Toughness and elasticity behaviors in nano-structured 7 wt.% Y2O3-stabilized ZrO2 coating

• 7YSZ nano-coatings were prepared by PS-PVD.
• The nano-coating shows outstanding toughness and elasticity.
• 7YSZ nano-sice can be arbitrarily cut to different shapes.

A novel method plasma spray-physical vapor deposition (PS-PVD) was employed to deposit nano-structured 7 wt.% Y2O3-stabilized ZrO2 (7YSZ) coating on a metal substrate. A free-standing ceramics slice was obtained by peeling off the 7YSZ coating from the metal substrate. This 7YSZ nano-slice having grain size less than 70 nm shows outstanding toughness and elasticity.