Preparation of Al2O3 nanowires on 7YSZ thermal barrier coatings against CMAS corrosion

Abstract

Abstract The commonly-employed material for thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) is 7 wt.%Y2O3–ZrO2 (7YSZ), generally deposited by electron beam-physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD). Due to the increasing demand for higher operating temperature in aero-derivative gas turbines, a lot of effort has been made to prevent the premature failure of columnar 7YSZ TBCs, which is induced by the microstructure degradation, sintering and spallation after the deposition of infiltrated siliceous mineral (consisting of calcium–magnesium–aluminum–silicate (CaO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2, i.e., CMAS)). A new method called Al-modification for columnar 7YSZ TBCs against CMAS corrosion was present. The Al film was magnetron-sputtered on the surface of the columnar 7YSZ TBCs, followed by performing vacuum heat treatment of the Al-deposited TBCs. During the heat treatment, the molten Al reacted with ZrO2 to form α-Al2O3 overlay that effectively hindered CMAS infiltration. Moreover, the Al film could evaporate and re-nucleate, leading to the generation of Al2O3 nanowires, which further restrained the moving of molten CMAS.