Fabrication of Cold-Sprayed Ceramic Y2O3 Coatings

As a candidate material against plasma etching, yttrium oxide has been coated onto etching chamber by plasma spray technique, while the porous structure and deleterious thermal effects will degrade its protective property. To lower the thermal effects, cold spray was used as a novel alternative technology to deposit thick and dense yttrium oxide coatings in this paper. Considering the intrinsic brittleness of ceramic materials which makes it difficult to be deposited by cold spray, primary nanoscale Y2O3 powders were agglomerated by hydrothermal treatment with addition of inorganic salt to acquire cold spray suitable powders. Using compressed air as propellant gas, over 200¦Ìm yttrium oxide coatings were successfully deposited on aluminum alloy 6061 substrates by cold spray process. Different processing parameters were employed to optimize microstructure and properties of the coating.