Issued patent
Conductive High-Toughness Oxides
An issued NASA patent from the Technology Transfer catalog.
About this technology
Overview
Innovators at NASA's Glenn Research Center have developed a novel method for making oxide coatings that have excellent mechanical strength and electronic conductivity at room temperature. Using the Plasma Spray-Physical Vapor Deposition (PS-PVD) processing methodology, Glenn researchers have been able to produce a coating containing a metastable phase that no other method can achieve. Upon exposing the material to moderate temperatures (greater than 300°C) in the presence of oxygen, the metastable phase is further oxidized, and the material becomes insulating while retaining its high toughness and microstructure. With this innovation, a coating can be created from any metal oxide, including rare earth oxides, zirconium oxide, hafnium oxide, titanium oxide, or any combination of two or more oxides. Glenn's innovation has great potential for industries that require increasingly tough ceramic coatings, such as electronics, chemical and petroleum refineries, the aerospace industry, and automotive and aeronautics manufacturing.