Hot corrosion behavior of plasma sprayed powder-solution precursor hybrid thermal barrier coatings

In recent times, plasma sprayed powder-solution precursor hybrid composite thermal barrier coatings have been developed to harness the dual benefits of both conventional atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) and solution precursor plasma spraying (SPPS) processes. In this study, hot corrosion behavior of plasma sprayed powder-solution precursor composite (PSP-SPC) YSZ TBCs in molten salt mixtures of 90 wt.% Na2SO4 + 5 wt.% V2O5 + 5 wt.% NaCl and 50 wt.% Na2SO4 + 50 wt.% V2O5 at 900 °C was investigated. The employed coating showed a bimodal microstructure comprising coarse splats derived from the powder feedstock as in the APS process and fine splats resulting from the solution precursor as typical of SPPS process. The PSP-SPC coatings showed a significantly higher resistance to spallation than APS, SPPS and EB-PVD coatings in both the salt environments. These coatings showed shorter life in vanadate environment compared to that of the chloride environments as the former promotes the formation of monoclinic ZrO2 and YVO4 phases more than the latter.