Ti3AlC2 coatings deposited by liquid plasma spraying

Ti3AlC2 tends to partially decompose into TiC phase during deposition by traditional thermal spray techniques, preventing their use in surface anti-corrosion applications. Here, Ti3AlC2 coatings were synthesized using liquid plasma spraying (LPS). Although the average temperature of particles measured in LPS was higher than 2200 K, enough to decompose Ti3AlC2 phase, the resulting sprayed Ti3AlC2 particles were intact. This is probably due to formation of a protective oxide on the surface in the high-temperature steam. The phase purity of Ti3AlC2 coating was high when using water as solvent, but low with a solvent of a mixture of water and alcohol. Different pH values of the solutions influence the phase purity of Ti3AlC2 coatings. The alkaline solutions show detrimental effect on the conservation of Ti3AlC2 phase. The mechanism of improved structural integrity of Ti3AlC2 phase at high temperature through LPS was revealed by microstructural and compositional analysis.