Materials science

Coating

Ceramic

Entropy (arrow of time)

Thermal conductivity

Thermal expansion

Thermodynamics

Physics

Thermal

Microstructure

Superalloy

Yttria-stabilized zirconia

Composite material

Brittleness

Cubic zirconia

Thermal barrier coating

Scripta Materialia

Thermal barrier coating materials, commonly ceramics, are deposited on superalloy surfaces to improve their service temperature. However, the intrinsic brittleness and low thermal expansion of ceramics pose a great challenge to developing new materials to replace yttria-stabilized zirconia. Herein, entropy engineering is employed to fabricate multicomponent rare earth zirconates with a large coefficient of thermal expansion, excellent mechanical properties and ultralow thermal conductivity, without sacrificing other properties. This work provides a new insight into developing novel ceramics with a combination of mechanical and thermophysical properties, which would be significant in material development for thermal barrier coatings, thermoelectric fields, etc.

Multicomponent high-entropy zirconates with comprehensive properties for advanced thermal barrier coating