Patent Application
20180112304
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a metal strip or sheet.
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) comprise cell units each made up of an anode/electrolyte/cathode assembly, also called membrane electrode assembly (MEA), gas diffusion layers (GDL), extending on either side of the MEA assembly, and bipolar plates. The bipolar plates ensure the assembly of the elements of the cell unit to one another. They further define fluid circulation channels, ensuring the distribution of the gases, cooling liquid and discharge of the water generated in the cell. They also serve to collect the current generated at the electrodes.
In light of the essential role played by the bipolar plates within the fuel cell, as well as the growing importance of such cells in many fields, it is desirable to develop compact bipolar plates that are inexpensive to manufacture and further have a long lifetime during operation in the fuel cell.
One aim of the invention is therefore to provide bipolar plates that are inexpensive to manufacture and further have a long lifetime during operation in the fuel cell.
To that end, the invention relates to a method for manufacturing a metal strip or sheet as cited above, comprising providing a substrate made from stainless steel and depositing a chromium-nitride based layer on the substrate by physical vapor deposition (PVD) in a deposition installation comprising a deposition chamber and a chromium target arranged in the deposition chamber, the substrate passing through the deposition chamber in a longitudinal direction, wherein the deposition chamber comprises a deposition area with a length strictly smaller than the length of the deposition chamber, considered along the longitudinal direction, and at least a first prohibited area, adjacent to the deposition area in the longitudinal direction, and wherein, during the deposition, the chromium nitride is deposited on the substrate only in the deposition area and no chromium nitride is deposited on the substrate in the first prohibited area.
According to specific features, the method has one or more of the following features, considered alone or according to any technically possible combination(s):
the first prohibited area is situated downstream from the target on the path of the substrate;
the deposition speed of the chromium on the substrate is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold in the deposition area, downstream from the target;
the deposition chamber comprises a downstream cover, impermeable to the chromium atoms, said downstream cover being arranged in the chamber so as to prevent chromium nitride from being projected on the substrate in the first prohibited area and to allow chromium nitride to be projected on the substrate in the deposition area;
the downstream cover is inserted on the trajectory of the chromium atoms projected toward the first prohibited area so as to prevent them from being projected in this first prohibited area;
the downstream cover is arranged in the deposition chamber so as to prevent the deposition on the substrate of the chromium atoms from the target whose deposition speed on the substrate would be strictly below the predetermined threshold;
the deposition chamber further comprises a second prohibited area in which no chromium nitride is deposited on the substrate during the deposition step, the second prohibited area being adjacent to the deposition area such that the first prohibited area and the second prohibited area frame the deposition area in the longitudinal direction;
the second prohibited area is situated upstream from the target on the path of the substrate;
in the entire deposition area, the deposition speed of the chromium atoms on the substrate during the deposition is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold;
the deposition chamber further comprises an upstream cover, impermeable to the chromium atoms, said upstream cover being arranged in the chamber so as to allow chromium nitride to be projected on the substrate in the first deposition area and to prevent chromium nitride from being projected on the substrate in the second prohibited area;
the upstream cover is inserted on the trajectory of the chromium atoms projected toward the second prohibited area from the target so as to prevent them from being projected in this second prohibited area;
the method further comprises, before the deposition step, a step for determining the predetermined threshold, for a given deposition installation, by calibration, the predetermined threshold corresponding to the minimum deposition speed for which a coating layer is obtained having a desired contact resistance;
during the provision step, a metal strip or sheet is provided made from stainless steel and comprising, on its surface, a passive oxidation layer, said provision step further comprising a step for stripping the passive layer to completely eliminate the passive layer at least in the areas of the metal strip or the sheet intended to be coated with the coating layer such that in these areas, no remnants of passive layer remain at the beginning of deposition step.
The invention also relates to a metal strip or sheet comprising a substrate made from stainless steel and a chromium-nitride based coating layer, the coating layer optionally comprising oxygen, said coating layer being obtained by physical vapor deposition (PVD), the coating layer comprising, on its surface, a surface zone comprising an atomic oxygen content strictly lower than its atomic nitrogen content. According to specific features, the metal strip or sheet has one or more of the following features, considered alone or according to any technically possible combination(s):
the surface zone has a height smaller than or equal to 15% of the total thickness of the coating layer;
the coating layer comprises, at the interface with the substrate, an interface zone comprising an atomic oxygen content strictly lower than its atomic nitrogen content;
the interface zone has a height less than or equal to 15% of the total thickness of the coating layer;
the coating layer consists, starting from the substrate and moving toward the surface of the coating layer, of the interface zone, a core zone and the surface zone, said zones being superimposed along a direction normal to the mean plane of the substrate;
the coating layer has a contact resistance (ICR) less than 10 mΩ·cm2 at 100 N·cm−2;
the coating layer is formed directly on the stainless steel substrate, without interposition of a passive layer between the coating layer and the stainless steel of the substrate;
the coating layer is textured, and in particular has an epitaxial relationship with the stainless steel of the substrate.
