Ceramic and metal composites, known also as cermets, may considerably improve many material properties with regards to that of initial components. Hence, cermets are frequently applied in many technological fields. Among many processes which can be employed for cermet manufacturing, thermal spraying is one of the most frequently used. Conventional plasma spraying of powders is a popular and cost-effective manufacturing process. One of its most recent innovations, called solution precursor plasma spraying (SPPS), is an emerging coating deposition method which uses homogeneously mixed solution precursors as a feedstock. The technique enables a single-step deposition avoiding the powder preparation procedures. The nanostructured coatings developed by SPPS increasingly find a place in the field of surface engineering. The present review shows the recent progress in the fabrication of cermets using SPPS. The influence of starting solution precursors, such as their chemistry, concentration, and solvents used, to the micro-structural characteristics of cermet coatings is discussed. The effect of the operational plasma spray process parameters such as solution injection mode to the deposition process and coatings’ microstructure is also presented. Moreover, the advantages of the SPPS process and its drawbacks compared to the conventional powder plasma spraying process are discussed. Finally, some applications of SPPS cermet coatings are presented to understand the potential of the process.

The influence of varying OH⁻ ion concentration on the surface morphology of chemically deposited ZnO-SiO₂ nanostructures on glass substrate was investigated. The morphological features, phase structure, and infrared characteristics were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. Results revealed that silica significantly changes the hexagonal morphology of bare ZnO rod to pointed tips when using low initial OH⁻ precursor concentration. Increasing OH⁻ ion concentration resulted in a flower-like formation of ZnO-SiO₂ and a remarkable change from pointed tips to hemispherical tips at the top surface of the rods. The surface capping of SiO₂ to ZnO leads to the formation of these hemispherical tips. The infrared spectroscopic analysis showed the characteristics peaks of ZnO and SiO₂ as well as the Si-O-Zn band which confirms the formation of ZnO-SiO₂. Phase analysis manifested that the formed ZnO-SiO₂ is of wurtzite structure. Furthermore, a possible growth mechanism is proposed based on the obtained results.

Plasma sprayed ceramic coatings serve as protective layers and are frequently exposed to aggressive wear, corrosion, or high-temperature environment. Currently, alumina and alumina-titania are some of the most popular protective ceramic composite coatings used in the industry. The present work deals with the investigation of the influence of TiO₂ content in the feedstock powder on the resulting microstructure and properties of Al₂O₃, Al₂O₃ + 3 wt% TiO₂, Al₂O₃ + 13 wt% TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ + 40 wt% TiO₂ coatings developed via atmospheric plasma spraying (APS). Specifically, the phase composition, morphology, and microstructure, as well as the mechanical and tribological performance of the coatings were examined. Results revealed that higher content of TiO₂ induced the transformation of phases, leading to the formation of intermediary Al₂TiO₅ and Al₂- xTi₁- xO₅ phases. Also, the dominant α–Al₂O₃ to γ–Al₂O₃ transformation confirmed the formulation of well-melted lamellas within the coating structure. It was also shown that the increase in TiO₂ content decreased the micro-hardness of the coatings due to the formation of the intermediary phases as mentioned above and thus, affected their tribological performance. The lowest volumetric wear, equal to 7.2×10⁻⁵ mm³/(N ∙ m), was reported for Al₂O₃ + 13 wt% TiO₂ coating.