Recent advances in the thermal barrier coatings for extreme environments

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are gaining tremendous research interest for protecting aircraft turbine blades, power plants, and other applications from high-temperature exposure. This opinion spotlights on those recent progresses that have directed to the use of TBCs for component life addition and, lately, as an essential part of advanced components design for high temperatures and related harsh environments, such as applications in the nuclear industries. Development of this coatings has been driven by results obtained from laboratory and industrial testing, corroborated by engine and gas-turbine testing and related high-temperature application experience. Factors that have led to the choice of current high-tech advanced coating fabrication methods–such as plasma spray deposition (PSP), electron-beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD), and electrophoretically fabricated thermal barrier coatings, have also been highlighted in current coating research and development. Here, we provide a short review on the present status of TBCs, their latest advances in fabrication and performance, drawbacks associated with them, as well as recommendations for their futuristic use in harsh high-temperature environments.