The invention also relates to a bipolar plate comprising at least one plate obtained by deforming a sheet or blank cut from a strip as previously defined.
The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a bipolar plate comprising cutting the metal strip obtained using the method as defined above to obtain a plate and shaping this plate.
The invention will be better understood upon reading the following description, provided solely as an example and done in reference to the appended drawings, in which:
Throughout the description, the expression “comprised between a and b” must be understood as including the boundaries a and b.
The metal strip 1 illustrated in
More particularly, the substrate 3 is a strip made from stainless steel, and in particular ferritic or austenitic stainless steel. As an example, the substrate 3 is made from 1.4404, 1.4306, 1.4510 or 1.4509 stainless steel.
The substrate 3 has a thickness comprised between 75 micrometers and 200 micrometers, and in particular a thickness smaller than or equal to 100 micrometers.
The substrate 3 in strip form is obtained using any appropriate conventional methods, for example by hot rolling in one or several passes, followed by cold rolling in one or several passes, of a slab made from the desired alloy, the method being able to comprise one or several heat treatments, in particular for annealing.
The stainless steel of the substrate 3 is polycrystalline. It is therefore made up of multiple grains. The grains of the steel forming the substrate 3 have a size strictly smaller than 50 micrometers, and in particular comprised between 10 micrometers and 30 micrometers.
The coating layer 5 is a layer based on chromium-nitride of type CrN.
As will be seen later, the chromium-nitride based layer optionally comprises oxygen within the limits that will be specified later.
As an example, the chromium-nitride based coating layer 5 consists of CrNxOy, with x comprised between 0.6 and 2 and y strictly below 1.4 and possible impurities, in particular impurities resulting from manufacturing.
The sum of x and y is such that the chromium-nitride based coating layer 5 has the face-centered cubic crystallographic structure of the Cr1N1. This crystallographic structure is known by those skilled in the art.
The coating layer 5 for example has a thickness comprised between 3 nm and 150 nm. It is more particularly greater than or equal to 50 nm, and for example greater than or equal to 50 nm and less than or equal to 100 nm.
The coating layer 5 is obtained using a physical vapor deposition method.
The use of the physical vapor deposition method to deposit the chromium-nitride based coating layer 5 results in a distinctive microstructure of this coating layer. In particular, the coating layer 5 has a columnar structure, with grains having a size substantially identical, if not comparable, to that of the steel making up the substrate 3.
The coating layer 5 has a growth direction normal to the substrate 3.
The use of the physical vapor deposition method results in a columnar structure of the coating layer 5, made up of columns with a width comprised between 10% and 20% of the thickness of the coating layer 5. As an example, the width of the columns is about 10 nanometers.
The columns of the coating layer 5 grow along the growth direction of the coating layer 5. In this context, the column length refers to the dimension of the column in a direction normal to the substrate 3, and the width refers to the dimension of a column in a plane parallel to the mean plane of the substrate 3.
As illustrated in
More particularly, the coating layer 5 consists, starting from the substrate 3 and moving toward the surface of the coating layer 5, in the direction normal to the mean plane of the substrate 3, of an interface zone 6, a core zone 7 and a surface zone 8.
The surface zone 8 of the coating layer 5 is located at the surface of the coating layer 5.
The surface zone 8 has an atomic oxygen content strictly lower than its atomic nitrogen content. It is considered that the deviation between the ratio of the atomic oxygen content to the atomic chromium content and the ratio of the atomic nitrogen content to the atomic chromium content in the surface zone 8 is preferably greater than or equal to 0.1.
The surface zone 8 has a composition of the type: CrNx1Oy1, with y1 strictly less than x1, the rest consisting of possible impurities, in particular impurities resulting from manufacturing. These impurities do not include oxygen. The difference between x1 and y1 is preferably at least equal to 0.1.
The coefficient x1 corresponds to the ratio of the atomic nitrogen content to the atomic chromium content in the surface zone 8. The coefficient y1 corresponds to the ratio of the atomic oxygen content to the atomic chromium content in the surface zone 8.
The sum of the coefficients x1 and y1 is such that the surface zone 8 has the face-centered cubic crystallographic structure of the Cr1N1.
x1 is advantageously comprised between 0.6 and 2.
Independently of the value of x1, y1 is advantageously less than or equal to 1.4, while being strictly less than x1, and while being such that the surface zone 8 retains the crystallographic structure of the Cr1N1.
In particular, the surface zone 8 extends over at least 5% of the thickness of the coating layer 5. It extends at most over about 15% of the thickness of the coating layer 5.
No oxidation layer, which would result from the oxidation of the coating layer 5, is formed on the surface zone 8.
