Cerablak Technology: A New Frontier in Advanced Ceramic Materials

This small business innovation research Phase I proposal investigates a newly discovered high temperature amorphous oxide material (Cerablak) for use in a broad range of BMDO applications. Cerablak is thermally stable and remains amorphous up to 1400 C inoxidizing environments. No other oxide material is known to exhibit this metastable behavior. Cerablak is synthesized using a patented sol-gel precursor with relatively inexpensive raw materials and a simple synthetic procedure. Based on our prior work,it is possible to synthesize films and powders with nanocrystalline inclusions embedded in amorphous matrix. While this opens up numerous commercial/military opportunities with varying nanocrystalline chemistries, the objective of this Phase I effort isto demonstrate feasibility for controlling and minimizing thermal stresses at the coating/metal interface. Metal/alloy protection at elevated temperatures from oxidation is a significant concern for propulsion systems, thermal protection systems, gasturbine engines, and other critical components. If feasibility is demonstrated in Phase I, this will allow the use of thicker CerablakOcoatings and enhance the protective ability for many metal and alloy surfaces.Potential Applications include metal/alloysurface protection in gas turbines, propulsion systems, thermal protection systems, optical/waveguide amplifiers, molten metal protective coatings, fibers, coatings, and matrices for ceramic composites, non-stick coatings at elevated temperatures, andthermal barrier coatings.