Process-property correlations in thermal spray functional oxides

Functional ceramic oxides are an important class of materials that display resistive, semiconductive, conductive, magnetic, and even superconducting behavior. It is in this context that we present an integrated assessment of processing-structure-property relationships for a prototypical functional oxide: strontium-doped lanthanum manganite (LSM). LSM has high electrical conductivity, good electrochemical performance, and stability with yttrium stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte at high temperature, and thus, is widely used in solid oxide-fuel cells (SOFC). One approach is to protect these surfaces with conductive oxides such as LSM, which serves a dual function of protecting the underlying metal while simultaneously enabling interconnection to the cell. Optimization of such a material can be enabled through the use of process diagnostics and mapping strategies.