Development of metallic glasses for bipolar plate application

Fe- and Ni-base amorphous alloys were developed and characterized as alternative bipolar plate materials for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Lower interfacial contact resistances were obtained for the Fe-base in comparison with Ni-base alloys and particularly the N-containing Fe-base amorphous composition exhibited values almost comparable to that of stainless steel upon high compaction load. Under conditions simulating the anodic and cathodic PEMFC environments, both the Fe- and Ni-base amorphous alloys displayed higher corrosion resistance than stainless steel.