Abstract: The bipolar plate of the invention for electrochemical cells, especially for proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, is made with a metallic substrate and on the surface is made with an electrical contact resistance-reducing, carbon-based layer, a layer system or a boundary layer which is made of a near-surface, primarily sp2-bonded, carbon-based layer having a carbon fraction ranging from 50% to 100%, this layer being applied on a metallic substrate surface that is modified relative to the starting material. There may also be a surface region of the substrate in the form of an edge layer made with nitride and/or carbon by nitriding and/or carburizing. On the surface which is in touching contact with a gas-permeable element within the electrochemical cell, the metallic substrate may have a structuring made with elevations and/or depressions in the respective surface.

Abstract: A device for forming coatings on surfaces of a component, band-shaped material, or tool, in which at least one wire-shaped or band-shaped material is used for forming the coating and that is/are connected to a direct electrical current source, wherein an electric arc is formed between wire-shaped materials or between one wire-shaped or band-shaped material and one anode or cathode, wherein wire-shaped or band-shaped material may be fed by means of a feed device; and melted and/or evaporated material of the wire-shaped or band-shaped material flows, by means of a gas jet of a gas or gas mixture, through an inlet into the interior of a chamber that can be heated to a temperature that is at least equal to the evaporation temperature of the at least one material used for the coating or of the material with the highest evaporation temperature, and the material(s) completely evaporates and exits through at least one opening present on the chamber and impinges on the surface to be coated of the component or tool for

Abstract: The bipolar plate of the invention for electrochemical cells, especially for proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, is made with a metallic substrate and on the surface is made with an electrical contact resistance-reducing, carbon-based layer, a layer system or a boundary layer which is made of a near-surface, primarily sp2-bonded, carbon-based layer having a carbon fraction ranging from 50% to 100%, this layer being applied on a metallic substrate surface that is modified relative to the starting material. There may also be a surface region of the substrate in the form of an edge layer made with nitride and/or carbon by nitriding and/or carburizing. On the surface which is in touching contact with a gas-permeable element within the electrochemical cell, the metallic substrate may have a structuring made with elevations and/or depressions in the respective surface.

Abstract: The invention relates to a device for forming coatings on surfaces of a component, band-shaped material, or tool, in which at least one wire-shaped or band-shaped material (2.1 and/or 2.2) is used for forming the coating and that is/are connected to a direct electrical current source, wherein an electric arc is formed between wire-shaped materials (2.1 and 2.2) or between one wire-shaped or band-shaped material and one anode or cathode, wherein wire-shaped or band-shaped material (2.1 and/or 2.2) may be fed by means of a feed device; and melted and/or evaporated material of the wire-shaped or band-shaped material (2.1 and/or 2.