Study and characterisation of ferritic stainless steels as possible candidates for applications in solid oxide fuel cells stacks

Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (IT-SOFCs) are systems for the direct conversion of chemical energy into electric energy with a low environmental impact and high efficiency. The generation of an adequate voltage requires the staking of every single SOFC through elements known as interconnects (IC). ICs connect anodes and cathodes of adjacent units, guarantee the physical separation between fuel and oxygen and act as a mechanical support and gas manifold in the stacked cells. For many years, these fundamental elements have been produced with ferritic stainless steels (FSSs) since they show adequate requisites. This research aimed at testing two FSSs (hereafter referred to as Steel 1 and Steel 2), recently produced for industrial uses, as possible candidates for SOFCs applications. These steels were characterized through different spectroscopic techniques (SEM-EDS, XRD, mu- RS) and subjected to Area Specific Resistance (ASR) measurements. Finally, the collected data have been compared with those deriving from the same investigations performed on an FSS typically used for the manufacturing of IC, i.e. AISI 441 (EN 1.4509).