC.     

Nanocomposite-carbon coated at low-temperature: A new coating material for metallic bipolar plates of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

A nanocomposite-carbon layer is coated onto the surface of 316L stainless steel (SS316) using a beam of accelerated C₆₀ ions at low temperature. The coating is composed of textured graphite nanocrystals ranging in size from 1 to 2 nm, with the graphene plane normal to the coating plane; the nanocrystals are separated by amorphous carbon. This orientation of the graphene layer provides low film resistivity in the direction of the substrate normal. Corrosion resistance tests performed in aggressive anodic and cathodic environments of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) show that the nanocomposite-carbon coated SS316L exhibits better anticorrosion properties than does bare SS316L. The interfacial contact resistance (ICR) of the nanocomposite-carbon coated SS316L is 12 mΩ cm², which is similar to that of graphite at a compaction force of 150 N cm⁻² and lower than a target of ∼20 mΩ cm². A low value of ICR is maintained even after corrosion tests in aggressive anodic and cathodic environments. The fabricated nanocomposite-carbon coated SS316L exhibits excellent corrosion resistance and low interfacial contact resistance under simulated PEMFC bipolar plate conditions.