Slow sintering in garnet-containing Y and Gd zirconate–aluminate mixtures for thermal barrier coatings

Mixtures of rare-earth zirconates and aluminates containing Y or Y + Gd that form a two-phase garnet–fluorite mixture exhibit much slower sintering than pure fluorite at 1400°C. An equivalent Y-free, Gd-containing composition that forms a perovskite aluminate instead of garnet showed faster densification after the metastable garnet decomposes. At 1500°C, the Y-free sample also showed the fastest initial sintering rate, whereas there was more divergence in the sintering rate for the samples containing Y + Gd. The zirconate–aluminate with equimolar Y + Gd shows the slowest densification at 1500°C and retains ∼25% porosity after 250 h. The results highlight possibilities for designing compliant thermal barrier coatings that can retain significant porosity at 1400°C or higher.