Investigation on the performance of Pt surface modified Ti bipolar plates in proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer

This study comprehensively investigates the electrochemical and passive behaviors of Pt-coated commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti), with a specific focus on the influence of preparation power. The research highlights a positive correlation between coating grain size and the preparation power. Furthermore, the Pt coating proves effective in impeding CP-Ti passivation and exhibits a weak influence on the energy barrier height with changing electrode potential. Among different power levels, the coating prepared at 300 W exhibits the highest corrosion resistance, as evidenced by the maximum Rct value of 8.971 x 104 omega cm2. The predominance of metallic Pt accounts for minimal variation in interfacial contact resistances. Moreover, Pt coating effectively reduces cell resistance and protects bipolar plates, though it falls short in effectively alleviating the degradation.