i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 9 8 3 e3 8 9 9 1

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Additive manufacturing of bipolar plates for

hydrogen production in proton exchange
membrane water electrolysis cells

nchez-Molina a,*, Ernesto Amores a, Nuria Rojas a,

Margarita Sa
Mirko Kunowsky b
a
Centro Nacional del Hidr
ogeno (CNH2), Prolongaci
on Fernando El Santo s/n, 13500, Puertollano, Ciudad Real, Spain
b
AIJU, Technological Centre, Avda. de la Industria 23, 03440, Ibi, Alicante, Spain

highlights

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.

article info abstract

Article history: Water electrolysis is a process that can produce hydrogen in a clean way when renewable
Received 10 June 2021 energy sources are used. This allows managing large renewable surpluses and transferring
Received in revised form this energy to other sectors, such as industry or transport. Among the electrolytic tech-
31 August 2021 nologies to produce hydrogen, proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis is a prom-
Accepted 18 September 2021 ising alternative. One of the main components of PEM electrolysis cells are the bipolar
Available online 7 October 2021 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
Keywords: have been built by additive manufacturing (AM), using laser powder bed fusion (PBF-L)
Additive manufacturing technology. These bipolar plates were subjected to ex-situ corrosion tests and assembled in
Laser powder bed fusion an electrolysis cell to evaluate the polarization curve. Furthermore, the obtained results
Hydrogen were compared with bipolar plates manufactured by conventional machining processes
PEM water electrolysis (MEC). The obtained experimental results are very similar for both manufacturing
Bipolar plates methods. This demonstrates the viability of the PBF-L technology to produce metal bipolar
Corrosion 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.
© 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: margarita.sanchez@cnh2.es (M. Sa
nchez-Molina), ernesto.amores@cnh2.es (E. Amores), nuria.rojas@cnh2.es
(N. Rojas), mirkokunowsky@aiju.es (M. Kunowsky).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.09.152
0360-3199/© 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
38984 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 9 8 3 e3 8 9 9 1
Introduction
Renewable energies are highly fluctuating because they
depend on weather conditions, so energy storage systems to
adjust production and demand are required [1]. Among energy
storage systems, hydrogen is an excellent alternative, as it can
be generated from renewable sources and later stored or
transported. Hydrogen can be obtained in different ways, but
the renewable energy-hydrogen combination by electrolysis is
the most environmentally friendly strategy. Electrolysis is the
decomposition of water into O2 and H2 by applying electricity
[2]. Within this context, efficiently producing hydrogen from
renewable energies may be the necessary link for a successful
energy transition.
Among the different electrolytic ways to produce
hydrogen, alkaline water electrolysis and proton exchange
membrane (PEM) water electrolysis are the most common
technologies. However, while alkaline water electrolysis has
been extensively used in industrial operations and developing
into the most common electrolysis technology available
worldwide [3], PEM water electrolysis technology is gaining
market share as a feasible option over alkaline water elec-
trolysis [4]. The main advantage of this technology is the
possibility to operate at high current densities, generating
hydrogen of high purity and pressure. In addition, PEM elec-
trolysis systems are strong and dynamic systems. On the
counterpart, they are currently much more expensive than
other electrolytic processes, due to the use of noble metals for
electrocatalysts and high costs of components [3e7].
As shown on Fig. 1, a PEM electrolysis cell is made up of a
sandwich-like assembly, with a proton exchange membrane
Fig. 1 e Schematic diagram, operating principle and components of a PEM electrolysis cell (reproduced from Ref. [1]).
(PEM) in its centre. Together with the electrodes, the
membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) is constituted. Liquid-
gas diffusion layers (LGDL) are placed on both sides of the
MEA. Bipolar plates (BP) are the outer elements of the cell; they
are one of the key parts for the correct operation of a PEM
electrolyzer and constitute a mechanical support for the
whole set. The bipolar plates have a series of machined flow
distribution channels that allow the entrance of water and the
exit of the generated gases (O2/H2) [1].
These flow distribution channels determine the electro-
chemical and fluid dynamic response inside the electrolysis
cell [1]. Also, due to the machining of these channels and the
materials commonly used, bipolar plates involve between 30%
and 40% of the PEM electrolyzer cost [3]. In fact, the labor,
tooling and machining costs to manufacture large quantities
of bipolar plates are approximately the same as the cost of the
materials used for their production [8].
There is currently a wide range of designs for the flow
distribution channels in PEM electrolysis. Nevertheless, the
costs of bipolar plates are significantly increased when con-
ventional processes of machining are used due to the
complexity of some configurations of flow distribution
channels. Furthermore, a lot of channel designs end up
limited or have to be discarded because of the constraints of
traditional manufacturing methods. As a consequence, novel
production methods are required to manufacture this kind of
components. In this context, additive manufacturing (AM)
could be a technology particularly useful, because parts with
complex structures can swiftly be produced from CAD de-
signs in 3D; it requires little processing and residues can be
recycled. Thus, while in conventional manufacturing,
increased complexity and/or customization increases the
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 9 8 3 e3 8 9 9 1
cost of the manufactured parts, in additive manufacturing
this increase does not occur [9].
For additive manufacturing (AM) of metals a large variety
of processes have been developed. Unlike conventional
manufacturing methods, AM is based on building parts layer
by layer, so most technologies use powder or wire as raw
materials that are selectively melt by a targeted heating
