Tandon, Vipin and Patil, Awanikumar and Rathod, Ramesh C (2020) Influence of Time on Low Temperature Salt Bath Nitriding and its Corrosion Behavior of 316L ASS in PEMFC Environment. Protection of Metals and Physical Chemistry of Surfaces, 56 (4). pp. 772-779. ISSN 2070-2051

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Abstract

Austenitic stainless steels (ASSs) offer many advantages over carbon and/or graphite composites for bipolar plates of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). However, its corrosion resistance in PEMFCs operating conditions is lower. A low temperature (450°C) salt bath nitriding technique for different durations (3, 6 and 12 h) was employed to modify the surface of 316L ASS to enhance its corrosion resistance. The scanning electron microscopy of the transverse sections of nitrided sample reveals a white layer and its thickness increases on increasing nitriding durations. The X-ray photon spectroscopy results show that on nitriding, nitrogen (N) is present in the free form (on 3 h duration) and nitrides (CrN and FexN) precipitates (on 6 and 12 h durations). The corrosion resistance increased on nitridation. The best corrosion resistance was obtained for 3 h nitriding. The corrosion resistance decreases on increasing durations which can be attributed to the formation of nitrides

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