Preparation and characterization of SiO2 non-catalytic nucleation coating for the solidification of undercooled melt

SiO2 non-catalytic nucleation films were coated onto a ceramic substrate and the inner surface of a ceramic crucible by the Sol-Gel method. The surface morphology of the coatings was characterized with an atomic force microscope and a scanning electronic microscope. The non-catalytic effect of the coating on the heterogeneous nucleation of metal melts was tested through measuring the nucleation undercooling. Investigation results indicated that the prepared coating could act as a baffle-wall to prevent the metal melt from nucleating heterogeneously on the inner surface of the crystalline crucible. The tiny holes with a diameter below 2 mum and heaves on the coating surface have no evident effect on the undercooling of metal melts. For a poly-layer coating, the super-layer can cover the cracks in the sub-layers, which prevents the cracks in the coating from spreading in the direction vertical to the coating layers and thus eliminates the effect of cracks on the coating.