The effects of atmospheric plasma spray parameters on structure and mechanical properties of titanium dioxide coatings

Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) coatings, renowned for their photocatalytic properties, are of significant interest for environmental and industrial applications.This study investigates the deposition of black titanium oxide (BTO)containing coatings using the atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) process, employing an argon-hydrogen plasma mixture.The influence of hydrogen flow rate, spray distance, and powder feed rate on the structure and mechanical properties of the resulting coatings was examined.Deposited coatings were examined in terms of their structure, thickness porosity and specific surface area.Examination of the mechanical properties included hardness test and Young's modulus measurement.Presence of partially sintered fine droplets was revealed by SEM observations and mechanism of their formation was discussed.The examination of mechanical properties showed that within the examined parameters, spray distance has the greatest impact on Young's modulus, hardness and porosity of the coatings, while the powder feed rate affects coatings thickness.