Theoretical and experimental determination of the major thermo-mechanical properties of RE2SiO5 (RE = Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, and Y) for environmental and thermal barrier coating applications

X2-RE2SiO5 orthosilicates are promising candidate environmental/thermal barrier coating (ETBC) materials for silicon-based ceramics because of their excellent durability in high-temperature environments and potential low thermal conductivities. We herein present the mechanical and thermal properties of X2-RE2SiO5 orthosilicates based on theoretical explorations of their elastic stiffness and thermal conductivity, and experimental evaluations of the macroscopic performances of dense specimens from room to high temperatures. Mechanical and thermal properties may be grouped into two: those that are sensitive to the rare-earth (RE) species, including flexural strength, elastic modulus, and thermal shock resistance, and those that are less sensitive to the RE species, including thermal conductivity, thermal expansion coefficient, and brittle-to-ductile transition temperature (BDTT). The orthosilicates show excellent elastic stiffness at high temperatures, high BDTTs, very low experimental thermal conductivities, and compatible thermal expansion coefficients. The reported information provides important material selection and optimization guidelines for X2-RE2SiO5 as ETBC candidates.