MnCo2O4 spinel chromium barrier coatigns coatings for SOFC interconnect by HVOF

Chromia released from steel parts used for interconnect plates by evaporation and condensation can quickly degrade the cell (cathode) performance in solid oxide fuel cell SOFC. Coatings on top of the IC plate can work as a chromium evaporation barrier. The coating material should have good electrical conductivity, high temperature stability and nearly the same coefficient of thermal expansion as the cell materials. One candidate for the coating material is MnCo2O4 spinel because of its suitable properties. High velocity oxy fuel (HVOF) spraying was used for the coating application on Crofer 22 APU steel samples. Using commercial and self made spray dried powders together with an HV2000 spray gun it was possible to successfully manufacture, well adhering, dense and reasonably uniform coatings. The samples were tested in oxidation exposure tests in air followed by post analysis in SEM. Powders and coatings microstructures are presented here, both before and after exposure. It was found out that together with spraying parameters the powder characteristics used influence clearly to the coating quality. Especially as very thin coatings was aimed with dense structure fine powders was found to be essential