Spinel coatings for UNS 430 stainless steel interconnects

At the usual temperature of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) operation, ferritic stainless steels form electrically insulating or poorly conducting oxide scales, which can cause high internal resistance losses and chromium poisoning. In an effort to avoid this problem, we applied conductive copper manganite and cobalt manganite spinel coatings, with nominal composition MnCo2O4 and Cu1.4Mn1.6O4, which were deposited on the surface of UNS 430 stainless steel by electroplating and subsequent air annealing. Microstructural evaluation indicated that the spinel layers inhibited outward diffusion of chromium. Moreover, excellent structural and thermal stability were observed after several thermal cycles at 750 °C and for up to 28 days, and the coating layers showed good adhesion to the substrate.