source. To understand the differences between these pro-
cesses, it is important to know how the material supply
method, the type of energy input, the heating process, the
atmospheric conditions, the optics and other characteristics
vary from each other [10]. Powder bed fusion by laser (PBF-L),
also known as selective laser melting (SLM), is based on a
high-power laser beam that selectively fuses metals, such as
steel, aluminum and titanium, in a powder bed and results in
completely dense parts without the need of subsequent pro-
cessing [11e13].
In this way, AM technology allows a fast manufacturing of
lighter and less expensive bipolar plates, as well as a direct
manufacturing of complex geometries such as flow distribution
channels and even the LGDL itself. This makes it possible to
simplify the number of steps in the production of parts by
eliminating the need of tools and allows to produce in a more
economical way from the first unit on. In addition, the time
needed is significantly reduced and an important saving in the
amount of material is achieved without sacrificing high preci-
sion and quality [14e16]. Also, for remote sites (space, aircraft
carriers, submarines, etc.), additive manufacturing offers the
option of manufacturing required components in situ.
In this context, additive manufacturing represents a very
profitable production option and could play an important role
in manufacturing PEM electrolytic cells. A number of studies
on additive manufacturing of bipolar plates for their use in
electrolysis have been published in the last few years [14e21],
with very promising results in terms of durability and re-
sistivity. In this sense, some authors have manufactured bi-
polar plates in plastic materials, which were subsequently
coated. Thus, in 2014, Chisholm et al. [17] constructed a flow
distribution plate for PEM electrolysis using silver-coated
polypropylene. On the other hand, Hudkins et al. [18] re-
ported a rapid prototyping of electrolyzer flow field plates
based in the electroplating of Ni onto 3D-printed plastic.
However, it is the manufacture of the entire plate in metal,
without the use of a plastic core, the necessary step to obtain
bipolar plates with good conductivity and mechanical resis-
tance for use in electrolysis. In this way, in 2017, Yang et al.
[14] used PBF-L to fabricate a bipolar plate for use in PEM water
electrolysis for the first time; it was fabricated in AISI 316L for
the cathode and assembled an electrolysis cell for testing on a
test bench, using a bipolar graphite plate at the anode. Later,
the same authors [16], used AM technology to develop an in-
tegrated plate that served as BP and LGDL at the cathode side,
reducing the interfacial contact resistance between them.
Previously, Mo et al. [20] used electron beam melting (EBM) to
fabricate titanium LGDL for PEM water electrolyzers. In a more
recent study [15], several 5 cm2 bipolar plates were manufac-
tured by AM and coated with Au for use in both anode and
cathode in PEM electrolysis.
From the different materials that can be used in AM to
manufacture bipolar plates in PEM electrolysis, stainless steel
38985
may be a good alternative to other materials such as titanium
due to its relatively low cost and its good mechanical resis-
tance [4,22]. Nevertheless, to guarantee the long-term dura-
bility of stainless steel BP, they must be coated with a material
that complies with the following requisites: good electrical
conductivity, low resistance of interfacial contact, resistance
to embrittlement caused by hydrogen (cathode side) and
resistance to corrosion in the presence of oxygen (anode side)
in acid medium and potentials around 2 V [23,24].
Aiming at evaluating whether a bipolar plate manufac-
tured with the PBF-L technology shows the necessary prop-
erties to fulfill its role inside a cell and to ensure that the
components manufactured by AM technology have similar
behaviors to those that are manufactured by conventional
technologies, a series of ex-situ corrosion tests have been
carried out in this work. These tests were designed to assess
the BP behavior in the anode conditions of a PEM electrolytic
cell. In order to do so, potentiodynamic tests in a corrosion cell
have been performed and their results have been compared
with those of an AISI 316L plate that was mechanized by
conventional methods. Furthermore, an in-situ characteriza-
tion with both kinds of plates has been carried out on a PEM
electrolysis test bench, in order to determine the polarization
curves. In fact, the novelty of the present work lies here: the
application of an alternative technology such as PBF-L and the
use of low-priced materials to produce renewable hydrogen by
means of PEM electrolysis. The experimental results obtained
show very similar results for both manufacturing methods,
both in the corrosion tests and in the polarization curve,
which demonstrates the viability of the PBF-L technology to
produce low-priced metal bipolar plates for the PEM electro-
lyzers. Thus, a maximum voltage difference of 0.65% was
obtained between both manufacturing methods at 1000 mA/
cm2 and 80  C. The corrosion potentials were 0.42 V for the
samples manufactured by AM technology and 0.40 V for the
samples mechanized using conventional technologies. This
opens the possibility to design new and more complex flow
distribution channels, and the possibility to test these designs
in initial phases before scaling them to larger surfaces.
Experimental methodology
Additive metal manufacturing for bipolar plates
Powder bed fusion by laser (PBF-L) technology
The set-up of the powder bed fusion by laser (PBF-L) tech-
nology (also named selective laser melting, SLM) is shown in
Fig. 2. As illustrated in Fig. 2a, PBF-L is an additive
manufacturing technology whereby the energy from a laser is
directed to the surface of a bed of powder and thereby used to
build up a three-dimensional (3D) structure layer by layer. The
steps in the process are as follows: first a thin layer of metallic
powder is deposited across a substrate platform. A high-
power laser scans the powder surface, and then the gener-
ated heat melts the powder particles and forms a molten pool.
Once the layer has been scanned, the platform moves down-
ward by a single-layer thickness and the fresh layer of powder
is deposited. The process is repeated until the entire build is
completed. Finally, the piece cools down. The process is
38986 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 9 8 3 e3 8 9 9 1

