In-Flight Alloying of Nanocrystalline Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia Using Suspension Spray to Produce Ultra-Low Thermal Conductivity Thermal Barriers

Previous researchers have shown that it is possible to combine rare-earth oxides with the standard thermal barrier coating material (4.5 mol% Y{sub 2}O{sub 3}-ZrO{sub 2} or YSZ) to form ultra-low thermal conductivity coatings using a standard powder manufacturing route. A similar approach to making low thermal conductivity coatings by adding rare-earth oxides is discussed presently, but a different manufacturing route was used. This route involved dissolving hydrated ytterbium and neodymium nitrates into a suspension of 80 nm diameter 4.5 mol% YSZ powder and ethanol. Suspension plasma spray was then used to create coatings in which the YSZ powders were alloyed with rare-earth elements while the plasma transported the melted powders to the substrate. Mass spectrometry measurements showed a YSZ coating composition, in mol%, of ZrO{sub 2}-4.4 Y{sub 2}O{sub 3}-1.4 Nd{sub 2}O{sub 3}-1.3 Yb{sub 2}O{sub 3}. The amount of Yb{sup 3+} and Nd{sup 3+} ions in the final coating was {approx}50% of that added to the starting suspension. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction revealed a cubic ZrO{sub 2} phase, consistent with the incorporation of more stabilizer into the zirconia crystal structure. The total porosity in the coatings was {approx}35-36%, with a bulk density of 3.94 g/cm{sup 3}. Small-angle X-ray scattering measured an apparentmore » void specific surface area of {approx}2.68 m{sup 2}/cm{sup 3} for the alloyed coating and {approx}3.19 m{sup 2}/cm{sup 3} for the baseline coating. Thermal conductivity (k{sub th}) of the alloyed coating was {approx}0.8 W/m/K at 800 C, as compared with {approx}1.5 W/m/K at 800 C for the YSZ-only baseline coating. After 50 h at 1200 C, kth increased to {approx}1.1 W/m/K at 800 C for the alloyed samples, with an associated decrease in the apparent void specific surface area to {approx}1.55 m{sup 2}/cm{sup 3}.« less