Plasma spraying of transition metal oxide coatings

The rapid increase in the world population has drastically increased the generation of organic solid waste. Currently, this is disposed of mainly in landfills, leading to environmental pollution that necessitates the development of new treatment technologies. Catalytic wet oxidation has been proven to be an effective technology for solid waste destruction and the elimination of hazardous organic compounds. The aim of this work is to explore the production of NiO, MnO2, Fe2O3 and CuO as transition metal oxide catalyst coatings using plasma spraying. Little, if any, literature has been presented on the plasma spray deposition of these materials, so this work provides the first proof of concept and benchmark for future development. The coating compositions were quantified from XRD patterns and the coating thickness measured from cross-sectional optical images. The optimal coating from each composition was analysed by scanning electron microscopy to determine the coating microstructure and phase distribution.