The interface zone 6 of the coating layer 5 is located at the interface with the substrate 3. It is in direct contact with the steel making up the substrate 3. It forms the part of the coating layer 5 closest to the substrate 3.
Advantageously, the interface zone 6 has an atomic oxygen content strictly lower than its atomic nitrogen content. The difference between the ratio of the atomic oxygen content to the atomic chromium content and the ratio of the atomic nitrogen content to the atomic chromium content in the interface zone 6 is preferably greater than or equal to 0.1.
The interface zone 6 has a composition of the type: CrNx2Oy2, with y2 strictly less than x2, the rest consisting of possible impurities, in particular impurities resulting from manufacturing. These impurities do not include oxygen. The difference between x2 and y2 is preferably at least equal to 0.1.
The coefficient x2 corresponds to the ratio of the atomic nitrogen content to the atomic chromium content in the interface zone 6. The coefficient y2 corresponds to the ratio of the atomic oxygen content to the atomic chromium content in the interface zone 6.
The sum of the coefficients x2 and y2 is such that the interface zone 6 has the face-centered cubic crystallographic structure of the Cr1N1.
x2 is advantageously comprised between 0.6 and 2.
Independently of the value of x2, y2 is advantageously less than or equal to 1.4, while being strictly less than x1, and while being such that the interface zone 6 retains the crystallographic structure of the Cr1N1.
In particular, the interface zone 6 extends over at least 1% of the thickness of the coating layer 5. It extends at most over about 15% of the thickness of the coating layer 5. More particularly, it extends at most over 10% of the thickness of the coating layer 5.
The core zone 7 of the coating layer 5 forms the core of the coating layer 5. It extends, along the direction normal to the mean plane of the substrate 3, between the interface zone 6 and the surface zone 8. It makes up the majority of the thickness of the coating layer 5. Advantageously, it extends over at least 70% of the thickness of the coating layer 5.
In particular, the core zone 7 has an atomic oxygen content strictly lower than a third of its atomic nitrogen content. In other words, it has a composition of the type: CrNx3Oy3, with y3 strictly less than
the rest consisting of possible impurities, in particular impurities resulting from manufacturing. These impurities do not include oxygen.
The coefficient x3 corresponds to the ratio of the atomic nitrogen content to the atomic chromium content in the core zone 7. The coefficient y3 corresponds to the ratio of the atomic oxygen content to the atomic chromium content in the core zone 7.
The sum of the coefficients x3 and y3 is such that the core zone 7 has the face-centered cubic crystallographic structure of the Cr1N1.
x3 is advantageously comprised between 0.6 and 2.
Independently of the value of x3, y3 is advantageously less than or equal to 1.4, while being strictly less than x3, and while being such that the core zone 7 retains the crystallographic structure of the Cr1N1.
The strip 1 according to the invention is particularly advantageous for use as a bipolar plate in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell.
Indeed, the use of stainless steel as substrate to produce bipolar plates is particularly advantageous. Indeed, stainless steel is an inexpensive material that furthermore has very advantageous properties for use as a bipolar plate. In particular, it has excellent mechanical properties. It is also able to be stamped, welded, is impermeable to gases, and has a high electrical conductivity in its thickness, as well as a good thermal conductivity.
However, when a bare stainless steel substrate is used in bipolar plates of fuel cells, these bipolar plates have insufficient electrical properties. The chromium-nitride based coating layer 5 conducts electricity, and serves to improve the electrical surface properties of the bipolar plates made using a metal strip 1.
A coating layer 5 having a surface zone 8 as defined above, in which the atomic oxygen content is strictly less than the atomic nitrogen content, is particularly advantageous for use as a bipolar plate in fuel cells. Indeed, the inventors have noted that, when the atomic oxygen content in the surface zone 8 is strictly lower than the atomic nitrogen content, the interfacial contact resistance (ICR) measured between a sheet cut from such a strip and a gas diffusion layer with SGL Group reference 34BC is less than 10 mΩ·cm2 at 100 N·cm−2.
On the contrary, the inventors have noted that when the atomic oxygen content of the surface zone 8 is greater than or equal to its atomic nitrogen content, much higher contact resistances are measured, at least equal to 100 mΩ·cm2 at 100 N·cm−2, which is not satisfactory for use as a bipolar plate in a fuel cell.
Furthermore, the inventors have noted that when the coating layer 5 comprises, in its interface zone 6, an atomic oxygen content strictly lower than its atomic nitrogen content, the coating layer 5 has better adherence to the substrate 3 than a coating layer in which this condition is not met. This property is particularly advantageous when the strip 1 is used to manufacture bipolar plates for fuel cells. Indeed, insufficient adherence of the coating layer 5 on the substrate 3 increases the risks of it unsticking during shaping, in particular by stamping, such unsticking risking deteriorating the electrical conduction properties of the bipolar plate.
