Evaluation of electrical conductivity activation energy of manganese coated Fe-17%Cr ferritic stainless steel

From an electrical conductivity perspective, only chromia forming alloys can
be considered as candidates for interconnect application in solid oxide fuel cell. In this
research, AISI 430 ferritic stainless steel was coated in a Mn-base pack mixture by pack
cementation method. Electrical conductivity of the coated coupons was measured as a
function of temperature by oxidizing the samples from room temperature to 800ºC. Also
the electrical conductivity has been studied as a function of oxidation time during
isothermal oxidation at 800ºC. Results showed the increase of temperature caused to the
decrease of electrical conductivity and also, the coating layer transformed to manganese
spinels during isothermal oxidation. The spinel compositions ameliorated the electrical
conductivity activation energy of coated coupons (0.029 eV) compared to uncoated ones
(0.031 eV).