Titanium-Based Nanostructured Coatings for Electrodes of Electrochemical Devices with Proton Exchange Membrane

During the operation of electrochemical devices with a proton exchange membrane, the electrode is gradually destroyed and degrades at the anode side under the influence of oxygen. Performance and service life of electrodes in electrochemical devices can be increased by applying Ti-based protective coatings to the surface of current collectors. Nanostructured coatings of Ti, TiO , TiN , TiO N compositions were obtained by magnetron sputtering using a titanium target under various conditions. The structure and composition of the samples were studied by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray phase analysis. The influence of various modes and conditions of magnetron sputtering on the composition and structure of titanium coatings has been established. The service life of the TiN coated electrode in the electrolyzer mode is two times higher than that of the uncoated anode under similar conditions with comparable performance.