Excellent Cr diffusion resistance and interface stability is essential for coatings applied on the surface of ferrite stainless steel interconnect for SOFCs. Four kinds of materials, the equimolar (MnFeCoNiCu) 3 O 4 (Eq), non-equimolar (Mn 0·272 Fe 0·272 Co 0·272 Ni 0·092 Cu 0.092 ) 3 O 4 (Non-Eq), MnCo 2 O 4 (MC) and the Quaternary (MnFeCoNi) 3 O 4 (Quaternary), are combined with chromium oxide to form diffusion couples in order to study the interfacial reaction mechanism. The constitutes and morphologies of the samples are tested. Two different composition reaction layers are found in equimolar/Cr 2 O 3 diffusion couple. A slight Cr inward diffusion is detected in Quaternary/Cr 2 O 3 diffusion couple.
Jianwei Gao,Xiaoqing Si,Mingshen Li,Pengpeng Xue,Bo Yang,Chun Li,Junlei Qi,Jian Cao
Microwave-sintered Ni-doped Mn–Co spinel coatings were developed as advanced protective layers for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) interconnects. By systematically varying the Ni content (in MnCo 2-x Ni x O 4 , x = 0–0.5), we demonstrate that Ni incorporation significantly alters cation valence distributions and oxygen vacancy concentrations, leading to a substantial reduction in the thickness of Cr-containing oxide layers compared to undoped coatings. Among the compositions studied, the MnCo 1.7 Ni 0.3 O 4 coating exhibited the best performance, maintaining an area-specific resistance (ASR) below 20 mΩ cm 2 after 500 h at 800 °C, indicating excellent electrical conductivity and long-term stability. Crystal field analysis revealed that Ni doping not only suppresses the Jahn-Teller distortion of Mn 3+ but also enhances configurational entropy, thereby stabilizing the spinel structure against Cr diffusion. These findings establish entropy engineering via Ni substitution as a viable strategy for designing thermodynamically robust, electrically conductive, and Cr-resistant coatings, offering a promising pathway for durable SOFC interconnect applications.