This study focuses on examining the effect of PVD coatings on the oxidation performance of interconnects in fuel side environments. The ferritic steels Sanergy HT and AISI 441 were coated with nanoscale thick rare earth oxides of Ce and La. Additionally, Sanergy HT was also coated with Cu, Co and Ce/Co. The samples were exposed at 850°C in Ar-5% H_2-3% H_2O in a tubular furnace. Chemical analysis on the samples was subsequently performed with SEM/EDX and XRD. It was established that the Ce and La coatings brought about a ≈4x reduction in the oxidation rate while the presence of a metallic phase in the oxide (Cu and Co) negatively affected oxidation performance. Further, the La coating resulted in the formation of a perovskite phase, showing that the intrinsic electronic properties of the oxide can be tailored using coatings.
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