This study focused on improving the phase stability and mechanical properties of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), commonly utilized in gas turbine engine thermal barrier coatings, by incorporating Gd2O3, Er2O3, and TiO2. The addition of 3-valent rare earth elements to YSZ can reduce thermal conductivity and enhance phase stability while adding the 4-valent element TiO2 can improve phase stability and mechanical properties. Sintered specimens were prepared with hot-press equipment. Phase analysis was conducted with X-ray diffraction (XRD), and mechanical properties were assessed with Vickers hardness equipment. The research results revealed that, except for Z10YGE10T, most compositions predominantly exhibited the t-phase. Increasing the content of 3-valent rare earth oxides resulted in a decrease in the monoclinic phase and an increase in the tetragonal phase. In addition, the t(400) angle decreased while the t(004) angle increased. The addition of 10 mol% of 3-valent rare-earth oxides discarded the t-phase and led to the complete development of the c-phase. Adding 10 mol% TiO2 increased hardness than YSZ.
Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) has a low thermal conductivity, high thermal expansion coefficient, and excellent mechanical properties; thus, it is used as a thermal barrier coating material for gas turbines. However, during long-time exposure of YSZ to temperatures of 1200°C or higher, a phase transformation accompanied by a volume change occurs, causing the YSZ coating layer to peel off. To solve this problem, YSZ has been doped with trivalent and tetravalent oxides to obtain coating materials with low thermal conductivity and suppressed phase transformation of zirconia. In this study, YSZ is doped with trivalent oxides, Nd2O3, Yb2O3, Al2O3, and tetravalent oxide, TiO2, and the thermal conductivity of the obtained materials is analyzed according to the composition; furthermore, the relative density change, microstructure change, and m-phase formation behavior are analyzed during long-time heat treatment at high temperatures.
ZrB2 ceramic and ZrB2 ceramic composites with the addition of SiC, WC, and SiC/WC are successfully synthesized by a spark plasma sintering method. During high-temperature oxidation, SiC additive form a SiO2 amorphous outer scale layer and SiC-deplete ZrO2 scale layer, which decrease the oxidation rate. WC addition forms WO3 during the oxidation process to result in a ZrO2/WO3 liquid sintering layer, which is known to improve the antioxidation effect. The addition of SiC and WC to ZrB2 reduces the oxygen effective diffusivity by one-fifth of that of ZrB2. The addition of both SiC and WC shows the formation of a SiO2 outer dense glass layer and ZrO2/WO3 layer so that the anti-oxidation effect is improved three times as much as that of ZrB2. Therefore, SiC- and WC-added ZrB2 has a lower two-order oxygen effective diffusivity than ZrB2; it improves the anti-oxidation performance 3 times as much as that of ZrB2.
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Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is widely used as a tool for the formation of near-atomically flat and uniform thin films in the semiconductor and display industries because of its excellent uniformity. Nowadays, ALD is being extensively used in diverse fields, such as energy and biology. By controlling the reactivity of the surface, either homogeneous or inhomogeneous coating on the shell of nanostructured powder can be accomplished by the ALD process. However, the ALD process on the powder largely depends on the displacement of powder in the reactor. Therefore, the technology for the fluidization of the powder is very important to redistribute its position during the ALD process. Herein, an overview of the three types of ALD reactors to agitate or fluidize the powder to improve the conformality of coating is presented. The principle of fluidization its advantages, examples, and limitations are addressed.
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