LaCrO 3-based coatings deposited by high-energy micro-arc alloying process on a ferritic stainless steel interconnect material

Abstract

Currently used ferritic stainless steel interconnects are unsuitable for practical applications in solid oxide fuel cells operated at intermediate temperatures due to chromium volatility, poisoning of the cathode material, rapidly decreasing electrical conductivity and a low oxidation resistance. To overcome these problems, a novel, simple and cost-effective high-energy micro-arc alloying (HEMAA) process is proposed to prepare LaCrO 3-based coatings for the type 430 stainless steel interconnects. However, it is much difficult to deposit an oxide coating by HEMAA than a metallic coating due to the high brittleness of oxide electrodes for deposition. Therefore, a Cr-alloying layer is firstly obtained on the alloy surface by HEMAA using a Cr electrode rod, followed by a LaCrO 3-based coating using an electrode rod of LaCrO 3–20 wt.%Ni, with a metallurgical bonding between the coating and the substrate. The preliminary oxidation tests at 850 °C in air indicate that the LaCrO 3-based coatings showed a three-layered microstructure with a NiFe 2O 4 outer layer, a thick LaCrO 3 sub-layer and a thin Cr 2O 3-rich inner layer, which thereby possesses an excellent protectiveness to the substrate alloy and a low electrical contact resistance.