Fluoride‐Induced Corrosion of Stainless Steel: A Case Study for its Application as Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis Bipolar Plate Material

TL;DR

This study shows that fluoride can cause stainless steel used in water electrolysis to corrode more quickly, leading to a dangerous cycle of degradation.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel method to investigate fluoride-induced corrosion of stainless steel in real-time using SFC-ICP-MS.

Findings

Fluoride increases stainless steel dissolution exponentially, reaching ≈50% efficiency at 20 ppm.

Higher fluoride concentrations lead to increased pitting corrosion severity and occurrence.

Fluoride impurities combined with exposed stainless steel may cause self-accelerating degradation in electrolyzers.

Abstract

Stainless steel is a promising material for bipolar plates (BPP) in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) that could drastically reduce stack costs. However, dissolution of Fe from stainless steel BPP might trigger membrane degradation, which releases fluoride. Fluoride in turn could accelerate stainless steel corrosion. Therefore, the influence of fluoride contamination (namely 0, 1, 5, and 20 ppm in 0.5 mM H2SO4) on the dissolution stability of stainless steel (316L) is investigated utilizing a scanning flow cell coupled on‐line to an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (SFC‐ICP‐MS). Fluoride enhances the dissolution exponentially, resulting in enhanced dissolution efficiencies with increased fluoride concentration reaching ≈50% at 20 ppm. Complementary micro and nanostructure analysis (laser profilometry, scanning electron microscopy, and scanning transmission electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy) reveals pitting corrosion, whose severity and occurrence appear highly increased with higher fluoride concentration. The results suggest that fluoride impurities in combination with exposed stainless steel, e.g., due to coating imperfections, should be avoided in PEMWE application, as accumulation of impurities of both might lead to a self‐accelerating degradation process.

In this study, the influence of fluoride on the dissolution stability of stainless steel is investigated on‐line. Fluoride significantly enhances dissolution with increased pitting corrosion. The amount and severity of pits increase with higher fluoride concentration. The results shed light on the possibility of a dangerously self‐accelerating degradation mechanism of electrolyzers by stainless steel dissolution.© 2025 WILEY‐VCH GmbH

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