Research project: Suspension sprayed surface coatings for specialised applications
Thermal spraying is a well established process for producing metal, oxide and carbide based coatings from wire or powder feedstock. In the past decade a modification of this process has attracted increasing levels of attention. Called Suspension Spraying, it uses a nano-sized powder in a liquid suspension, or a completely liquid precursor. The liquid is injected into the spray jet and under the action of the thermal energy and gas velocity produces a coating on the substrate. The advantage is that the precursors can be nano-sized (this is not possible with standard dry powder feeders) and the coatings can be very thin, smooth and finely structured, even nano-structured.
