Thermal Barrier Coatings: From Materials to Applications
A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412). This special issue belongs to the section "Ceramic Coatings and Engineering Technology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2026 | Viewed by 14
Special Issue Editor
Interests: thermal barrier coatings; environmental barrier coatings; rare-earth tantalate; rare-earth zirconate; property characteriztion; materials design
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We would like to invite you to submit your research to this Special Issue, “Thermal Barrier Coatings: From Materials to Applications”. Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are critical enablers for pushing the operational limits of gas-turbine engines in propulsion and power generation. By providing thermal insulation to superalloy components, they directly contribute to enhanced efficiency and reduced emissions. The ongoing demand for more sustainable and powerful thermal systems drives continuous innovation across the entire TBC value chain, from fundamental materials research to component-level integration and lifing.
This multidisciplinary field faces persistent challenges: discovering novel ceramic topcoats with lower conductivity and improved environmental stability; understanding and mitigating thermo-mechanical degradation and interfacial failures; advancing deposition processes for optimized microstructures and developing reliable lifetime prediction models.
This Special Issue aims to capture the full spectrum of this innovation pipeline. It seeks to bridge foundational research and applied engineering by publishing high-quality studies that connect atomic-scale mechanisms to component performance.
- Materials Discovery and Design: Novel TBC ceramic compositions (e.g., high-entropy ceramics, doped pyrochlores), theoretical and experimental screening for low thermal conductivity and phase stability assessment.
- Processing–Microstructure–Property Relationships: Advances in deposition technologies (PS-PVD, SPS, EB-PVD, APS), microstructure engineering for strain tolerance and the control of porosity and defects.
- Degradation Science and Lifing: Mechanisms of TGO growth, CMAS infiltration and corrosion, sintering-induced stiffening, spallation failure analysis and the development of lifetime prediction models.
- Characterization and Modeling Across Scales: Multi-scale modeling of thermal/mechanical properties and stress evolution, advanced in situ and ex situ characterization of damage and non-destructive evaluation techniques.
- Systems Integration and Applications: Coating performance in real engine environments, testing under simulated service conditions, repair technologies and the integration of TBCs with new substrate systems like ceramic matrix composites (CMCs).
Dr. Zifan Zhao
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Coatings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- thermal barrier coatings (TBCs)
- degradation mechanisms
- processing–microstructure–property relationships
- lifetime prediction
- gas-turbine engines
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