Patent ID: 8367241

Claim:
A separator, comprising: a substrate consisting of pure aluminum or aluminum alloy and a plating layer formed on the substrate wherein the plating layer comprises a copper layer on a substrate side and a tin layer on the copper layer, the tin layer comprises a tin and carbon mixture layer, the tin and carbon mixture layer is an uppermost layer consisting of tin and carbon, a ratio of a tin content to a carbon content by atomic % in the tin and carbon mixture layer is from 0.01 to 2, as measured in a composition analysis from an uppermost layer side by a scanning electron microscope or an energy dispersion type analyzer under 15 kV acceleration voltage, a thickness of the copper layer is 0.10 μm or above, a quotient of a thickness of the tin layer divided by the thickness of the copper layer is from 0.1 to 50, and wherein the separator is suitable for a fuel cell.