Corrosion resistance of 316L stainless steel with surface layer of Ni2Al3 or NiAl in molten carbonates

Double layers of nickel and aluminum are electroplated on a 316L stainless steel (316L SS) plate, which is routinely used as a separator in molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) stacks, and then heat-treated at 650 or 800 °C for 1 h. This results in the respective formation of a surface layer of Ni2Al3 or NiAl intermetallic compound, which are known to be highly corrosion-resistant in molten carbonate electrolyte. The corrosion behaviour of each plate in a molten electrolyte of (Li0.62K0.38)2CO3 or (Li0.52Na0.48)2CO3 is evaluated through immersion tests and polarisation measurements. The surface layer of Ni2Al3 or NiAl maintains good adhesion to the stainless steel substrate and no corrosion product is detected in any of the plates with a surface layer after immersion tests. Polarisation measurements reveal that, regardless of experimental conditions, the corrosion potentials of the plates with a surface layer shift to more positive values and the passive currents are lower than that for a bare SS plate. The corrosion rate of the NiAl surface layer is slightly lower than that of Ni2Al3.