Corrosion of Borosilicate Sealing Glasses for Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells

The development of a new sealant for molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) requires a study of the attack of molten carbonates on selected materials. Silica and Pyrex® glasses have better corrosion resistance against molten carbonates than other glasses, but they have unsuitable thermal expansion coefficients. Comparisons have also been made between borosilicate glasses of suitable thermal expansion for sealants for MCFC and silica and Pyrex® glasses. The corrosion kinetics in molten carbonates follows two limiting relations and involves two corrosion mechanisms. The weight loss varied linearly with time, indicating a dissolution of the glass network at short times. Longer times show corrosion, depending on the square root of time, typical of a diffusion mechanism and indicating formation of a protective layer on the surface of the glass. The main crystalline corrosion product is lithium methasilicate. The glass-corrosion rate follows the well-known Arrhenius law. These studies used scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and chemical analysis. A general corrosion mechanism of borosilicate glasses in molten carbonates is proposed.