Variation of Microstructure and Area Specific Resistance with Surface Roughness of a Ferritic Stainless Steel after Long-Term Oxygen Exposure

One of the candidates for metallic interconnects of solid oxide fuel cells is a ferritic stainless steel, Crofer 22 APU. By grinding with different grit SiC grinding paper, Crofer 22 APU specimens with various surface roughness were prepared. The specimens were then thermally cycled by heating them to 1,073 K at a rate of 10 K min^-1, holding at 1,073 K for 25 h, and cooling to 298 K at a rate of 10 K min‒1. Examinations of the resulting microstructures, measurements of the area specific resistances (ASRs), and analyses of the atomic percentages of elements via energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy were performed. The particle size decreased as the grit number of the grinding paper used to grind the sample surfaces increased. A polished sample exhibited the smallest particle size. Plots of ln (ASR/T ) vs. 1/T for the samples ground with grit 80 and grit 400 and the polished sample after 40 thermal cycles exhibited good linearity. At the same measuring temperature, the ASR increased as the surface of the sample became rougher. This suggests that the polished Crofer 22 APU is better than those with rougher surfaces for application as interconnect of SOFC.