Interfacial interactions between an alkali-free borosilicate viscous sealing glass and aluminized ferritic stainless steel

An alkali-free, alkaline earth borosilicate glass (designated G73) has been developed as a viscous sealant for use with solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). In this work, the interfacial interactions that occur between this viscous sealant and aluminized ferritic stainless steel (SS441) under SOFC operational conditions are described. YSZ/glass/aluminized SS441 sandwich seals were held at 800 °C in air for up to 1000 h, and the interfaces were analyzed using analytical scanning electron microscopy (ASEM). Interfacial reactions were also characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses of heat-treated mixtures of glass and alumina powders. The results show that the glass reacted with aluminum from the steel to form BaAl2Si2O8 crystals at the glass/metal interface and that the aluminum concentration in the aluminized steel was significantly depleted with time.