Microstructure and Electrical Properties of Fe,Cu Substituted (Co,Mn)₃O₄ Thin Films

In this work, thin films (~1000 nm) of a pure MnCo2O4 spinel together with its partially substituted derivatives (MnCo1.6Cu0.2Fe0.2O4, MnCo1.6Cu0.4O4, MnCo1.6Fe0.4O4) were prepared by spray pyrolysis and were evaluated for electrical conductivity. Doping by Cu increases the electrical conductivity, whereas doping by Fe decreases the conductivity. For Cu containing samples, rapid grain growth occurs and these samples develop cracks due to a potentially too high thermal expansion coefficient mismatch to the support. Samples doped with both Cu and Fe show high electrical conductivity, normal grain growth and no cracks. By co-doping the Mn, Co spinel with both Cu and Fe, its properties can be tailored to reach a desired thermal expansion coefficient/electrical conductivity value

Ceria based protective coatings for steel interconnects prepared by spray pyrolysis

AbstractStainless steels can be used in solid oxide fuel/electrolysis stacks as interconnects. For successful long term operation they require protective coatings, that lower the corrosion rate and block chemical reactions between the interconnect and adjacent layers of the oxygen or the hydrogen electrode. One of the promising coating materials for the hydrogen side is ceria. Using standard sintering techniques, ceria sinters at around 1400°C which even for a very short exposure would destroy the interconnect. Therefore in this paper a low temperature deposition method, i.e. spray pyrolysis, is used to deposit thin (∼400nm), continuous CeO2 layers on Crofer 22 APU steel substrates. Influence of the deposition parameters on layer quality is elucidated in this work