A method for obtaining a metal strip 1 according to an example of the invention will now be explained in reference to
During a first step of this method, a metal substrate 3 in the form of a strip is provided. The substrate 3 is made from stainless steel.
During a second step, physical vapor deposition (PVD) of the chromium nitride on the substrate 3 is done in a physical vapor deposition installation 14, as shown in
Conventionally, the physical vapor deposition installation 14, shown in
The substrate 3 passes through the chamber along a travel direction, called longitudinal direction hereinafter. In the entire description, the terms upstream and downstream are used in reference to the travel of the substrate 3 through the chamber 20.
The chamber 20 comprises, at each of its longitudinal ends, a passage opening 25 for the substrate 3. The openings 25 are advantageously sealed.
In the illustrated example, the chamber 20 comprises an inert gas source 24. This inert gas is for example argon.
The PVD method used is advantageously a cathode sputtering method. In this case, the target 22 is called “cathode sputtering target”. The chamber 20 comprises means for applying a difference in potential between the target 22 and the substrate 3, such that the target 22 forms the cathode of the deposition installation 14 and the substrate 3 forms the anode of the deposition installation 14.
The deposition of the coating layer 5 on the substrate 3 is done by bombarding the target 22 using the inert gas from the inert gas source 24 in an atmosphere also comprising nitrogen.
More specifically, and as illustrated in
An appropriate difference in potential is applied between the target 22 and the substrate 3.
The inert gas projected, in plasma form, on the target 22, extracts chromium atoms therefrom, which subsequently condense on the substrate 3 so as to form the chromium-nitride based coating layer 5, the chromium being combined with the nitrogen present in the chamber 20.
The deposition is done on a substrate 3 at ambient temperature, for example about 20° C.
During this deposition step, the nitrogen flow rate injected into the chamber 20 is adjusted in order to obtain the desired stoichiometry of the nitrogen in the chromium-nitride based coating layer 5. The stability of the deposition stoichiometry is ensured by the analysis of the light spectrum emitted by the plasma during deposition of the coating by PVD. Indeed, analyzing this spectrum makes it possible to deduce the relative concentrations of chromium and nitrogen present in the plasma.
The specific flow rates of nitrogen to be used as a function of the stoichiometry vary as a function of the PVD installation used. However, one skilled in the art is capable, using his general knowledge and through a limited number of calibration tests linking the light spectrum emitted by the plasma and stoichiometry measurements of the coating layers obtained for different nitrogen flow rates, to determine the nitrogen flow rate to be used, for a given deposition installation, based on the desired stoichiometry in the coating layer 5.
According to the invention, and as illustrated in
The length of the deposition area 30 is strictly smaller than the length of the deposition chamber 20. More particularly, the deposition area 30 has a length strictly smaller than the length of the area of the chamber 20 in which chromium would be deposited on the substrate 3 without the prohibited area 32.
The deposition area 30 and the first prohibited area 32 are therefore defined such that, during deposition, the chromium nitride is deposited on the substrate 3 only in the deposition area 30 and the deposition of chromium nitride is prevented on the substrate 3 in the first prohibited area 32.
The first prohibited area 32 is situated downstream from the target 22 on the path of the substrate 3.
The deposition area 30 and the first prohibited area 32 are conFigured such that, in the entire part of the deposition area 30 located downstream from the target 22 on the path of the substrate 3, the deposition speed of the chromium atoms on the substrate 3 is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold speed. The first prohibited area 32 corresponds to an area in which the chromium atoms from the target 22 would be deposited on the substrate 3 at a speed strictly lower than the threshold speed if they were free to be deposited on their natural trajectory.
Indeed, the inventors have noted that the oxygen content of the coating is locally strictly higher than the desired content previously described in the coating zones formed by the deposition of chromium atoms at a speed strictly lower than the predetermined threshold speed.
The predetermined threshold speed is equal to a percentage of the maximum deposition speed of the chromium atoms on the substrate 3, the maximum deposition speed corresponding to the deposition speed of the chromium atoms on the substrate 3 across from the target 22.
The value of the predetermined threshold speed is obtained experimentally by one skilled in the art, for a given deposition installation, through a limited number of experiments. It corresponds to the minimal deposition speed of the chromium atoms on the substrate 3 downstream from the target 22 for which a contact resistance of the obtained coating layer is measured lower than 10 mΩ·cm2 at 100 N·cm−2.
As an example, in the case of the apparatus used by the inventors of the present invention, the threshold speed is equal to about 10% of the maximum deposition speed.
In order to deposit the chromium nitride on the substrate 3 only in the deposition area 30, the second step comprises placing at least one downstream cover 28 in the deposition chamber 20, said downstream cover 28 being intended to prevent chromium atoms from being projected on the substrate 3 from the target 22 outside the deposition area 30.
