Functional Ceramic Coatings Deposited by Solution Precurser Plasma Spray

溶液前驱体等离子喷涂(SPPS)是一种通过将与所需涂层成分相对应的前驱体盐的溶液注入到直流电弧等离子体中来沉积几乎任何成分的涂层的过程。从溶液中快速形成的固体导致了极细的微晶尺寸，通常在20-30纳米量级。涂层结构的范围可以从极高的孔隙率到几乎完全致密。然而，这涉及到许多复杂的现象，在理解和控制这一过程以便能够可靠地沉积所需结构、成分和性能的涂层方面存在重大挑战。*拟议的研究计划将扩展和扩大我们最近在SPPS方面的工作。有两个主要目标。一是进一步开发和展示这一过程的潜力，为特定应用生产独特的、高性能的碳沉积。特别令人感兴趣的是作为超级电容器和锂离子电池电极的功能陶瓷涂层的电化学性能。第二个主要目标是通过实验、诊断和涂层微观结构的表征与等离子体中液滴的蒸发、破裂和碰撞、液滴中产物相的沉淀、颗粒对衬底的加热、熔化和冲击的数值模拟相结合，更好地理解该过程中涉及的现象。

Solution precursor plasma spraying (SPPS) is a process capable of depositing coatings of almost anycomposition by injecting solutions of precursor salts corresponding to the desired coating composition into a DC-arc plasma. The rapid formation of the solid from the solution results in extremely fine crystallite sizes, typically on the order of 20-30 nm. Coating structures can range from extremely high porosities to nearly completely dense. However, a number of complex phenomena are involved and significant challenges exist in understanding and controlling the process in order to be able to reliably deposit coatings of the desired structure, composition, and properties.******The proposed research programme will extend and expand our recent work in SPPS. There are two major objectives. One is to further develop and demonstrate the potential of this process to produce unique, high performance deposits of for specific applications. Of particular interest is the electrochemical performance of functional ceramic coatings as electrodes in ultra-capacitors and Li-ion batteries. The second major objective is to develop a better understanding of the phenomena involved in the process through coupling of experiments, diagnostics, and characterization of coating microstructures with numerical modelling of the evaporation, break-up and collision of droplets in the plasma, the precipitation of product phases in the droplets, the heating, melting, and impact of the particles on the substrate.**