Fig. 2 e PBF-L set-up: (a) process scheme layer by layer; (b) equipment used in this study.

carried out under an inert argon gas atmosphere at a tem- block supports, solid cone supports were used on the base, in
perature of approximately 150  C. Many variables are involved order to guarantee mechanical stability and a high heat
in the process, such as laser power, scan speed, powder par- transfer between the bipolar plates and the build platform.
ticle size morphology, hatch spacing, powder particle size The holes were reinforced with tree supports. The material for
morphology, layer thickness and scan strategy, all playing PBF-L process was AISI 316L (1.4404) stainless steel powder
important roles in producing fully dense materials with min- (SLM-Solutions Group AG, Lübeck, Germany) with spherical
imal internal stress. particles of diameters between 10 mm and 45 mm that were
The different samples were manufactured in a SLM280HL obtained by gas atomization. Its chemical composition
powder bed fusion system (SLM-Solutions Group AG, Lübeck, (manufacturer information) is listed in Table 2.
Germany), as shown in Fig. 2b. It was equipped with a ytter- Following the process indicated above, four bipolar plates
bium fiber laser with a wavelength of 1070 nm and a were fabricated in AISI 316L by PBF-L (see Fig. 3a), two for the
maximum output power of 400 W. The building chamber was anode side and two for the cathode side. Each bipolar plate has
filled with argon, in order to reduce oxygen levels below 0.7%. external dimensions of 70  88 mm, with an active area of
The laser melting of the powder was carried out on a steel 25 cm2. The thickness of the plates is 2.5 mm with parallel flow
substrate plate maintained at 100  C. For the fabrication pro- distribution channels. The width and depth of each channel
cess, a layer thickness of 50 mm and a hatching distance of are 1 and 1.5 mm, respectively. In addition, some specimens
120 mm were established (see fabrication parameters in Table (14 mm circular samples) were manufactured from the same
1). A pattern of parallel bidirectional scan lines was used material to carry out the ex-situ tests. Due to the high
which was rotated by 67 after each layer, with a limitation roughness after printing, the specimens manufactured by
window of 180 . additive manufacturing (AM) were polished to improve the
surface finish. The plates were sanded (SiC, 800e1200), pol-
Design and fabrication of bipolar plates ished with 3.5 mm diamond paste and finally ultrasonically
The bipolar plates used in this study were designed on the 3D treated in ethanol for 15 min. Aside from polishing, no further
CAD software SolidWorks and later exported to *.STL format. post-processing of the bipolar plates was carried out.
The build job was prepared by importing the *.STL file into On the other hand, by conventional machining (MEC)
Materialise Magics software suite and the machine-readable another set of 4 bipolar plates of the same design were man-
file was generated with the integrated build processor. The ufactured in AISI 316L, as well as additional circular samples
bipolar plates were orientated on the build platform with the for ex-situ tests (see Fig. 3b).
aim to use few support structures, avoid the generation of
warpage and ensure a high accuracy of the flow channels.
Thus, an upright orientation was chosen with only a slight Table 2 e Chemical composition of powder AISI 316L.
inclination, to avoid for recoater collisions. In addition to
Element Minimum (wt.%) Actual (wt.%) Maximum (wt.%)
C e 0.025 0.030
Cr 16 17.72 18
Table 1 e Characteristics of the PBF-L machine and Fe Balance Balance Balance
operating conditions used in the study. Mn e 0.6 2
Mo 2 2.37 3
Process parameter Value Unit
N e 0.1 0.1
Laser power 275 W Ni 10 12.77 14
Scan speed 700 mm s1 O e 0.02 0.04
Layer thickness 50 mm P e 0.007 0.045
Hatch distance 120 mm S e 0.005 0.03

