Abstract
Recent developments in hybrid low pressure thermal spray technologies such as Plasma Spray-Thin Film (PS-TF), PS-PVD, PS-CVD are being increasingly used to develop functional inorganic coatings and films for emerging high end energy applications. The requirements of such coatings and films are more highly specified than those of conventional plasma spray coatings. Successful film deposition therefore requires not only the development and application of novel operating parameters, but also goes hand-in-hand with tailored feedstock materials development. Targeted development by Sulzer Metco has allowed applications to evolve into fields where conventionally competitive manufacturing technologies would be applied; potentially enabling entirely new fields of plasma spray manufacturing to emerge. Such applications include corrosion protection and electrolytic films in SOFC, gas tight mixed electron and ion conducting membranes for gas separation and thin, transparent functional layers in photo-voltaic applications. This paper provides a brief overview of the status of developments of several high end emerging energy applications which are being developed using such hybrid low pressure plasma spray technologies.