Coated stainless steel 441 as interconnect material for solid oxide fuel cells: Oxidation performance and chromium evaporation

Reactive Element (RE) and RE/cobalt-coated stainless steel AISI 441 was exposed at Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) cathode conditions (850 degrees C in air with 3% water content) for up to 500 h. The chromium evaporation was measured by applying the denuder technique. Uncoated material exhibited severe spallation which could be successfully prevented by using cerium or lanthanum coatings. By applying double layer coatings of cerium or lanthanum in combination with cobalt the oxidation rate was decreased and the chromium volatilisation was also about 90% lower than the uncoated material

Coated stainless steel 441 as interconnect material for solid oxide fuel cells: Evolution of electrical properties

AISI 441 coated. with a double layer coating of 10 nm cerium (inner layer) and 630 nm cobalt was investigated and in addition the uncoated material was exposed for comparison. The main purpose of this investigation was the development of a suitable ASR characterization method. The material was exposed to a simulated cathode atmosphere of air with 3% water at 850 degrees C and the samples were exposed for up to 1500 h. We compared two methods of ASR measurements, an in-situ method where samples were measured with platinum electrodes for longer exposure times and an ex-situ method where pre-oxidized samples were measured for only very short measurement times. It was found that the ASR of ex-situ characterized samples could be linked to the mass gain and the electrical properties could be linked to the evolving microstructure during the different stages of exposure. Both the degradation of the electric performance and the oxygen uptake (mass gain) followed similar trends. After about 1500 h of exposure an ASR value of about 15 m Omega cm(2) was reached. The in-situ measured samples suffered from severe corrosion attack during measurement. After only 500 h of exposure already a value of 35 m Omega cm(2) was obtained

Coated Ferritic Stainless Steels as Interconnects in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells - Material Development and Electrical Properties

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are attracting increasing interest as devices with potentialuses in decentralized and clean electricity and heat production. Several challengeswith respect to materials have to be overcome to achieve efficiencies and life-spansthat are sufficient for long-term applications.An important element of an SOFC stack is the interconnect component, which connectstwo adjacent fuel cell elements. Interconnects, which are commonly composedof ferritic stainless steels, have to be corrosion-resistant, mechanically stable and costoptimized.This work aimed to investigate economic solutions for interconnect materials and tounderstand the underlying mechanisms of degradation and electrical conduction ofthese materials. Mainly two substrates, a commercially available steel (AISI 441) anda ferritic stainless steel that was optimized for an SOFC application (Sandvik SanergyHT) were combined with different barrier coatings and exposed to a cathode-sideatmosphere. A method was developed that allows for the electrical characterizationof promising material systems and model alloys, thereby facilitating a fundamentalunderstanding of the dominant electrical conduction processes linked to the oxidescales that grow on interconnects. The AISI 441 steel coated with reactive elementsand cobalt showed good corrosion and chromium evaporation profiles, while AISI 441coated with cerium and cobalt also had promising electrical properties. The SanergyHT steel was examined with coatings of copper and iron and copper and manganese,respectively. The corrosion and chromium evaporation profiles of Sanergy HT wereimproved by coating with copper and iron. The copper and iron-coated Sanergy HTshowed lower area specific resistance values than cobalt-coated Sanergy HT. Chromia,which is the main constituent of oxide scales, was synthesized using differentmethods. The electrical properties of chromia were found to be sensitive to not onlyimpurities, but also heat treatment. Finally the electrical properties of cobalt- andcobalt cerium-coated Sanergy HT steels were investigated. It was revealed that theaddition of cerium improved the conductivity of the interconnect by both slowingdown chromia growth and preventing the outward diffusion of iron into the spinel

Coated Ferritic Stainless Steels as Interconnects in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells - Material Development and Electrical Properties

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are attracting increasing interest as devices with potentialuses in decentralized and clean electricity and heat production. Several challengeswith respect to materials have to be overcome to achieve efficiencies and life-spansthat are sufficient for long-term applications.An important element of an SOFC stack is the interconnect component, which connectstwo adjacent fuel cell elements. Interconnects, which are commonly composedof ferritic stainless steels, have to be corrosion-resistant, mechanically stable and costoptimized.This work aimed to investigate economic solutions for interconnect materials and tounderstand the underlying mechanisms of degradation and electrical conduction ofthese materials. Mainly two substrates, a commercially available steel (AISI 441) anda ferritic stainless steel that was optimized for an SOFC application (Sandvik SanergyHT) were combined with different barrier coatings and exposed to a cathode-sideatmosphere. A method was developed that allows for the electrical characterizationof promising material systems and model alloys, thereby facilitating a fundamentalunderstanding of the dominant electrical conduction processes linked to the oxidescales that grow on interconnects. The AISI 441 steel coated with reactive elementsand cobalt showed good corrosion and chromium evaporation profiles, while AISI 441coated with cerium and cobalt also had promising electrical properties. The SanergyHT steel was examined with coatings of copper and iron and copper and manganese,respectively. The corrosion and chromium evaporation profiles of Sanergy HT wereimproved by coating with copper and iron. The copper and iron-coated Sanergy HTshowed lower area specific resistance values than cobalt-coated Sanergy HT. Chromia,which is the main constituent of oxide scales, was synthesized using differentmethods. The electrical properties of chromia were found to be sensitive to not onlyimpurities, but also heat treatment. Finally the electrical properties of cobalt- andcobalt cerium-coated Sanergy HT steels were investigated. It was revealed that theaddition of cerium improved the conductivity of the interconnect by both slowingdown chromia growth and preventing the outward diffusion of iron into the spinel

