Ferritic stainless steels and other alloys are of great interest to SOFC developers for applications such as interconnects, cell frames, and balance of plant components. While these alloys offer significant advantages (e.g., low material and manufacturing cost, high thermal conductivity, and high temperature oxidation resistance), there are challenges which can hinder their utilization in SOFC systems
these challenges include Cr volatility and reactivity with glass seals. To overcome these challenges, protective coatings and surface treatments for the alloys are under development. In particular, aluminization of alloy surfaces offers the potential for mitigating both evaporation of Cr from the alloy surface and reaction of alloy constituents with glass seals. Commercial aluminization processes are available to SOFC developers, but they tend to be costly due to their use of exotic raw materials and/or processing conditions. As an alternative, PNNL has developed Reactive Air Aluminization (RAA), which offers a low-cost, simpler alternative to conventional aluminization methods.