Additive manufacturing of bipolar plates for hydrogen production in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis cells

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy 2021-11, Vol.46 (79), p.38983-38991
• Main Authors: Sánchez-Molina, Margarita, Amores, Ernesto, Rojas, Nuria, Kunowsky, Mirko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Additive manufacturing; Bipolar plates; Corrosion; Hydrogen; Laser powder bed fusion; PEM water electrolysis
• ISSN: 0360-3199; 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.09.152

Water electrolysis is a process that can produce hydrogen in a clean way when renewable energy sources are used. This allows managing large renewable surpluses and transferring this energy to other sectors, such as industry or transport. Among the electrolytic technologies to produce hydrogen, proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis is a promising alternative. One of the main components of PEM electrolysis cells are the bipolar plates, which are machined with a series of flow distribution channels, largely responsible for their performance and durability. In this work, AISI 316L stainless steel bipolar plates have been built by additive manufacturing (AM), using laser powder bed fusion (PBF-L) technology. These bipolar plates were subjected to ex-situ corrosion tests and assembled in an electrolysis cell to evaluate the polarization curve. Furthermore, the obtained results were compared with bipolar plates manufactured by conventional machining processes (MEC). The obtained experimental results are very similar for both manufacturing methods. This demonstrates the viability of the PBF-L technology to produce metal bipolar plates for PEM electrolyzers and opens the possibilities to design new and more complex flow distribution channels and to test these designs in initial phases before scaling them to larger surfaces. •Bipolar plates were developed by additive manufacturing and conventional machining.•Laser powder bed fusion technology was used to manufacture AISI 316 bipolar plates.•Polarization curve and corrosion test were evaluated for both manufacturing methods.•Experimental results show very similar results for both manufacturing methods.