The cover 28 prevents chromium atoms from being projected on the substrate 3 in the first prohibited area 32, in which the deposition speed of the chromium atoms on the substrate 3 would be strictly below the given threshold. The downstream cover 28 is positioned on the trajectory of the chromium atoms, which, without the downstream cover 28, would be deposited on the substrate 3, downstream from the target 22 along the path of the substrate 3, with a deposition speed strictly lower than the predetermined threshold speed, and thus prevents the deposition of these atoms on the substrate 3.
The cover 28 is arranged between the target 22 and the substrate 3. The cover 28 is arranged away from the downstream wall 21 of the chamber 20. The first prohibited area 32 extends downstream from the cover 28.
As an example, the cover 28 is formed by a plate impermeable to the chromium atoms coming from the target 22. It is arranged substantially normally to the substrate 3 traveling through the chamber 20.
The inventors have discovered that the definition in the deposition chamber 20 of such a deposition area 30, associated with a first prohibited area 32, makes it possible to form, on the substrate 3, a coating layer 5 comprising a surface zone 8 as previously defined, having an atomic oxygen content strictly lower than its atomic nitrogen content.
It will be noted that any oxygen that may be present in the coating layer 5 results from inevitable sealing imperfections of the chamber 20 and the desorption from the walls of the chamber 20 or even from the substrate 3.
According to an alternative example, the downstream boundary of the deposition area 30 is determined by measuring the atomic oxygen content profile in a chromium-nitride based coating layer formed in the deposition chamber in the absence of definition of a prohibited area, and deducing the area of the chamber 20 therefrom, in which the surface area of the coating layer has an atomic oxygen content strictly lower than its atomic nitrogen content.
One thus obtains a coating layer 5 comprising a surface zone 8 as defined above, in which the atomic oxygen content is strictly lower than the atomic nitrogen content.
The location of the deposition area obtained according to this alternative is substantially identical to the location determined using the deposition speeds.
Optionally, the second step of the method further comprises, before depositing the coating layer 5, minimizing the degassing rate of the chamber 20 in order to minimize the quantity of residual gases in the chamber 20 as much as possible. This minimization is in particular done by pumping residual gases from the chamber 20.
The determination of the minimal and maximal presence of oxygen in the atmosphere of the chamber 20 may be done experimentally based on local implementation conditions of the invention.
“Degassing rate” refers to the flow rates of all of the gases that desorb from all of the surfaces of the chamber 20 and that are added to the controlled nitrogen flow rate. This degassing acts as a disruption or chemical pollution with respect to the PVD done in the deposition chamber 20.
The coating layer 5 is advantageously done in a single coating pass, i.e., by a single passage in the deposition chamber 20.
At the end of the deposition step, one obtains a metal strip 1 comprising a coating layer 5 having a surface zone 8 as defined above.
The manufacturing method according to a further example differs from the method described above only in that, as shown in
In this example, the chamber 20 then comprises a second prohibited area 33, adjacent to the deposition area 30′ upstream from the target 22 along the path of the substrate 3. The first prohibited area 32 and the second prohibited area 33 frame the deposition area 30′ along the longitudinal direction. The first prohibited area 32 and the second prohibited area 33 are areas in which the chromium atoms would be deposited on the substrate 3 at a speed strictly lower than the predetermined threshold speed if they were free to be deposited on their natural trajectory.
In order to deposit the chromium nitride on the substrate 3 only in the deposition area 30, the second step comprises placing at least one downstream cover 28 as previously defined in the deposition chamber 20, and an upstream cover 29.
The downstream cover 28 and the upstream cover 29 are configured to prevent chromium atoms from being projected on the substrate 3 from the target 22 outside the deposition area 30′, i.e., in areas of the chamber 20 in which the deposition speed of the chromium atoms on the substrate 3 is strictly lower than the given threshold. They are arranged on the trajectory of the chromium atoms that would, without the covers 28, 29, be deposited on the substrate 3 in the first prohibited area 32 or in the second prohibited area 33, respectively, and prevent chromium atoms from being deposited in these areas 32, 33.
The downstream cover 28 and the upstream cover 29 are arranged on either side of the target 22, along the travel direction of the substrate 3. In the illustrated example, the covers 28, 29 are equidistant from the target 22, and the deposition area 30′ is centered on the target 22. In this example, the deposition area 30′ extends across from the target 22, in a central region of the chamber 20.
As an example, the upstream cover 29 is formed by a plate impermeable to the chromium atoms coming from the target 22. It is arranged substantially normally to the substrate 3 traveling through the chamber 20.
The upstream cover 29 is arranged away from the upstream wall 23 of the chamber 20.
As an example, in the installation used by the inventors, the covers 28, 29 were spaced apart by 90 cm.
The inventors of the present invention observed that defining the deposition area 30′ upstream from the target 22, in particular using the upstream cover 29, makes it possible to obtain a coating layer 5 comprising, in its interface zone 6, an atomic oxygen content strictly lower than its atomic nitrogen content. As previously explained, such a coating layer 5 has better adherence to the substrate 3′ than a layer in which this condition is not met.
