Conference Publication
Effect of pH on the Dissolution of Iron from Type 304 Stainless Steel in the Simulated PEFC Environment
2021 Volume 70 Issue 3 Pages 60-63
Details
2021 Volume 70 Issue 3 Pages 60-63
In order to investigate the effect of pH on the dissolution behavior of iron from stainless steel bipolar plates for PEFC, type 304 stainless steel was polarized in the sulfuric acid solutions of pHs 3.0 and 3.2 for 100 h at 0.6 V （vs. Ag/AgCl）, and the amount of dissolved metallic ions was determined by ICP-MS. In the solution of pH 3.2, more than 90％ of the anodized iron was deposited on the stainless steel surface as corrosion products, whereas about 75％ of the anodized iron was dissolved in the solution of pH 3.0. These results suggest that the contamination of MEA by the dissolved iron is more concerned when the pH of the environment becomes lower than 3.0, while the increase in interfacial contact resistance is rather concerned when the pH is higher than 3.2.