Temperature of build platform 100 C Si e 0.68 1
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 9 8 3 e3 8 9 9 1
Fig. 3 e Bipolar plates used in this study: (a) manufactured by PBF-L (AM); (b) manufactured by conventional machining
(MEC).
Characterization and testing system
Scanning electron microscope (SEM)
The morphological characterization of the samples was car-
ried out using a scanning electron microscope (SEM-JEOL
JSM6010 PLUS/LA) equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray
(EDS) detector with an accelerating voltage of 0.5e20 kV and a
magnification of x5 to x300,000.
Corrosion test station
Electrochemical measurements were performed using a
three-electrode electrochemical cell (Metrohm, Autolab),
containing approximately 400 mL of 0.1 M NaHSO4 at 75  C.
The electrolyte was doped with 5 ppm of HF because fluoride
ions could be released from the Nafion® membranes used in
electrolysis cell as proton exchange membrane. Stainless steel
rod and Ag/AgCl refill with 3 M KCl were used as counter (CE)
and reference electrode (RE), respectively. The circular sam-
ples (AM and conventional machining) were used as working
electrode (WE), which were held in a polyoxymethylene (POM)
sample holder with an exposed area of 0.785 cm2. Previously
to corrosion tests, the electrolyte was de-aerated with nitro-
gen 99.999% (AlphagazTM) for 1 h, and the samples were
maintained at 75  C inside of the electrolyte for stabilization.
In order to guarantee the repeatability of the results, these
tests were repeated for the different samples manufactured
by additive manufacturing and for the samples manufactured
by conventional methods.
Potentiodynamic tests have been designed to evaluate the
corrosion properties of AISI 316L considering the two
manufacturing methods applied in this study (AM and MEC),
using potential scans up to 2.3 VSHE (standard hydrogen elec-
trode) with a potentiostat/galvanostat (Autolab
PGSTAT302 N). The selected voltage range allowed to evaluate
the corrosion that bipolar plates can suffer in the anodic
chamber of a PEM water electrolyzer. Normally, these tests are
realized at potential near to OCV (open circuit potential), but
in this case, they were designed to evaluate the behavior of the
samples at the typical working potential on which the anodic
side of a PEM water electrolyzer operates (around 1.8e2.3 V).
38987
PEM water electrolysis test bench
In order to evaluate the performance of the bipolar plates
manufactured by AM and conventional machining, the
plates shown in Fig. 3 were incorporated into several PEM
electrolysis test cells (on the anodic and cathodic side): two
cells for the 4 bipolar plates manufactured by AM and
another two cells for the bipolar plates manufactured by
conventional machining. In this way, a double check on the
results obtained is guaranteed. Fig. 4a shows a general image
of the PEM electrolysis test cell used in this study [25]. Fig. 4b
shows the assembly of the bipolar plates together with the
rest of the necessary components (gaskets, Nafion® N-117
membrane, Pt cathodic electrode, IrOx anodic electrode, ti-
tanium LGDL).
The experimental facility used in this study is a labora-
tory scale test bench with the following elements: a DC
power supply (Elektro-Automatik, EA-PS 5040), a peristaltic
pump (DINKO, 25VCF), two gas-liquid separators to separate
the oxygen and hydrogen produced from the electrolyte, a
heating system (FIBROMAN, HT-W) and a precision
multimeter (KEYSIGHT, 34470a). The polarization curve was
obtained at different temperatures (50e80  C) and a water
flow rate of 200 mL/min, according to a previously estab-
lished experimental procedure [2,26]. In a typical test, once
the PEM electrolysis cell is assembled, the water pump and
the heating system is activated. When the temperature
reaches the required temperature, the power supply is
turned on, providing the required current to the cells to
carry out the polarization curves. For each current
value (from 0 to 1000 mA/cm2 in steps of 25 mA/cm2 every
10 min), different operation parameters are monitored and
registered.
Results and discussion
Morphological characterization
Fig. 5 shows SEM images of the bipolar plates manufactured
by AM, before and after polishing, and of those manufactured
38988 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 9 8 3 e3 8 9 9 1