Thus, when the deposition area 30′ is defined upstream and downstream from the target 22 in the manner specified above, one obtains, at the end of the deposition step, a coating layer 5 comprising, on its surface, the surface zone 8 as previously defined and, at the interface between the substrate 3 and the coating layer 5, the interface zone 6 as previously defined.
Furthermore, this coating layer 5 comprises, between the interface zone 6 and the surface zone 8, a core zone 7 as previously defined.
According to an alternative of the further example, the upstream and downstream boundaries of the deposition area 30′ are determined by measuring the atomic oxygen content profile in a chromium-nitride based coating layer formed on a substrate under conditions identical to the conditions according to the invention, but without defining prohibited areas of the chamber, and deducing the area of the chamber 20 therefrom in which the surface zone and the interface zone of such a coating layer have an atomic oxygen content strictly lower than its atomic nitrogen content.
The location of the deposition area 30′ obtained according to this alternative is substantially identical to the location determined using the deposition speeds.
The invention also relates to a bipolar plate 11 obtained from the metal strip 1. Such a bipolar plate 11 is shown in
As shown in
Each plate 13 is obtained from a metal strip 1 according to the invention. More particularly, it is obtained by deformation, in particular cold, of a blank cut from the metal strip 1.
Each plate 13 thus comprises a stainless steel substrate 3, coated with at least one chromium-nitride based coating layer 5, as previously described in connection with the metal strip 1.
The final shape of the plates 13 is advantageously obtained by cold stamping a blank cut from the metal strip 1.
The invention also relates to a method for producing a bipolar plate 11 from a metal strip 1 comprising:
providing a plate 13 comprising a stainless steel substrate 3, coated with at least one chromium-nitride based coating layer 5, as previously described; and
securing this plate 13 to another plate, and advantageously to another similar plate 13, so as to form the bipolar plate 11.
The step for providing the plate 13 comprises:
cutting the metal strip 1 to form at least one blank; and
deforming this blank, in particular by stamping, to form a plate 13.
As previously explained, the deformation is advantageously a cold deformation, and in particular cold stamping.
The securing of the two plates to one another to form the bipolar plate 11 is done using any appropriate method, and in particular by welding.
As previously explained, the metal strip 1 according to the invention is particularly suitable for producing such bipolar plates 11.
The inventors have in particular measured, for three different metal strip samples bearing a chromium-nitride based coating layer, the contact resistance (ICR) between the sample and a gas diffusion layer of the fuel cell using the assembly shown in
Samples 1 and 2 are samples of strips 1 according to the invention, obtained according to the example of the method described above by cathode sputtering in a deposition chamber 20 comprising an upstream cover 29 and a downstream cover 28. Sample 3 is from a strip that is not according to the invention.
As illustrated in
One then measures the difference in potential between the diffusion layer 32 and the surface of the sheet, and deduces the contact resistance therefrom between the sheet and the diffusion layer 32.
This method for measuring the contact resistance of a fuel cell bipolar plate is traditional and well known by those skilled in the art.
The inventors also experimentally determined the composition of the surface zone 8 of the coating layer.
Table 1 below reproduces the results of these experiments.
In this table, one can see the one obtains contact resistance values below 10 mΩ·cm2 at 100 N·cm−2 for coatings having surface zones in which the atomic oxygen content is, according to the invention, strictly lower than the atomic nitrogen content in the surface zone (samples 1 and 2). On the contrary, in the case of sample 3, where the atomic oxygen content is greater than or equal to the atomic nitrogen content in the surface zone of the coating, and which is therefore not a sample according to the invention, the contact resistance is greater than 100 mΩ·cm2 at 100 N·cm−2. It is therefore much higher than 10 mΩ·cm2 at 100 N·cm−2.
The inventors also measured, for samples 1 to 3, the composition of the interface zone 6 and the core zone 7. The results of these measurements are reproduced in table 2 below.
As previously explained, the inventors of the present invention also discovered that the particular composition of the interface zone 6 of the coating layer 5 according to the invention is advantageous. Indeed, the inventors observed that the appearance of the coating layer 5 is particularly good when the atomic oxygen content of the interface zone 6 is strictly lower than its atomic nitrogen content. Thus, the risk of unsticking of the coating layer 5 from the substrate 3 during the deformation of the blank obtained from the strip 1 to form the plates 13, for example by stamping, is minimized An effort is made to avoid such unsticking, since it compromises the integrity of the bipolar plate 11, harms its electrical conductivity and may result in electrolytic poisoning.
Obtaining the advantageous atomic oxygen content of the surface zone 8 results from the presence of the first prohibited area 22, i.e., the limitation of the chromium nitride deposition downstream from the target 22 in the method for manufacturing the metal strip 1 according to the both examples.
