Conductive, High-Toughness Oxides Deposited by Plasma Spray-Physical Vapor Deposition (PS-PVD)

Oxide coatings deposited in Glenn Research Center's Plasma Spray-Physical Vapor Deposition (PS-PVD) facility can be processed to be mechanically tough (erosion-resistant) and electrically conductive at room temperature. The electrically conductive phase contained within the oxide (MO2) coatings is a metastable suboxide (MO) that has not been formed in significant volume under any other known methods. Content of the electrically conductive phase can be varied in addition to the microstructure, which can be columnar, planar, or a combination of the two depending on the processing conditions. Upon exposing the material to moderate temperatures (>300 °C), the metastable phase is further oxidized (to MO2) and the material becomes insulating, but retains its high toughness and microstructure.