Morphologies of Brazed NiO-YSZ/316 Stainless Steel Using B-Ni2 Brazing Filler Alloy in a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell System

Joining of NiO-YSZ to 316 stainless steel was carried out with B-Ni2 brazing alloy (3 wt% Fe, 4.5 wt% Si, 3.2 wt% B, 7 wt% Cr, Ni-balance, m.p. 971-$999^{\circ}C$) to seal the NiO-YSZ anode/316 stainless steel interconnect structure in a SOFC. In the present research, interfacial (chemical) reactions during brazing at the NiO-YSZ/316 stainless steel interconnect were enhanced by the two processing methods, a) addition of an electroless nickel plate to NiO-YSZ as a coating or b) deposition of titanium layer onto NiO-YSZ by magnetron plasma sputtering method, with process variables and procedures optimized during the pre-processing. Brazing was performed in a cold-wall vacuum furnace at $1080^{\circ}C$. Post-brazing interfacial morphologies between NiO-YSZ and 316 stainless steel were examined by SEM and EDS methods. The results indicate that B-Ni2 brazing filler alloy was fused fully during brazing and continuous interfacial layer formation depended on the method of pre-coating NiO-YSZ. The inter-diffusion of elements was promoted by titanium-deposition: the diffusion reaction thickness of the interfacial area was reduced to less than 5 ${\mu}m$ compared to 100 ${\mu}m$ for electroless nickel-deposited NiO-YSZ cermet.