Moorfield recently supplied two powder aerosol deposition (AD) tools to the group of Dr David Hall in the Department of Materials at the University of Manchester, creating a new facility for manufacturing ceramic coatings within the Henry Royce Institute.
The AD method is a spray coating process that involves the formation of dense, nanocrystalline ceramic or metallic coatings by the impact of fine (typically micron-sized; as formed by, e.g., ball milling) particles onto suitable ceramic, metallic or polymeric substrates in a vacuum chamber. Materials that can be deposited include Al2O3, BaTiO3, PZT, TiO2 and many others.
The deposition process is carried out at room temperature and can result in coatings with thicknesses in the range from 1 to 200 µm. The technique, which is quite different to traditional vacuum deposition methods, offers the formation of films at higher deposition rates and with superior properties for a diverse range of applications including anti-corrosion, wear resistance, optical coatings, fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries.
Tools in use: MiniLab 125