Fig. 4 e PEM water electrolysis cell: (a) assembly of the bipolar plates (AM and MEC) in the PEM electrolysis test cell; (b) CAD
design of the cell components.

by the conventional machining method (MEC). It can be seen
from Fig. 5 (x30) that the morphology of the plate made by AM
before polishing shows a very rough surface. This reveals that
it is necessary to polish the plates, in order to obtain a similar
surface roughness as the plate made by the MEC. Detail image
of the surface of the channels in polished AM sample (x300),
indicate a smooth microscale surface finish, which contrib-
utes to less interfacial contact resistance and better assembly
of the bipolar plates. On the other hand, the EDS results for AM
bipolar plates indicate that the chemical composition is in
good agreement with the initial AISI 316L powder. This SEM-
EDS study has been carried out in several regions of each
sample, with identical results.
Potentiodynamic polarization (ex-situ tests)
To evaluate the AISI 316L samples from both manufacturing
methods (AM and MEC), ex-situ potentiodynamic tests were
performed under the conditions of the anodic chamber of a
PEM electrolyzer. The objective of these tests is to compare
these manufacturing processes, since under usual conditions,
the bipolar plates of AISI 316L should be coated to avoid their
degradation in the conditions that occur in the anode of a PEM
electrolyzer, as it has been demonstrated in the literature
[22,27,28].
As shown in Fig. 6, the results of both materials are very
similar, with respect to the corrosion potential values and the

