Mohammad Bagher Limooei - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Ayatollah Amoli Branch ,Islamic Azad University, Amol, Iran.
Hadi Ebrahimifar - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran.
Shabnam Hosseini - Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran.

Long–term stability and oxidation resistance of AISI ۴۳۹ ferritic stainless steel used as interconnects in solid oxide fuel cells can be improved by use of a protective coating. In this study the pack cementation method was employed to coat AISI ۴۳۹ ferritic stainless steel with manganese. Isothermal oxidation was conducted at ۸۰۰ ºC for ۲۰۰ hours in static air to investigate the role of coating against oxidation. Cyclic oxidation was also performed for up to ۱۰۰ cycles at the oxidation temperature of ۸۰۰ °C. Formation of manganese oxides (MnFe۲O۴, Mn۳O۴ and Mn۲O۳) during oxidation tests improved oxidation resistance. The coated samples demonstrated lower mass gain in each test, indicating the coating layer could have act as a mass barrier against the outward diffusion of cations specially Cr.

Oxidation, Solid oxide fuel cell, AISI ۴۳۹ ferritic stainless steel, Manganese, Interconnect