Coated Ferritic Stainless Steels as Interconnects in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have gained increased research interest as they arepromising devices for a decentralized and clean electricity and heat production. Severalmaterial challenges have to be solved to reach sufficient efficiencies and life times.One important aspect are ferritic stainless steels as interconnect materials which arecorrosion resistant, mechanically stable and cost optimized. This work is aimed toinvestigate economic solutions for interconnect materials and understand the underlyingdegradation mechansims. Two substrates, the commercial available steel AISI 441and the ferritic stainless steel optimized for an SOFC application Sandvik SanergyHT, were combined with different barrier coatings and exposed in cathode atmosphere.The ferritic stainless steel AISI 441 coated with different reactive element and reactiveelement/cobalt coatings was investigated concerning corrosion resistance andchromium volatilization. Uncoated 441 suffered from severe corrosion, which was successfullyimproved by coatings of cerium and lanthanum. Cerium/cobalt-coated AISI441 was showing excellent and promising properties for a interconnect application.Sandvik Sanergy HT coated with novel conversion coatings of copper with manganeseor iron was examined in a similar way. Coatings of copper and iron improved thecorrosion and chromium evaporation properties significantly and were promising forfurther developments. In contrast did copper combined with manganese as coatingon Sandvik Sanergy HT not result in an improvement in corrosion properties andchromium evaporation

Effect of Cerium on the Electrical Properties of a Cobalt Conversion Coating for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Interconnects - A Study Using Impedance Spectroscopy

Coatings of metallic cobalt, which convert into a cobalt manganese spinel oxide are known to improve the properties of interconnects for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The addition of cerium to the cobalt coating further improves the corrosion properties of the material. For this study traditional four-point DC measurements at high temperatures were combined with impedance spectroscopy at low temperatures in order to investigate the effect of cerium on the electrical properties of a cobalt conversion coating. It was found that combination-coatings of cerium and cobalt exhibit superior electrical properties compared to pure cobalt coatings. Cerium slows down the growth of chromia and prevents the outward diffusion of iron into the cobalt spinel layer. Both effects are beneficial for the electrical properties of the interconnect. Impedance spectroscopy measurements revealed that even after more than 3000 h of exposure the outer cobalt manganese spinel layer still has a higher electrical conductivity when cerium was present

Copper Iron Conversion Coating for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Interconnects

A conversion coating of iron and copper was investigated with the purpose of increasing the performance of Sanergy HT as a potential SOFC interconnect material. Samples were exposed to a simulated cathode atmosphere (air, 3 % H2O) for durations of up to 1000 h at 850 \ub0C. Their performance in terms of corrosion, chromium evaporation and electrical resistance (ASR) was monitored and compared to uncoated and cobalt-coated Sanergy HT samples. The copper iron coating had no negative effects on corrosion protection and decreased chromium evaporation by about 80%. An Area Specific Resistance (ASR) of 10 mΩcm2 was reached after 1000 h of exposure. Scanning Electron Microscopy revealed well adherent oxide layers comprised of an inner chromia layer and an outer spinel oxide layer

Metallic Bipolar Plates for High Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

High temperature polymer membrane fuel cells (HTPEMFCs) are promising devices for future mobile applications. To minimize phosphoric acid migration from the membranes and to reduce the total stack weight and size metallic bipolar plates are a promising alternative. So far only very few published results are available on the use of metallic bipolar plates in HTPEMFCs. During this work a single test cell was equipped with metallic endplates to investigate the possibility of using metallic bipolar plates in HTPEMFC stacks. Furthermore we tried to simulate the environments present in an HTPEMFC by furnace exposures in an attempt to develop a simplified test method for accelerated corrosion of bipolar plate materials. It was found that the performance of the HTPEM test cell decreased by about 15 mu V h(-1). More corrosion products were seen on the cathode side samples, whereas on the anode side sample the corrosion attack of the steel was more severe. These results were successfully replicated in simulated furnace experiments

Copper based conversion coatings on ferritic stainless strip steel as solid oxide fuel cell interconnects: Oxidation performance and chromium evaporation

Ferritic stainless steels such as Crofer 22 H or Sanergy HT have been proven to be effective interconnect materials when additionally coated. These coatings, mainly based on cobalt spinels, successfully prevent chromium evaporation and are stable for long exposure times. A new approach is using copper based spinel coatings which are promising concerning price, conductivity and stability. This investigation is dedicated to a selection of copper spinel conversion coatings, their stability and ability to prevent chromium evaporation. Chromium release was monitored in humidified air (at 850 \ub0C) using the denuder technique. The coatings were post analysed utilizing electron microscopy

Inhibiting chromium evaporation and oxide scale growth on SOFC metallic interconnects by nano coatings

High chromium ferritic steel is today the most commonly considered material for SOFC interconnectors due to many desirable properties, such as matching thermal expansion coefficient with other cell components but most importantly better machinability and price compared to ceramic alternatives. Yet there are some obstacles that need to be addressed before long term stability of a ferritic steel interconnector based fuel cell stack can be realized. First of all the electrical conductivity needs to remain high throughout the fuel cell stack operating life time and thus the formed oxide layers need to be electrically conductive and thin. Secondly, volatilization of chromium from the oxide scale of metallic interconnects causes rapid degradation due cathode poisoning. In the current study both oxidation and chromium evaporation of ferritic steel substrates are investigated in controlled atmospheres that simulates the environments of an operating SOFC stack. Samples coated with nanometer scale dual coatings of Co and Ce were tested. The dual coating substantially increased the performance of the ferritic substrates by i) significantly reducing oxidation rate, ii) increasing scale adherence and iii) diminishing chromium evaporation by 90 % via the formation of a Co-Mn-spinel cap layer