Efficient Environmental-Friendly Electro-Ceramics Coating Technology and Synthesis

FP7, Theme N° 4 Area 4.3
THEME TITLE : Nanoscience, Nanotechnologies, Materials and New Production Technologies – New production

Grant agreement for : Collaborative Project

Proposal acronym: EFECTS

Project full title: Efficient Environmental-Friendly Electro-Ceramics Coating Technology and Synthesis

Project summary :

Functional ceramic coatings are required for innovations in communication, electronics, energy technology and catalysis. The enormous potential of these ceramic coatings is based on their manifold functionalities. Advanced electroceramics constitute an emerging technology with a very broad base of current and potential applications. Of special importance to this project are materials showing temperature dependent conductivity of electrons or ions (with possible applications in sensors, membranes, fuel cells, superconductor applications), ceramics exhibiting specific magnetic behaviour, ceramics which can be used for their catalyst action and ceramics exhibiting dielectric, piezoelectric and pyro-electric properties (capacitors, sensors, actuators, resonators).

When electro-ceramics are deposited as a coating on selected carrier materials, their very special material properties can be tailored for use in innovative applications and give added value to existing products. For this purpose, the layers need to exhibit extreme levels of purity, crystalline quality and often even epitaxy on appropriate substrates.

In today's processes, the deposition of this kind of thin ceramic coatings is mainly done by using physical deposition techniques. These are all based on energy and investment-intensive vacuum processes. Yet, various products with such functional layers have been commercialized in the past. Nevertheless, large-scale exploitation of the established physical deposition processesis hampered by their complex process technology and the low yield and deposition speed.

This project proposes an alternative processing of electroceramic layers based on chemical solution deposition (CSD) processes and using ink-jet printing at ambient pressure. We aim at developing smart and environmentally friendly inks that require lower energy input. Commercially available ink-jet equipment will be tested for use with these inks. Research and industrial scale printing equipment will be installed by the different beneficiaries. The main advantages of this approach are the lower investment cost, the faster deposition with higher yield and the processing under ambient pressure enabling a complete continuous processing.

The general scopes of this project :

• introduce flexible and cost effective production systems, based on ink-jet printing and resulting in nearly 100% yield due to the accurate deposition of controlled droplets.
• implement innovative synthesis pathways to avoid excessive energy input.
• to enable an environmentally friendly process by promoting water as the preferred medium and avoid the release of toxic gases.
• to shorten the number of reaction steps by using 'clever pathways'

Selected materials for the first period:

• YBCO for coated conductors (superconducting layers on flexible tape for use in e.g. wind turbines)
• YSZ electrolyte layers for solid oxide fuel cells and thermal barrier coatings
• Transparent, photocatalytically active TiO₂ layers for self cleaning surfaces
• LSMO/magnetic nanoparticle based inks for use in non‐volatile memories, magnetoresistive sensors and patterned magnetic paths in electronic boards

During the first 18 months of this project, several major breakthroughs were made :

• The formulation of environmentally-friendly precursor inks, suited for ink-jet printing, for all selected materials
• Proof-of-concept : installation and promising testing of printing equipment
• Functional ceramic layers of YBCO, TiO₂, YSZ and LSMO obtained by ink-jet printing
• First test samples of YSZ layers obtained by ink-jet printing into plasma : development of ink-jet assisted solution precursor plasma spraying process
• Installation of large-scale printhead for reel-to-reel production of YBCO layers
• Successful production of solid oxide fuel cell based on printed electrolyte layer

These major breakthroughs and the expected further results will be exploited either by the industrial project partners themselves or in cooperation with endorsing companies. Direct contacts and workshops with identified endorsers are ongoing and will ensure the near-term exploitation and dissemination of project results.