Effects of CeO2 doping on the mechanical, infrared radiative, and thermophysical properties of Pr2Zr2O7 ceramics for potential thermal protective coatings

A series of Ce 4+ -doped Pr 2 Zr 2 O 7 ceramics were produced using a solid reaction method to utilize novel ceramic materials as potential candidates for thermally protective coatings. The effects of Ce 4+ doping on the phase composition and mechanical, infrared radiative, and thermophysical properties were studied in detail. The results indicated the good phase stability and sintering resistance of the Pr 2 (Zr 1−x Ce x ) 2 O 7 ceramics. Moreover, Ce 4+ -doped Pr 2 Zr 2 O 7 bulk materials exhibited higher infrared emissivity (0.904) at wavelengths of 3–5 μm and 1000 °C for Pr 2 (Zr 0.5 Ce 0.5 ) 2 O 7 ) owing to the introduction of impurity energy levels. Pr 2 (Zr 0.7 Ce 0.3 ) 2 O 7 exhibited an appropriate average coefficient of thermal expansion of 12.4 × 10 −6 K −1 and a low thermal conductivity of 1.14 W m −1 K −1 at 1000 °C, owing to the reduction of lattice energy and the presence of more oxygen vacancies and substitution atoms.