Microstructure of chromium nitride layer on stainless steel for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell separator

The microstructure of the chromium nitride layer formed on 316L Stainless Steel (SS) by electroplating Cr and subsequent thermal nitriding was investigated by electron microscopy. Thermal nitriding was carried out at a nitrogen partial pressure of 100 torr at 1100 °C for 2 h. The X-ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns showed that the structure of electroplated chromium was not crystalline and that the nitrided layer was composed of only hexagonal Cr2N phase nitride. The nitride layer showed uniform and columnar-shaped grains of chromium nitride and contained many micro-pores that may have formed due to the volume difference between the amorphous chromium and the crystalline chromium nitride. Chromium oxide was also observed in the nitride layer. It was discovered that the number of micro-pores and oxide particles needs to be decreased in order to improve the interfacial contact resistance.