EB-PVD deposition of spinel coatings on metallic materials and silicon wafers

Spinel oxides are promising materials as protective coatings on metallic interconnects to reduce the area specific resistance (ASR) at high operating temperature in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). In this work, the deposition of MnCo2O4 (MC) and MnCo1.9Fe0.1O4 (MCF10) materials (1 μm) on Si substrates and commercial alloys (Crofer 22 APU, SS430 and Conicro 4023 W 188) by electron beam physical vapour deposition (EB-PVD) was studied. Optimisation of deposition, the effectiveness of MC and MCF10 protective layers and the influence of the deposition method were investigated after oxidation at 800 °C for 100 h in air. Significant improvements in Cr poisoning of the cathode and in ASR were observed in cells assembled with coated versus uncoated samples. The best results were obtained with cells assembled with MC/Conicro 4023 W 188 with MC deposited by EB-PVD.