Reactive spark plasma sintering of a dual-phase high-entropy (La0.2Gd0.2Sm0.2Er0.2Yb0.2)2Zr2O7 ceramic for thermal barrier coatings
摘要
Dual-phase high-entropy rare-earth zirconates (Re2Zr2O7) have become a research hotspot for thermal barrier coating ceramic materials due to their excellent properties. Currently, the research on dual-phase high-entropy Re2Zr2O7 is mainly realized by the conventional solid-state method for the synthesis of ceramics. In contrast, little research has been reported on the rapid synthesis of dual-phase high-entropy Re2Zr2O7 using spark plasma sintering. Therefore, a dual-phase high-entropy (La0.2Gd0.2Sm0.2Er0.2Yb0.2)2Zr2O7 (LGSEY) ceramic was synthesized by reactive spark plasma sintering (RSPS) at 1600 °C for 10 min. Structural analysis showed that LGSEY consisted of both pyrochlore and fluorite structures, and the rare-earth cations were uniformly distributed within the ceramics without segregation, indicating that RSPS could optimize the synthesis of dual-phase high-entropy rare-earth zirconates. Compared with Gd2Zr2O7 and La2Zr2O7, LGSEY exhibited excellent mechanical and thermal properties, including higher hardness, fracture toughness, glass-like thermal conductivity, and higher thermal expansion coefficient, suggesting that LGSEY is a promising candidate for application as a new thermal barrier coating material.