Fig. 5 e SEM images of additive manufacturing (original and polished) and MEC (conventional mechanized) bipolar plates at
different magnifications (x30, x300).
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 9 8 3 e3 8 9 9 1
Fig. 6 e Potentiodynamic polarization of AISI 316L samples
manufactured by AM and MEC (0.1 M NaHSO4 at 75  C
doped with 5 ppm of HF).
Table 3 e Corrosion current density and corrosion
potential of the samples evaluated (0.1 M NaHSO4 at 75  C
doped with 5 ppm of HF).
Sample Ecorr (V) Jcorr (mA cm2) mA cm2 at 2 VSHE
AISI 316L_AM 0.42 1.55 3.78  104
AISI 316L_MEC 0.40 0.61 3.22  104
high current density values in the range of the operating po-
tentials of a PEM water electrolysis cell. These results show
that AM of AISI 316L by PBF-L does not lead to different
chemical resistance properties, when compared with con-
ventional machining, which is the first step to apply this
technique for the manufacturing of bipolar plates for PEM
water electrolysis.
Both, corrosion current density (icorr) and corrosion po-
tential (Ecorr) were calculated by means of the Tafel extrapo-
lation method, obtained from the IeV curves (Table 3). These
parameters provide a rule for predicting when corrosion
could be occurring and when the metal could be immune in a
given environment [29,30]. The corrosion potential was
Fig. 7 e Voltage results obtained of AISI 316L bipolar plates in a PEM water electrolysis cell at different temperatures: (a)
polarization curves manufactured by AM (dash line) and MEC (continuous line); (b) parity chart between both manufacturing
methods.
38989
0.40 V for the machined sample and 0.42 V for the AM
sample. The fact that the Ecorr values obtained for both sam-
ples are very similar confirms that the composition (SS316L)
of both plates is the same.
On the other hand, a higher current value between 0.3 VSHE
and 1.3 VSHE in the MEC sample can be observed in Fig. 6,
which is not observed in the sample fabricated by AM. This
may be due to the better properties in terms of stability of
passive film and re-passivation tendency of SS316L by additive
manufacturing versus the same steel fabricated by MEC, as
other authors have indicated [31]. This differentiated behavior
is no longer observed at potentials above 1.3 VSHE. In fact, the
current values for both materials at 2 VSHE are practically the
same (Table 3).
Polarization curve (in-situ tests)
As shown in Fig. 1, water is supplied through the anode
channels. In the anode, the oxygen evolution reaction takes
place to release O2 and Hþ (Equation (1)). Then, the Hþ ions
pass through the membrane and the electrons circulate
through the external circuit up to the cathode. In the cathode,
the protons are recombined with the electrons, producing
hydrogen according to Equation (2) [1]:
Anode: 2H2 O / O2 þ 4Hþ þ 4e (1)
Cathode: 2Hþ þ 2e /H2 (2)
As previously mentioned, the potential required for this
process can be determined through the polarization curve,
which establishes the relationship between the current density
and the voltage that is necessary to carry out the electrolysis,
including the overpotentials that take place in the process [1].
Fig. 7a shows the polarization curves obtained for both types of
bipolar plates at different temperatures (50, 60, 70 and 80  C). As
expected, the cell potential increases with decreasing temper-
ature for any current density. This occurs because an increase
in the cell temperature improves the kinetics of the reaction,
reducing the reversible voltage and consequently the energy
required [32], as previously reported [1,2,26].
38990 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 6 ( 2 0 2 1 ) 3 8 9 8 3 e3 8 9 9 1
As shown in Fig. 7a, the behavior is very similar for both
manufacturing methods (AM and MEC), with a slightly steeper
increase in the voltage in the case of the AM bipolar plates.
The voltage at 1000 mA/cm2 and 80  C is 2.324 V for AM and
2.309 V for MEC bipolar plates (less than 15 mV). On the other
hand, Fig. 7b shows a parity chart with the measured voltages
for the bipolar plates manufactured by both methods (AM and
MEC). As can be seen, the results show an excellent correla-
tion with R2 ¼ 0.952. This demonstrates that additive
manufacturing by powder bed fusion is a technology that
successfully reproduces the channels and other features of
bipolar plates, similar to that obtained by conventional
machining, without significant changes in the ohmic drops of
the process (voltage increase by 0.65% at maximum current).
Conclusions
The results obtained show the viability of using additive
manufacturing (AM) to produce metal bipolar plates for PEM
electrolyzers. The results of the in-situ and ex-situ tests pre-
sent very similar values for bipolar plates manufactured by
powder bed fusion by laser (PBF-L) technology and conven-
tional machining (MEC). Thus, electrolysis voltages of 2.324 V
for AM and 2.309 V for MEC bipolar plates were obtained at
1000 mA/cm2 and 80  C. The corrosion potentials were 0.42 V
and 0.40 V for the AM and the MEC samples, respectively.
The advantages of the PBF-L technology are that different bi-
polar plate designs can be made rapidly, without any tool
costs, and maintaining the electrolysis process performance.
This opens the possibility to design new and more complex
flow distribution channels that could increase the system ef-
ficiency, and the possibility to test these designs in initial
phases before scaling them to larger surfaces. Therefore, in
this first evaluation, only ex-situ corrosion tests and their
subsequent validation in-situ in a PEM water electrolysis cell
have been carried out. Future research on AM of bipolar plates
should investigate other suitable materials that work under
the anodic conditions of a PEM electrolyzer without the need
of coating, allowing for longtime operation. So, new criteria
and comparison analysis will be studied and implemented in
future works.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgement
The work that was carried out in the facilities of the Centro
Nacional del Hidr
ogeno (CNH2) between 2019 and 2020 was
financially supported by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacio
n
(Spain), Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM,
Spain) and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Research activities at AIJU were supported by Linea GVA 2019
from the Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness
(IVACE). The authors also thank Paco Varela and Nacho San-
doval from AIJU, Technological Centre for project manage-
ment support and discussions on the additive manufacturing
process, respectively.
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