Abstract
The suspension plasma spraying using a liquid as material feedstock is a promising technique to elaborate thin and nanostructured coatings. This work deals with the study of suspensions in order to obtain specific microstructural coatings. The slurries were prepared starting from nanosized titania powders. Distilled water and alcohol were used as solvents and appropriate dispersing agents were employed to stabilize the suspensions. An external injection system that ensures the atomisation and radial injection of the suspension into Ar-H2 plasma under atmospheric conditions was designed. The coatings were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and differences in the microstructure of the deposits were observed. Efforts were made to understand the relationship between liquid feedstock properties, injection/plasma parameters and coatings microstructural characteristics.
