TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS IN METALS ENGINEERING Development of Novel Material Systems and Coatings for Extreme Environments: A Brief Overview RADU R. PITICESCU , 1,5 MARINA URBINA, 2 ANTONIO RINALDI, 3 SANTIAGO CUESTA-LOPEZ, 4 and ARCADII SOBETKII 1 1.—National R&D Institute for Nonferrous and Rare Metals-IMNR, 102 Biruintei Blvd., 077145 Pantelimon, Ilfov, Romania. 2.—Commisariat a ` l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, Laboratoire d’Innovation pour les Technologies des Energies Nouvelles CEA-LITEN, 17 rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9, France. 3.—Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Technologie, l’E- nergia e lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenabile-ENEA, Casaccia Research Centre, Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy. 4.—ICAMCyL Foundation - International Center for Advanced Materials and Raw Materials of Castilla y Leon, 24492 Burgos, Le ´on, Spain. 5.—e-mail: rpiticescu@imnr.ro The aim of this paper is to briefly analyze different methodologies for devel- opment of novel materials systems and coatings for use in extreme environ- ments, with a focus on high-temperature applications in aerospace and aeronautics. The approach is based on a comparative analysis of selected major thermal stability properties of different material systems (mainly transition-metal oxides and carbides) used in thermal protection systems and how different existing coating methods can be used as best available tech- nologies to implement these new materials in high-temperature coatings. Finally, an original example of high-temperature coatings based on barium and lanthanum zirconates with perovskite structure obtained by electron beam vapor deposition is presented. INTRODUCTION Many modern technologies require special struc- tures and properties to enable their safe operation in harsh conditions such as extreme high/low tem- peratures, high thermal shock, high pressures and mechanical stresses, radiation or corrosion. Gener- ally, one or more of these environmental stresses act together. Use of specially designed materials for such extreme conditions is essential for safe utiliza- tion in the transport (e.g., engine components and high-friction parts), energy (components used for energy conversion, transport, and storage, including chemical or nuclear reactions), and manufacturing (e.g., cutting tools, dies and molds, welding tools, high-temperature nozzles, etc.) fields. 1,2 Development of new materials and innovative processes for synthesis and processing of such systems is therefore a major research direction for improving the thermomechanical properties of com- ponents and devices for applications in extreme environments. Material systems that can be used in a device with specified performance for a given application may vary, depending on the environment in which a particular task is to be fulfilled and being strongly limited by the restric- tions and safety requirements imposed by harsh environments. Radical improvements in the performance and reliability of coating materials for operation under extreme conditions would provide industry with a competitive edge in many high-value markets at acceptable cost. Progress made in atomistic and molecular simulation and modeling of physicochem- ical processes at the interfaces between materials systems and harsh environments has assisted development of new coatings with designed func- tionalities. 2,3 Improvements in the reliability of materials for use in the space and energy sectors has a very strong economic impact in terms of avoiding serious problems produced by damage to a wide range of electricity transmission infrastruc- tures, loss of satellites due to damaged electronics or increased orbital drag, etc. 4–8 As an example of such a critical application, it is well known that aero- space vehicles are among the highest-performance machines ever built, because they must work for long periods of time in extreme operating conditions JOM https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-018-3273-6 Ó 2018 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society