Research Stay at Forschungszentrum Jülich Advances Mahdi Babaei’s Work on Thermal Barrier Coatings

We are pleased to share information about the research stay of our PhD student Mahdi Babaei, supervised by Assoc. Prof. Amir Pakseresht and Dr. Milan Parchovianský from the Department of Coatings, at Forschungszentrum Jülich (IMD-2), Jülich Thermal Spray Center (JTSC).

During his stay, Mahdi worked on the development of a double-layer ceramic (DLC) thermal barrier coating system incorporating high-entropy rare-earth oxides. His work focused on the processing and deposition of these advanced ceramic materials, as well as on the characterization of their phase composition, microstructure, and multilayer interfaces.

The initial coating trials provided valuable insights into the processability of the high-entropy ceramic feedstock and the formation and integrity of the multilayer coating architecture. The next stage of the research will focus on further optimization of the deposition conditions and evaluation of the coatings under high-temperature service conditions.

Reflecting on his research stay, Mahdi said:

“I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Prof. Dr. Robert Vaßen, my host supervisor at Forschungszentrum Jülich, for his scientific guidance, valuable discussions, and continued support throughout this research stay.

I am also grateful to the researchers and technical staff at FZ Jülich IMD-2/JTSC for their expertise, technical assistance, and support, as well as for providing me with the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience with advanced thermal spray technologies.”

The research stay was supported by the JECS Trust Mobility Program and also by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under contract No. APVV-22-0070.