High-Performance Graphene Coating on Titanium Bipolar Plates in Fuel Cells via Cathodic Electrophoretic Deposition

Abstract

In this article, we proposed a facile method to electrophoretically deposit a highly conductive and corrosion-resistant graphene layer on metal bipolar plates (BPs) while avoiding the oxidation of the metal substrate during the electrophoretic deposition (EPD). p-Phenylenediamine (PPD) was first grafted onto negatively charged graphene oxide (GO) to obtain modified graphene oxide (MGO) while bearing positive charges. Then, MGO dispersed in ethanol was coated on titanium plates via cathodic EPD under a constant voltage, followed by reducing the deposited MGO with H2 at 400 °C, gaining a titanium plate coated with reduced MGO (RMGO@Ti). Under the simulated environment of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), RMGO@Ti presents a corrosion current of < 10−6 A·cm−2, approximately two orders of magnitude lower than that of bare titanium. Furthermore, the interfacial contact resistance (ICR) of RMGO@Ti is as low as 4 mΩ·cm2, which is about one-thirtieth that of bare titanium. Therefore, RMGO@Ti appears very promising for use as BP in PEMFCs.