Discovered and developed in the late 90s by J. Akedo et al., the « Aerosol Deposition Method » (ADM) is a dry coating process based on kinetic energy, almost analogous to the Cold Spray (CS) process. The unique deposition mechanisms of ADM make the ceramic coatings at room temperature possible. Indeed, adherent layers are achievable thanks to a phenomenon that combines plastic-elastic deformation and in-situ grain fragmentation of ceramic particles called « Room Temperature Impact Consolidation » (RTIC). Thus, resulting nanostructured coatings of the Aerosol Deposition process can be highly dense (>95%), with a thickness from few hundreds of nm to hundreds of µm, in a low vacuum environment and at room temperature from a dry ceramic powder. This innovative technology allows to produce composite layers by mixing powders and spraying on different types of substrates: polymers, ceramics, metals, from the most flexible to the hardest.

In this context, CTTC and IRCER work on different ceramic materials through the ADM since 2010. The aim of this poster is to present the fabrication of coatings of zirconia stabilized with yttria (specifically ZrO2 - 3% mol. Y2O3) at room temperature using this process. For this purpose, a focus on the sprayed raw materials and their properties will be presented first. Then, the resulting coatings and their properties will be shown, such as microstructure, adhesion, etc. The final part will be dedicated to a comparison between these zirconia coatings properties and others well-known coatings realized by ADM (like alumina) and some outlooks regarding zirconia coatings feasibility and the ADM process.