• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.344-349
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• 2015

An interconnect is the key component of solid oxide fuel cells that electrically connects unit cells and separates fuel from oxidant in the adjoining cells. To improve their surface stability in high-temperature oxidizing environments, metallic interconnects are usually coated with conductive oxides. In this study, lanthanum nickelates ($LaNiO_3$) with a perovskite structure are synthesized and applied as protective coatings on a metallic interconnect (Crofer 22 APU). The partial substitution of Co, Cu, and Fe for Ni improves electrical conductivity as well as thermal expansion match with the Crofer interconnect. The protective perovskite layers are fabricated on the interconnects by a slurry coating process combined with optimized heat-treatment. The perovskite-coated interconnects show area-specific resistances as low as $16.5-37.5m{\Omega}{\cdot}cm^2$ at $800^{\circ}C$.

• 한국전기화학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.42-42
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• 2001

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.58-65
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• 2005

The $LaCrO_3$-dispersed Cr alloys for metallic interconnect of solid oxide fuel cell were prepared as a function of $LaCrO_3$ content in the range of 5 to 25 vol.% and were sintered at 1500$^{\circ}C$ under an Ar atmosphere with 5 vol.% $H_2$. The sintering and oxidation behaviors of these alloys were examined. The alloys indicated a good sinterability above 95% relative density at a given sintering condition, and their sintering densities is independent on $LaCrO_3$ content. The $LaCrO_3$ particles of the sintered alloys were concentrated on interfaces of Cr particles, and the size of the Cr particles increased with decreasing $LaCrO_3$ content, which is caused by inhibited grain growth of Cr particle by $LaCrO_3$ particle. The oxidation test showed all $LaCrO_3$-dispersed Cr alloys have good oxidation resistance as compared with pure Cr, which is attributed to presence of $LaCrO_3$ at the interface at which the oxidation reaction occurs rapidly. The Cr alloys with about 15 vol.% $LaCrO_3$ are very resistant to oxidation.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.116-124
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• 2009

We investigated the influences of cobalt coating deposited by DC electroplating on the ferritic stainless steel, STS 430, as a protective layer on a metallic interconnect for SOFC applications. Cobalt coated STS 430 revealed a uniform and denser-packing oxide surface and a reduced growth rate of $Cr_2O_3$ scales after oxidation at $800^{\circ}C$in air. Cobalt coating layer was oxidized to $CoCo_2O_4$ and Co containing mixed oxide spinels such as $Co_2CrO_4$, $CoCr_2O_4$, and $CoCrFeO_4$. The area specific resistance value of Co coated sample was $0.020\;{\Omega}cm^2$ lower than that of uncoated at $800^{\circ}C$ in air during 500 h. After 1000 h oxidation, cobalt oxide coating layer suppressed chromium outward diffusion.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.231-242
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• 2014

An interconnect in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) electrically connects unit cells and separates fuel from oxidant in the adjoining cells. The interconnects can be divided broadly into two categories - ceramic and metallic interconnects. A thin and gastight ceramic layer is deposited onto a porous support, and metallic interconnects are coated with conductive ceramics to improve their surface stability. This paper provides a short review on ceramic materials for SOFC interconnects. After a brief discussion of the key requirements for interconnects, the article describes basic aspects of chromites and titanates with a perovskite structure for ceramic interconnects, followed by the introduction of dual-layer interconnects. Then, the paper presents protective coatings based on spinel-or perovskite-type oxides on metallic interconnects, which are capable of mitigating oxide scale growth and inhibiting Cr evaporation.

• Korean Journal of Crystallography
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.89-101
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• 2005

Among many material processing related issues for successful scaling down of devices for the next 10 years or so, the advanced gate stack and interconnect technology are two most critical research areas, which need technical innovation. The introduction of new metallic films and appropriate processing technologies are required more than ever. Especially, as the device downscaling continues well into sub 50 nm regime, the paradigm for metal nano film deposition technique research has been shifted to high conformality, low growth temperature, high quality with uniformity at large area wafers. Regarding these, ALD has sparked a lot of interests for a number of reasons. The process is intrinsically atomic in nature, resulting in the controlled deposition of films in sub-monolayer units with excellent conformality. In this paper, the overview on the current issues and the future trends in device processing technologies related to metal nano films as well as the R&D trends in these applications will be discussed. The focus will be on the applications for metal gate, capacitor electrode for DRAM, and diffusion barriers/seed layers for Cu interconnect technology.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.172-177
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• 2010

