Modifying Ti-Based Gas Diffusion Layer Passivation for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Water Electrolysis via Electrochemical Nitridation

A gas diffusion layer represents an important element of collector and stack components used in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolyzers (WE). Nowadays, titanium-based gas diffusion layers (GDLs) have high stability and are frequently employed as anode GDLs, yet reliability issues emerging from passivation have limited their practical deployment. Hence, we develop an inexpensive way of producing high conductivity and corrosion resistance of Ti-based GDLs through electrochemical nitridation. The morphology and content of the nitride phase on the surface of the Ti felt GDL are efficiently regulated by adjusting reduction potential and reaction time. According to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies, the modified Ti felt is coated with ammonium ions and nitrogen-incorporated oxides, namely, TiN/TiOx, on the surface. The nitride surface shows a low interfacial contact resistance (ca. 1.0 mΩ cm2 at 140 N/cm2) and excellent corrosion resistance (0.920 μA cm–2) in the simulated PEM WE environments. The electrochemical nitridation provides an economic way to introducing N layers on the surface of the Ti-based GDL with high performance, which is very promising for efficient PEM water electrolysis.