Research
Department of Materials Science and Engineering,
Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104
 

 

Polymer-Ceramic Nano composite coatings
  

Objective: 

The goal of my Masters Thesis was to produce polymer-ceramic composite powders and use thermal spray as a viable deposition process. High Velocity Oxy-Fuel Process  (HVOF), a thermal spray process, that was traditionally used to deposit metals, cermets and ceramics, was now used to deposit polymer matrix composite consisting of Nylon-11 (polymer) and Silica/Alumina (ceramic) reinforcements. Modeling work was also performed to predict the influence of process parameters on coating microstructure, enabling the tailoring of the operating conditions to form coatings with desired microstructures and properties.

 

The aim of this NSF funded research project was to produce polymer-ceramic composite coatings for corrosion and wear resistant applications. In addition it, the focus was also to investigate the interactions between reinforcing ceramic particles of different size scales ranging from nano- (7 nm) to micron scale (10-20 mm).

Several characterization techniques were used to characterize thee powders (polymer, ceramic and composite) and HVOF sprayed coatings. A number of techniques, including optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), SEM-energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Horiba laser scattering particle size analysis, thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray microtomography and scratch testing were used. For example the morphology of polymer (Nylon-11) and ceramic (alumina) particles is shown below.

 

SEM images of as-received Nylon-11(left) and alumina (right) powder.

Journal Publications
• M. Ivosevic, V. Gupta, J. A. Baldoni, R. A. Cairncross, T. E. Twardowski, R. Knight, “Effect of Substrate Roughness on Splatting Behavior of HVOFSprayed Polymer Particles: Modeling and Experiments“, Journal of Thermal Spray and Technology, (2006).
• S. Niezgoda, V. Gupta, R. Knight, R. A. Cairncross, T. E. Twardowski, “Effect of Reinforcement Size on the Scratch Resistance and Crystallinity of HVOF Sprayed Nylon-11/Ceramic Composite Coatings”, Journal of Thermal Spray and Technology, (2006).
• V. Gupta, M. Ivosevic, R. A. Cairncross, S. Niezgoda, T. E. Twardowski, R. Knight, “Thermal Spraying of Polymer-Ceramic Composite Coatings with Multiple Size Scales of Reinforcements”, In preparation.

Conference Proceeding Papers
• Gupta, V., Knight, R., Ivosevic, M., Taghizadeh, S., Cairncross, R.A. and Twardowski, T. E., “Properties of HVOF Sprayed Multi-Scale Polymer/Silica Composite Coatings,” Proc. International Thermal Spray Conference [ITSC-2005], Eds., DVS/IIW/ASM-TSS, Basel , Switzerland , May (2005).
• V. Gupta, M., Ivosevic, T. E. Twardowski, R. A. Cairncross, and Richard Knight, “Thermally Sprayed Nanocomposite Coatings for Corrosion and Wear resistance”, 20th Annual Technical Conference, American Society for Composites, Philadelphia, PA, September (2005).
• V. Gupta, T. E. Twardowski, R. A Cairncross and R. Knight, “HVOF Sprayed Multi-scale Polymer/Ceramic Composite Coatings”, Proc. International Thermal Spray Conference [ITSC-2006], Seattle, WA, May (2006).
• M. Ivosevic, V. Gupta, J. A. Baldoni, R. A. Cairncross, T. E. Twardowski, R. Knight, “Effect of Substrate Roughness on Splatting Behavior of HVOFSprayed Polymer Particles: Modeling and Experiments“, Proc. International Thermal Spray Conference [ITSC-2006], Seattle, WA, May (2006).
• S. Niezgoda, V. Gupta, R. Knight, R. A. Cairncross, T. E. Twardowski, “Effect of Reinforcement Size on the Scratch Resistance and Crystallinity of HVOF Sprayed Nylon-11/Ceramic Composite Coatings”, Proc. International Thermal Spray Conference [ITSC-2006], Seattle, WA, May (2006).

Presentations
• Poster presentation,  AICHE 2006 Annual Meeting, San Francisco, 2006.
• Oral presentation,  International Thermal Spray Conference (ITSC-2006), Seattle, 2006. Best Paper Award
• Poster Presentation, The Liberty Bell Chapter of ASM International, Annual Poster Contest for Graduate Students, 2006.Best Poster Award
• Poster Presentation, Drexel University Research Day, Philadelphia, 2006.
• Oral and Poster presentation, American Society of Composites 20th Annual Technical Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2005. Best Poster Award
• Oral presentation, International Thermal Spray Conference and Exposition (ITSC-2005), Basel, Switzerland, 2005.
• Poster Presentation, Drexel University Research Day, Philadelphia, 2005.
• Poster Presentation, The Liberty Bell Chapter of ASM International, 4th annual poster contest for graduate students, April 21, 2005.
• Poster Presentation, Drexel University Research Day, Philadelphia, 2004. Best Poster Award
• Poster Presentation, National Science Foundation (NSF) Conference, 2004.

 

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