Spatially and temporally resolved stainless steel bipolar plate degradation model for PEMFCsKravos, Andraž (Avtor) Gričar, Miha (Avtor) Drab, Mitja (Avtor) Prijatelj, Matej (Avtor) Katrašnik, Tomaž (Avtor) proton exchange membrane fuel cellmodelingmultilayer oxide growthstainless steel bipolar platesspatial non-uniformitydegradationPredicting multilayer oxide growth on stainless-steel bipolar plates (BPPs) in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) remains challenging because of the complex interplay between electrochemical and transport processes. To address this challenge, we present a BPP degradation model that accounts for the competitive growth of chromium and iron oxide layers and couple it with a real-time-capable, multi-scale, physics-based PEMFC performance model. The results demonstrate that the proposed framework reproduces experimentally observed oxide-thickness evolution and final composition from ToF-SIMS depth profiling with monolayer-level agreement within the uncertainty of the reconstructed literature dataset, while capturing oxygen-vacancy generation, diffusion, and annihilation across the multilayer passive film. Furthermore, the coupled framework enables real-time prediction of spatially non-uniform oxide growth under realistic PEMFC operating conditions, revealing a strong dependence of corrosion dynamics on local cell conditions. The developed framework therefore supports mechanistic interpretation of BPP degradation and provides a basis for future model-based monitoring of stainless-steel BPP degradation in PEMFC systems.20262026-07-15 10:40:21Članek v reviji184805sl