Obtaining the advantageous atomic oxygen content of the interface zone 6 results from the presence of the second prohibited area 23, i.e., the limitation of the chromium nitride deposition upstream from the target 22 in the method for manufacturing the metal strip 1 according to the other example
In particular, measurements have shown that a chromium nitride deposition done on the stainless steel substrate in a deposition chamber 20 placed under vacuum and for which one has minimized the degassing rate before deposition, but while allowing the chromium nitride to be deposited along its natural trajectory, without limitation of the deposition area for example by covers, results in a coating layer having atomic oxygen contents significantly outside the ranges described above, in particular in the interface zone and the surface zone of the coating layer. In this case, the inventors have obtained a coating layer having a contact resistance (ICR) greater than 100 mΩ·cm2 at 100 N·cm−2 and further having lower adherence than when the deposition area is limited upstream from the deposition target.
Thus, a simple minimization of the presence of oxygen in the deposition chamber 20 using traditional techniques does not make it possible to obtain the coating layer 5 according to the invention.
According to one alternative, the invention relates to a metal sheet or blank obtained by cutting the metal strip 1.
The metal sheet according to the invention can also be obtained using a method similar to that previously described to obtain the strip 1, but starting from a substrate 3 in the form of a sheet, rather than a substrate 3 in the form of a strip. Such a sheet has properties identical to those of the strip 1.
The metal strip 1′ according to this advantageous example comprises all of the features of the metal strip 1 described above, as well as the additional features described below.
The coating layer 5′ of the metal strip 1′ is textured from a crystallographic perspective. This texturing results in the implementation of the method that will be described later.
“Textured” means that the crystallographic growth directions of the columns making up the coating layer 5′ are not random, but highly oriented along one of the crystallographic axes defining the elementary mesh of the CrN. In this case, the relative orientation of the elementary meshes of the coating layer 5′ and the substrate 3′ makes it possible to align the crystallographic planes of the two phases having close inter-reticular distances and to ensure the continuity of these crystallographic planes perpendicular to the interface between the substrate 3′ and the coating layer 5′.
Preferably, the coating layer 5′ has an epitaxial relationship with the substrate 3′. “Epitaxial” means, conventionally, that the three crystallographic axes of the columns of the coating layer 5′ are aligned with those of the grains of the substrate 3′ adjacent to these columns
As will be seen later, a coating layer 5 having an epitaxial relationship with the substrate 3′ is particularly advantageous.
The metal strip 1′ is advantageously made up of the substrate 3′ and one or several chromium-nitride based coating layers 5′. In particular, the chromium-nitride based coating layer 5′ is formed directly on the stainless steel of the substrate 3′, without interposition of an intermediate layer, such as a passive or oxidation layer, resulting from the natural oxidation of the stainless steel making up the substrate 3′. Natural oxidation refers to oxidation in the air, for example during the use or storage of the stainless steel substrate 3′.
Furthermore, preferably, the metal strip 1′ does not comprise layers formed above the coating layer 5′ furthest from the substrate 3′.
The method for manufacturing the metal strip according to this advantageous example differs from the manufacturing method previously described only in that it further comprises an intermediate stripping step, carried out between the first step and the second step. This manufacturing method is illustrated schematically in
According to this example, the stainless steel strip provided during the first step comprises, at the surface of the substrate 3′, a passive layer 10. This passive layer 10 is a chromium-oxide layer formed by natural oxidation of the stainless steel making up the substrate 3′. Such a passive chromium-oxide layer forms on the surface of the stainless steel once the latter comes into contact with the air. It is at the base of the stainless nature of the stainless steel. The passive layer 10 may traditionally comprise, aside from the chromium oxide, and as a minority component, oxides of other chemical elements present in the steel forming the substrate 3′.
During the intermediate stripping step, the passive layer 10 is completely stripped in at least certain areas of the metal strip such that, in these areas, no remnants of passive layer 10 remain.
Preferably, during this intermediate step, the passive layer 10 is stripped over the entire surface of the substrate 3′ intended to be coated with the coating layer 5′.
The stripping is done using a physical stripping method. Preferably, the stripping is an ion stripping, done by bombardment of the initial metal strip by a neutral gas. The natural gas used is for example argon. Alternatively, it may be any other suitable neutral gas.
Such an ion stripping method is known as such and will not be described in more detail below.
At the end of this intermediate stripping step, the substrate 3′ is obtained having the metal atoms of the stainless steel on its surface in the areas in which the stripping has been done.
During the third step, as previously described, the chromium nitride is deposited on the substrate 3′ by physical vapor deposition in the areas in which the passive layer 10 has been stripped.
The chromium-nitride based coating layer 5′ is thus formed directly on the stainless steel substrate 3′, without interposition of a passive layer 10. The coating layer 5′ obtained at the end of this step is textured. More particularly, it has an epitaxial relationship with the substrate 3′.
