ESAVD

ESAVD (Electrostatic Spray Assisted Vapour Deposition) is a technique (developed by a company called IMPT) to deposit both thin and thick layers of a coating onto various substrates. In simple terms chemical precursors are sprayed across an electrostatic field towards a heated substrate, the chemicals undergo a controlled chemical reaction and are deposited on the substrate as the required coating.

ESAVD (branded by IMPT as Layatec) is used for many applications in many markets including:
* Thermal barrier coatings for jet engine turbine blades
* Various thin layers in the manufacture of flat panel displays and photovoltaic panels
* Electronic components
* Biomedical coatings
* Glass coatings (such as self cleaning)
* Corrosion protection coatings

The process has advantages over other techniques for layer deposition (Plasma, Electron-Beam) in that it does not require the use of any vacuum, electron beam or plasma so reduces the manufacturing costs. It also uses less power and raw materials making it more environmentally friendly. Also the use of the electrostatic field means that the process can coat complex 3D parts easily.

References

* Laying It On Thick And Thin - Kwang-Leong Choy - Materials World June 2003 Electrostatic spray-assisted vapour deposition (ESAVD), first reported in Materials World in March 1998, is an innovative and cost effective method for the fabrication of films and nanocrystalline powders. Here, the inventor of the process, Kwang-Leong Choy, describes further advances and applications for this novel process.
* Choy, K. L. Process principles and applications of novel and cost-effective ESAVD based methods, in Innovative Processing of Films and Nanocrystalline Powders, K. L. Choy. ed. (World Scientific Publishing Company), 2002, 15-69. ISBN 1860943160.
* Choy, K. L. Review of advances in processing methods: films and nanocrystalline powders, in Innovative Processing of Films and Nanocrystalline Powders, Choy, K. L. ed. (Imperial College Press), 2002, 1-14. ISBN 186094316
* Choy, K. L., Progress in Materials Science, 48, 57(2003).
* Choy, K. L., Vapor Processing of nanostructured materials, in Handbook of nanostructured materials and nanotechnology, Nalwa, H. S. ed. (Academic Press) 2000, 533. ISBN 0-12-513760-5. Choy, K. L., Feist, J. P., Heyes, A. L. and Su, B., J. Mater. Res. 14 (1999) 3111.
* Choy, K. L., Innovative and cost-effective deposition of coatings using ESAVD method, Surface Engineering, 16 (2000) 465.
* R. Chandrasekhar and K. L. Choy, Electrostatic spray assisted vapour deposition of fluorine doped tin oxide, Journal of Crystal Growth, 231 (1-2) (2001) 215.