Integrity of nanostructured partially stabilized zirconia after plasma spray processing

Nanostructured partially stabilized zirconia powders with different particl e size distributions were plasma sprayed under a range of thermal spray par ameters. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) wer e applied to analyze the nanostructured powder feedstocks and coatings. The se results demonstrated that a feedstock with a broad particle size distrib ution maintained some of its nanostructure during spraying; whereas a feeds tock with a narrow particle size distribution lost a major proportion of it s nanostructure character. The apparent success in spraying nanostructured particles can be explained by employing the SEM and XRD analyses. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.