Bias Voltage Dependency of Structural and Bipolar Plate-Related Properties of Cathodic Arc-Deposited Carbon-Based Coatings

Carbon-based coatings composed of a chromium interlayer and a carbon top layer were deposited on stainless steel substrates via cathodic arc evaporation. During the carbon deposition, the bias voltage was varied between 900 and 1 V to investigate the influence on the structural, electrical, and electrochemical properties. Raman spectroscopy indicated a dependency of the intensity ratio and G peak position on the bias voltage, which can be attributed to an alteration of the structure. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) cross-section investigations revealed a graphite-like structure for most carbon top layers but with an increasing amount of disordered fractions, eventually resulting in an amorphous structure at 1 V. To further examine the structure, electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) was used. In the high-loss region, distinct π* and σ* peaks could be observed, which agree well with the TEM results. Additionally, analysis of the low-loss region showed that the 1 V carbon top layer exhibits a shifted σ plasmon peak at 20 eV corresponding to an amorphous structure. The carbon-based coatings are highly conductive with low interfacial contact resistance values between 4 and 1.5 mΩ cm2 at 150 N cm-2. From a bias voltage of 200 V, the resistance increases. To evaluate the corrosion resistance, we conducted potentiodynamic polarization tests. At first, with decreasing bias voltage, the corrosion resistance increases and then decreases for both the 100 and 1 V samples. Considering the low thickness, the coating with a carbon top layer deposited at 600 V had the best corrosion resistance. In combination with the excellent contact resistance, the 600 V sample is a highly suitable coating for metallic bipolar plates.