Spinel CuMn1.9Fe0.1O4 as promising material for protective layers for SOC stack components
AJDYS L. 1,2,3,4, ZURAWSKA A. 1,2, NAUMOVICH Y. 1,2, WIECINSKA P. 4, KOSIOREK M. 1,2,5, LAZOR M. 1,2,3,4
1 Institute of Power Engineering, Mory 8, 01-330 Warsaw, Poland, Warsaw, Poland; 2 Center for Hydrogen Technologies CTH2, Institute of Power Engineering, Augustowka 36, 02-981 Warsaw, Poland, Warsaw, Poland; 3 Doctoral School, Warsaw University of Technology, Plac Politechniki 1, 00-661 Warsaw, Poland, Warsaw, Poland; 4 Faculty of Chemistry, Warsaw University of Technology, Noakowskiego 3, 00-664 Warsaw, Poland, Warsaw, Poland; 5 Institute of Heat Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Nowowiejska 21/25, 00-665 Warsaw, Poland, Warsaw, Poland
Solid Oxide Cells (SOC)- based technologies for energy production and conversion are gaining popularity as an attractive object of research and commercialization. High-temperature electrochemical processes offer possibilities for the incredibly efficient generation of electricity with the negligible emission of pollutants as well as energy storage for the excessive “green” power - P2G (power-to-gas) systems. An important issue, which has a negative impact on the commercialization of these technologies, is the usage of cobalt compounds. Cobalt and its oxides is toxic material and it is considered as critical raw material (CRM) with sufficiently constrained offers on the market. One of the key applications of the cobalt in SOC stacks is the fabrication of the protective layers based on (Mn,Co)3O4 spinels, which cover the surface of the interconnects and structural elements from the Cr-alloyed ferritic steels. These layers should suppress oxidative corrosion and evaporation of the volatile chromium compounds. Among protection of the surface, protective layers should demonstrate low and stable area-specific resistivity (ASR) between interconnect and SOC. Solid solutions, based on manganese-copper spinels, were proposed as an alternative to (Mn,Co)3O4 spinels. The study compares protective layers, produced from commercially available spinels Mn1.5Co1.5O4 and CuMn1.9Fe0.1O4 (Kceracell, Korea). The layers were fabricated by electrophoretic deposition, followed by reductive sintering. Prepared samples were evaluated in terms of morphology and microstructure of the layers supplemented by the ASR measurements. The results showed that layers of both materials effectively prevent chromium diffusion, and CuMn1.9Fe0.1O4 might be considered as environmentally friendly and CRM-free alternative to commonly used cobalt-containing oxides.
The presented research was financially supported by the National Centre for Research and Development, Poland, within project no. UMO-2017/26/M/ST8/00438, and Ministry of Science and Higher Education through the statutory grant (grant number CPE.4000.001.2023).