The effect of YBa2Cu3O7-x powder characteristics on thick coatings prepared by atmospheric plasma spraying

The development of superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-x, plasma sprayed coatings on metal substrates can be very useful for applications such as targets for thin-film deposition techniques (sputtering, laser ablation, ion assisted deposition) or magnetic shielding, due to the brittle nature of bulk superconductors. The plasma spraying technique is very flexible and can be used for manufacturing components with a large variety of geometries. This technique requires the use of powders with good rheological characteristics. In this study, YBa2Cu3O7-x powders were produced by using the conventional solid-state reaction route and also by spray drying a solution of nitrate precursors. Both powders, as well as mixtures of them, were plasma sprayed to develop coatings on stainless-steel substrates, with the aim of studying the effect of the feedstock powder characteristics on the coating properties. It was found that by optimizing the plasma spraying conditions, good quality coatings could be obtained. However, the powder morphology and homogeneity significantly affect the coating quality. More homogeneous powders lead to better results, the spray-dried powder being the best because of its enhanced rheological properties and good morphology.