Characterization of ZnO mixed into TiO2 as feed powder for plasma spraying process

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) powder was combined specifically with 10, 20, and 30% zinc oxide (ZnO) powder and reconstituted as feedstock powder for the plasma spraying procedure in this investigation. For 2 h, the mixture was wet milled, dried at 80 °C for 24 h, then sieved using 80-mesh sieves. The produced feedstock powders were analysed for powder particle size using the Mastersizer Malvern Instrument. Apart from investigating the morphological and composition components of mixed powder particles using scanning electron microscopy (SEM, Zeiss Leo 1450VP), the phase composition was determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD, X'pert-Pro system) with a CuK radiation wavelength of = 1.5406. The X-ray data were gathered using a 0.05° scanning step size across a 20–80° range. The XRD examination of the combined powder demonstrated a minor reduction in the diffraction peaks due to the addition of ZnO to TiO2. The key explanation for the decrease in the intensity of the major titania diffraction peak in this case was the incorporation of ZnO into the TiO2 lattice. The particle size of the TiO2 particle decreased by approximately 50% after milling, from d(0.5) = 32.67 μm to d(0.5) = 15.73 μm and 16.43 μm for the samples containing 10% and 30% ZnO, respectively. Powder morphology study demonstrates that the ZnO (small particle) particles remained consistently attached to the TiO2 particles during the mixing procedure and were reconstituted as feedstock powders for the plasma spraying process.