Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) are regarded as one of the most promising fuel cell types for a new generation of power source in portable application due to no harmful byproducts emission, rapid startup and low operating temperature. Although PEMFC has a low output with a single cell, it is overcome by the series of unit stack by using bipolar plate (BPP) to improve the total efficiency. BPP, which conveys electrical current, separates reactant gases and connects single stack unit in series, is one of the most important part of PEMFC, along with catalytic electrode and proton exchange membrane. In recent years, stainless steel 316L (SUS316L) has been touted to as a promising candidate material for BPP with the numerous advantages such as low cost, high machinability and ductility. However, it has critical issues such as low corrosion resistance and high electrical resistance. For this reason, a coating process must be carried out on SUS316L with non-corrosive and conducting materials such as Au, Rh, Ag, Ti etc. Because these materials are high cost or rare-earth metals, anti-corrosive coating process inevitably causes the increase of BPP manufacturing cost.

In this study, Au-reduced graphene composite coating is introduced on SUS316L to improve anti-corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity with in cost-effective manner by minimizing the consumption of Au deposit and the using electrochemical fabricated graphene with low cost. Corrosion properties and electrical properties are investigated with the as-coated samples and in simulated operating condition. By addition of graphene coating process, the consumption of Au is dramatically reduced with the outstanding performance compared to with only Au coating.