Keywords

• ceramics, coatings, aerospace materials, nanomaterials, energy materials

Prof. Ping Xiao currently holds the Rolls-Royce/Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Advanced Coating Technology. He joined University of Manchester, Materials Science Centre as a Lecturer in 2001, then became Senior Lecturer in 2003, Reader in 2005, and Professor in 2008. Ping Xiao did his undergraduate and postgraduate study of Chemistry in Jilin University, P. R. China. He went to Oxford University to study Materials Science for DPhil since 1989, and  became a postdoctoral research fellow in Oxford since 1993. Then he joined Brunel University as a Lecturer since 1996, and became a Senior Lecturer in 2000.

Ping Xiao's research area covers both fundamental study of degradation mechanisms of ceramic coatings and novel manufacture of ceramics and ceramic coatings. The research covers developing novel techniques to produce ceramic matrix composites and ceramic coatings,  understanding degradation mechanisms of ceramics and coatings, which involves characterisation of microstructure, mechanical property, and residual stresses in ceramic coatings. Ping Xiao's research has generated  300+ publications in peer-reviewed journals and he is among the top 2% list of the most cited researchers in the world identified in a study in 2020 by Stanford University (https://static.asminternational.org/amp/202105/54/).

His work has garnered international recognition, with features in The Economist and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers website. In 2017, he was interviewed by the Canada Business Network. Appointed by the UK Government's BEIS in 2019, Xiao serves as the UK representative on ceramics for the Generation IV Nuclear Reactor International Forum (GIF), interacting with representatives from the USA, EU, Japan, Canada, Australia, China, and the UK. Since 2020, Xiao is Chair of the Surface Engineering Division of the Institute of Materials, Mining, and Minerals (IOM3) in the UK. In 2022, he became an editor of Journal European Ceramic Society. In 2024, he has been awarded the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3) Tom Bell Surface Engineering Medal in recognition of excellence and outstanding contribution in surface engineering.

The group is well funded and is currently looking for PhD students including oversea students starting in 2024 or later including studentships shown below:

(https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/development-of-ceramic-thermal-and-environmental-barrier-coatings-for-high-temperature-applications/?p156910). 

Ceramic coating research group consists of 3 PDRAs, 15 PhD students, and one academic visitor. The research group is financially supported by EPSRC, Department of Energy Secutiry and Net-Zero, Royal Academy of Engineering, Rolls-Royce, National Physical Laboratory and National Nuclear Laboratory. The research has active collaboration with many industries and has made significant impact in application of ceramic coatings in aero-engines https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/p.xiao/impacts/. Research themes cover ceramic coating fabrication, chracterisation and performance study. The group has developed both chemical vapour deposition and electrophoretic deposition to produce ceramic coatings. We have also developed polymer infiltration pyrolysis and chemical vapour infiltration to make ceramic matrix composites (CMCs).  Properties of the ceramic coating and CMCs, eg. thermal conductivity, residual stresses and mechanical property are being studied in relation to performance of these coatings in various industrial environments. The ceramic materials which have been studied covers Lanthium Zirconate, Yttria Stablized Zirconia and metallic coatings as thermal barrier coatings Ytterbium silicates as environmental barrier coatings;  SiC and SiC CMCs for high temperature applications.

Research Group(s)

• Coatings and Ceramics
• Materials for Demanding Environments

Research Institutes

• Henry Royce Institute 
• Dalton Nuclear Institute