A Facile Approach to Deposit Graphenaceous Composite Coatings by Suspension Plasma Spraying

This paper demonstrates, for the first time ever, the deposition of graphenaceous composite coatings using an easy, yet robust, suspension plasma spraying (SPS) process. As a case study, a composite coating comprising 8 wt.% of yttria-stabilized-zirconia (8YSZ) and reinforced with graphene oxide (GO) was deposited on a steel substrate. The coatings were sprayed using an 8YSZ-GO mixed suspension with varied plasma spray parameters. Establishing the possibility of retaining the graphene in a ceramic matrix using SPS was of specific interest. Electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the presence of graphenaceous material distributed throughout the coating in the 8YSZ matrix. The experimental results discussed in this work confirm that SPS is an immensely attractive pathway to incorporate a graphenaceous material into virtually any matrix material and can potentially have major implications in enabling the deposition of large-area graphene-containing coatings for diverse functional applications.