Design and Manufacturing of a Plasma Torch for Deposition of Alumina Using Plasma Spray Method

Nowadays the production of metallic and dielectric layers has found numerous applications, an effective way for the deposition of refractory material like aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, and silicon oxide is the use of hot plasma jet. We try in this paper, after a short description of the designed plasma torch to present the preliminary results obtained by its application in alumina deposition using oxygen and nitrogen as the working gases. Surface morphology studies and also XRD patterns both confirm the formation of alumina thin films in micro and nanoscales. In this article, the characteristics of gamma-alumina nanopowder coating on two types of stainless steel and Pyrex glass substrates by plasma spray method are investigated. Morphological characteristics and phase changes of alumina deposited on two different types of substrates are studied by investigating the scanning electron microscope patterns and also X-ray diffraction spectrum. The results show that the phase of alumina is changed from gamma to alpha due to the high temperature of the plasma torch. Also, the amount of particles deposition on the steel substrate is more than the glass case.