Currently stainless steel is the material on which extensive research interest is being focused for the purpose of using it as bipolar plates (Bp) for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) because of its suitable physical and mechanical properties. In the present study TiN, TiAlN mono-layer and TiN/TiAlN bi-layer coatings were developed on 316L stainless steel (SS) by physical vapourvapour deposition (PVD) technique. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and Raman spectrum confirmed TiN cubic structure was formed for all the coatings. An increased surface roughness determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and high contact angle value with water for TiN/TiAlN qualify the Bp for the wet operating conditions in PEMFC. The electrochemical corrosion behaviour of the un-coated and coated specimens have been studied by Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) as well as Potentiodynamic and Potentiostatic polarization studies in 0.5 M H2SO4 with 2 ppm of fluoride ions at 80 degrees C purged with air to simulate the PEMFC environment. The corrosion protection performance is in the order of TiAlN < 316L SS < TiN/TiAlN < TiN and the corrosion current (i(corr)) density obtained for TiN and TiN/TiAIN are less than 1 1 mu A/cm(2). Surface resistance measurements showed that TiN has 0.8 m Omega cm(2) and exhibits more conductivity after the polarization studies. Copyright (C) 2015, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.