The inventors of the present invention carried out the following experiments.
They implemented, on such a substrate 3′, the method for manufacturing a metal strip 1′ as shown in
They next cut blanks from this metal strip 1′. They imaged these blanks using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and analyzed the images thus obtained through known image analysis techniques to verify whether an epitaxial relationship existed between the substrate 3′ and the coating layer 5′.
More particularly, they calculated the Fourier transforms of the images obtained by TEM, the Fourier transforms making it possible to explore the frequency distributions of the images obtained by TEM. In the Fourier transforms images, they selected the frequencies corresponding to the crystallographic planes of the substrate 3′ and the coating layer 5′ for which a close orientation is observed in the space of the frequencies. They next obtained the final images by inverse Fourier transform filtered from the selected frequencies.
An example image obtained after analysis is shown in
The inventors performed such analyses for metal strips 1′ obtained with different nitrogen flow rates during the step for deposition of the coating layer 5′. They observed that the epitaxial relationship between the substrate 3′ and the coating layer 5′ exists irrespective of the nitrogen flow rate used.
For comparison, the inventors conducted experiments with metal strips obtained using a method different from the method according to the invention only in that during the second step, the passive layer 10 was not completely stripped in the areas of the substrate 3′ coated with the coating layer 5′. Thus, this passive layer 10 remains in areas next coated with the chromium-nitride based coating layer 5′, and is interposed between the coating layer 5′ and the substrate 3′.
Thus, the inventors have observed that the epitaxial relationship between the coating layer 5′ and the substrate 3′ is not obtained when the passive layer 10 has not been stripped, or has not been completely stripped before coating in the areas of the substrate 3′ intended to be covered with the coating layer 5′.
The inventors next deformed blanks, by stamping, obtained by cutting a metal strip 1′ according to the example of the invention in order to obtain plates 13′.
It will be noted that, in the context of the invention, the deformation by stamping of the blank obtained from this metal strip 1′ to form a plate 13′ can result in a plate 13′ having a discontinuous coating layer 5′.
Indeed, due to the different mechanical properties of the substrate 3′ and the coating layer 5′, the stamping results in a much higher relative elongation of the substrate 3′ with respect to the coating layer 5′. Due to the good adherence between the substrate 3′ and the coating layer 5′, this differential elongation results in the formation of microcracks 26 in the coating layer 5′ of the plate 13′, and therefore in the formation of a discontinuous coating layer on the plate 13′. These microcracks 26 in particular form between two adjacent columns of the coating layer 5′. The passive layer naturally reforms in these microcracks 26 by natural oxidation of the stainless steel of the substrate 3′, which is flush in these areas.
The inventors have observed that, even in the presence of microcracks 26, no loss of coating occurs during the stamping of blanks obtained from strips 1′ according to the invention.
Furthermore, owing to the good adherence between the coating layer 5′ and the substrate 3′, the coating layer 5′ does not unstick from the substrate 3′ during stamping, and one observes, in the plate 13′, very good adherence between the discontinuous coating layer 5′ and the substrate 3′.
The inventors measured the electrical conductivity of such a discontinuous layer and observed that the electrical performance remained satisfactory, despite the presence of the microcracks 26. The passive layer that reforms after stamping between the adjacent columns of the coating layer 5′ is not detrimental to the electrical conductivity and protects the stainless steel of the substrate 3′ in the areas where it is flush.
The metal strip 1′ according to the advantageous example is particularly suitable for manufacturing bipolar plates having a long lifetime for lower manufacturing costs.
Indeed, as previously explained, stainless steel is an advantageous material for producing bipolar plates.
Furthermore, coating the stainless steel with a CrN based coating layer according to the invention makes it possible to impart excellent electrical properties to the bipolar plate, in particular resulting from the excellent contact resistance, obtained owing to the particular stoichiometry of the surface zone 8 of the coating layer 5′, as well as the excellent adhesion of the coating layer 5′ to the substrate 3′, in particular resulting from the particular stoichiometry of the interface zone 6 and the texturing of the coating layer 5′.
In particular, such electrical properties are not obtained for bipolar plates comprising a stainless steel substrate coated with a CrN based coating layer not having the characteristics described in this patent application.
The invention has been described for a coating layer 5, 5′ formed on a face of the substrate 3, 3′. Alternatively, the metal strip 1, 1′, as well as the plates 13, 13′ and the bipolar plates manufactured from this strip 1, 1′, can comprise a coating layer 5, 5′ of the type previously defined on each of their faces.
Such a coating layer on both faces of the substrate 3; 3′ can be obtained in a single passage or several passages, for example two passages, in the deposition chamber 20.
This is a U.S. national phase application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/IB2015/052060, filed Mar. 20, 2015. The entire content of this application is hereby incorporated by reference.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2015/052060 | 3/20/2015 | WO | 00 |
