To reduce the sintering temperature of spinel coatings to a safe temperature for Fe-Cr ferritic alloys, an MnCo2O4-MnO2 bicomponent coating has been prepared on SUS430 ferritic alloy by slurry coating, followed by air sintering at a temperature of 800 degrees C. The resultant coating is stable during cyclic oxidation tests and is effective at improving the oxidation resistance of SUS430 alloy. The area-specific resistance of coated samples remains nearly constant during long-term oxidation at 800 degrees C and is less than 6 m Omega cm(2) even after oxidation for 1000 h. These results indicate that the low-temperature sintered MnCo2O4-MnO2 coating is a promising protective material for Fe-Cr ferrite alloys, especially SUS430, which are seriously oxidized at temperatures >= 850 degrees C. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.