Sol-gel route for electrophoretic deposition of mullite diffusion barriers on C/C-SiC composites

Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is a technique, which allows LIS to produce thick mullite coatings on Substrates with complex geometries at low cost of production. Combining sol-gel synthesis of 3Al(2)O(3).2SiO(2) mullite through hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and aluminum-tri-sec-butylate (Al-(OBU)(3)) with EPD yields sufficiently thick and homogeneous layers which transform into mullite at 1300 degreesC. Reproducible mullite oxidation barriers were obtained.