Temperature dependence of corrosion of ferritic stainless steel in dual atmosphere at 600-800 °C

The ferritic stainless steel AISI 441 (EN 1.4509) is exposed for 1000 h to air - 3% H2O on one side and to Ar - 5% H2 - 3% H2O on the other at temperatures 600, 700, and 800 °C. Conditions are chosen to mimic the environment of metallic interconnects in an operating solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). At 600 °C, ∼25 μm thick Fe2O3/(Fe,Cr)3O4 forms on large parts of the air side of the samples. Reference samples exposed to air - 3% H2O on both sides form thin protective layers of (Cr,Mn)3O4/Cr2O3 at the same temperature. At higher temperatures, 700 and 800 °C, all samples form protective layers of (Cr,Mn)3O4/Cr2O3 regardless of exposure to single or dual atmosphere. It is concluded that corrosion resistance in a dual atmosphere has an inverse dependence on temperature. Different hypotheses for the underlying cause for the dual atmosphere effect are discussed and compared to the experimental data.