AbstractA new thermal barrier coating (TBC) structure, composed of two ZrO2 based ceramic layers with different chemical composition on an MCrAlY bondcoating is proposed. In the double ceramic coatings, the lower layer consists of high strength ZrO2–Y2O3 and the upper layer of ZrO2–CeO2–Y2O3 with high heat shielding capacity. The new bilayer structure TBC was prepared by plasma spraying, and its properties, including thermal conductivity and thermal shock resistance, were evaluated. The thermal conductivity of the coatings showed good agreement with values calculated by the parallel plates model. The coatings also exhibited improved thermal shock resistance. This result is supported by FEM analysis, which revealed that tensile stress accompanying thermal shock is reduced and, in fact, applied only to the strong lower layer.