Hybrid Processing with Powders and Solutions: A Novel Approach to Deposit Composite Coatings.

Thermal spraying employing either solution precursor or suspension feedstock offers an exciting opportunity to obtain coatings with microstructures and characteristics that differ vastly compared to those conventionally produced using spray-grade powders. Both solution precursor plasma spray and suspension plasma spray techniques have been explored extensively in recent years for depositing wide ranging ceramic coatings for various functional applications. Encouraged by the properties achieved using the above solution-based feedstocks, a hybrid approach involving dual injection of solutions and powders, either simultaneously or sequentially, has been proposed and demonstrated to yield novel coating architectures. Although prior work on such hybrid processing is very limited, this overview seeks to present the concept, outline associated challenges, and demonstrate its efficacy to realize coatings with exciting and unusual properties using some illustrative examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]