One of the largest obstacles for SO2 depolarized electrolyser (SDE) commercialization is the material stability in rough operating conditions. In this work stainless steel bipolar plates have been coated with thin Au layer having bifunctional role: providing electrocatalytic surface for both electrode reactions and simultaneously improves the stainless steel support corrosion tolerance at the potential window of SDE. The stability and performance of the coated bipolar plates were tested in a bench-scale electrolyser setup and the results indicate that these plates can be utilized as economic catalyst for SDE, moreover, they show corrosion resistance in SDE operation. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.