For this paper, we investigated the area specific resistance (ASR) of commercially available ferritic stainless steels with different chemical compositions for use as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) interconnect. After 430h of oxidation, the STS446M alloy demonstrated excellent oxidation resistance and low ASR, of approximately 40 mΩcm2, of the thermally grown oxide scale, compared to those of other stainless steels. The reason for the low ASR is that the contact resistance between the Pt paste and the oxide scale is reduced due to the plate-like shape of the Cr2O3(s). However, the acceptable ASR level is considered to be below 100 mΩcm2 after 40,000 h of use. To further improve the electrical conductivity of the thermally grown oxide on stainless steels, the Co layer was deposited on the stainless steel by means of an electroless deposition method; it was then thermally oxidized to obtain the Co3O4 layer, which is a highly conductive layer. With the increase of the Co coating thickness, the ASR value decreased. For Co deposited STS444 with 2 μmhickness, the measured ASR at 800˚ after 300 h oxidation is around 10 mΩcm2, which is lower than that of the STS446M, which alloy has a lower ASR value than that of the non-coated STS. The reason for this improved high temperature conductivity seems to be that the Mn is efficiently diffused into the coating layer, which diffusion formed the highly conductive (Mn,Co)3O4 spinel phases and the thickness of the Cr2O3(S), which is the rate controlling layer of the electrical conductivity in the SOFC environment and is very thin

Through the electrostatic interaction between the poly-diallydimethylammonium chloride (PDDA) modified Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) and SnO2 suspension in 1mM NaNo3 solution, MWNT-SnO2 nanocomposites (MSC) for anode electrodes of a Li-ion battery were successfully fabricated by colloidal heterocoagulation method. TEM observation showed that most of the SnO2 nanoparticles were uniformly deposited on the outside surface of the MWNT. Galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling tests showed that MSC anodes exhibited higher specific capacities than bare MWNT and better cyclability than unsupported nano-SnO2 anodes. Also, after 20 cycles, the MSC anode fabricated by heterocoagulation method showed more stable cycle properties than the simply mixed MSC anode. These improved electrochemical properties are attributed to the MWNT, which adsorbs the mechanical stress induced from volume change and increasing electrical conductivity of the MSC anode, and suppresses the aggregation between the SnO2 nanoparticles.

Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) powders were synthesized via mechanochemical solid reaction using with three types of aluminum compounds. reacted mechanochemically with all A1 compounds and formed YAM (yttrium aluminum monoclinic), YAG and YAP (yttrium aluminum perovskite) phases depending on the starting materials. The ground samples containing showed the best reactivity, whereas the ground sample containing A100H, which had the largest surface area, exhibited pure YAG after calcination at . The sample containing Al had the least reactivity, producing YAP along with YAG at . The types and grinding characteristics of the starting materials and grinding time are believed to be important factors in the mechanochemical synthesis of YAG.