This study reports the high-temperature oxidation kinetics, ASR(area specific resistance), and interfacial microstructure of metallic interconnects coated with conductive oxides in oxidation atmosphere at $800^{\circ}C$, The conductive material LSC($La_{0.8}Sr_{0.2}CoO_3$, prepared by Solid State Reaction) was coated on the Crofer22APU. The contact behavior of coating layer/metal substrate was increased by sandblast. The electrical conductivity of the LSC coated Crpfer22APU was measured by a DC two probe four wire method for 4000hr, in air at $800^{\circ}C$. Microstructure and composition of the coated layer interface were investigated by SEM/EDS. These results show that a coated LSC layer prevents the formation and growth of oxide scale such as $Cr_2O_3$ and enhances the long-term stability and electrical performance of metallic interconnects for SOFCs.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.735-740
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• 2005

The phase transformation of Ni-B diffusion barrier by Cu diffusion was studied. The Ni-B diffusion barrier, thickness of 10(Inn, was electrolessly deposited on the electroplated Cu interconnect. The specimens were annealed either in Ar atmosphere or in $H_2$ atmosphere from $300^{\circ}C\;to\;800^{\circ}C$ for 30min, respectively. Although the Ni-B coated specimens showed the decomposition of $Ni_3B$ above $400^{\circ}C$ in both Ar atmosphere and $H_2$ atmosphere, Ni-B powders did not show the decomposition of $Ni_3B$. The $Ni_3B$ was decomposed to Ni and B in hi atmospherr: and the metallic Ni formed the solid solution with Cu and the free B was oxidized to $B_2O_3$. However, both the boron hydride and free B were not observed in the diffusion barrier after the annealing in $H_2$ atmos There. These results revealed that the decomposition of $Ni_3B$ by Cu made the Cu diffusion continued toward the Ni-B diffusion barrier.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.356-363
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• 2010

For this paper, we investigated the area specific resistance (ASR) of commercially available ferritic stainless steels with different chemical compositions for use as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) interconnect. After 430h of oxidation, the STS446M alloy demonstrated excellent oxidation resistance and low ASR, of approximately 40 $m{\Omega}cm^2$, of the thermally grown oxide scale, compared to those of other stainless steels. The reason for the low ASR is that the contact resistance between the Pt paste and the oxide scale is reduced due to the plate-like shape of the $Cr_2O_3$(s). However, the acceptable ASR level is considered to be below 100 $m{\Omega}cm^2$ after 40,000 h of use. To further improve the electrical conductivity of the thermally grown oxide on stainless steels, the Co layer was deposited on the stainless steel by means of an electroless deposition method; it was then thermally oxidized to obtain the $Co_3O_4$ layer, which is a highly conductive layer. With the increase of the Co coating thickness, the ASR value decreased. For Co deposited STS444 with 2 ${\mu}m$hickness, the measured ASR at $800^{\circ}$ after 300 h oxidation is around 10 $m{\Omega}cm^2$, which is lower than that of the STS446M, which alloy has a lower ASR value than that of the non-coated STS. The reason for this improved high temperature conductivity seems to be that the Mn is efficiently diffused into the coating layer, which diffusion formed the highly conductive (Mn,Co)$_3O_4$ spinel phases and the thickness of the $Cr_2O_3$(S), which is the rate controlling layer of the electrical conductivity in the SOFC environment and is very thin

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.121-124
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• 2007

Stacks of solid oxide fuel cell under 1kW max power were designed on planar type employing anode supported cell and metallic interconnects. The stacks composed of 3-cells, 8-cells, and 16-cells were fabricated by using single cell purchased from Indec, sealant and interconnect prepared at RIST. In performance test of the final 16-cells stacks, OCV was recorded to be 16.7 V. Peak power and power density were 1 kW, 0.77 $W/cm^{2}$ at $820^{\circ}C$, respectively. In addition, the long term degradation rate of the power exhibited 2.25 % in 500 h at $750^{\circ}C$.