Key Factors Affecting Cold Spray Particle Deposition: A Review of Powder Surface Oxidation

doi:10.11900/0412.1961.2025.00087

Acta Metall Sin

2026, Vol. 62

Issue (1): 17-28 DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2025.00087

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Key Factors Affecting Cold Spray Particle Deposition: A Review of Powder Surface Oxidation

LI Wenya¹(

), YANG Jingwen¹, LUO Xiaotao², YIN Shuo³, XU Yaxin¹

1 Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Friction Welding Engineering Technology, State Key Laboratory of Solidification Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
2 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
3 School of Mechanical Manufacturing and Biomedical Engineering, Trinity University Dublin, D02PN40, Ireland

Cite this article:

LI Wenya, YANG Jingwen, LUO Xiaotao, YIN Shuo, XU Yaxin. Key Factors Affecting Cold Spray Particle Deposition: A Review of Powder Surface Oxidation. Acta Metall Sin, 2026, 62(1): 17-28.

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Abstract

Cold spraying (CS), recognized for its solid-state deposition characteristics, holds significant potential for the fabrication of high-performance coatings, the repair of damaged components, and the additive manufacturing of metals and metal matrix composites. However, oxide films present on the surfaces of powder particles exert a profound impact on particle deformation during CS, as well as on the interfacial microstructure, bonding quality, and mechanical properties of the resulting coatings or deposits. The presence of oxide films increases the critical deposition velocity, reduces the plastic deformation capacity of particles, and promotes the formation of unbonded regions or brittle inclusions at interfaces, thereby compromising deposition efficiency and mechanical integrity. Nevertheless, under specific conditions, the oxide film on the powder surface can be fractured by particle collisions, and the resulting discontinuous oxide film may become evenly distributed, potentially contributing to the dispersion strengthening and enhancing the hardness of the coating. This study presents a comprehensive review of the deformation behavior of oxide films during the CS process and their influence on coating microstructure and properties, with particular focus on the mechanism where how oxide film influences interfacial bonding, coating microstructure and performance. Furthermore, the study discusses the importance of minimizing oxygen content in feedstock powders to achieve high-strength and high-ductility deposits, providing theoretical guidance for optimizing coating performance. Finally, the role of oxide films in CS-based additive manufacturing is explored, and prospective research directions are outlined.

Key words: cold spraying cold spray additive manufacturing oxide film oxygen content particle deformation interfacial bonding

Received: 27 March 2025

ZTFLH:

TG147

Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(52061135101);Project of Key Areas of Innovation Team in Shaanxi Province(2024RS-CXTD-20)

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	LI Wenya
	YANG Jingwen
	LUO Xiaotao
	YIN Shuo
	XU Yaxin

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https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2025.00087 OR https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2026/V62/I1/17

Fig.1 Schematics of the cold spray technology principle^[13]
(a) system composition and particle acceleration(b) single particle collision substrate deposition(c) multiple particles collision accumulation to form a coating or deposit

Fig.2 Schematics of the breaking and bonding process of the oxide film on the surface of cold sprayed particles (a-d)^[27]

Fig.3 Relationships between critical deposition velocity and oxygen content of powders^[5]

Fig.4 Cross-sectional OM images showing the interface structures of copper coating before (a) and after (b-d) corrosion prepared by copper oxide powder via cold spray^[26] (Circles in Figs.4b and d show the black oxide inclusions)

Fig.5 Cross-sectional OM images showing the low (a1-d1) and high (a2-d2) magnified morphologies of cold-sprayed Ni coatings prepared from Ni powders with different oxygen contents^[36] (Yellow arrows in Fig.5d1 indicate defects inside the coating)
(a1, a2) original powders (NO) (b1, b2) oxygen content 0.33% (AO₁)
(c1, c2) oxygen content 0.36% (AO₂) (d1, d2) oxygen content 0.41% (AO₃)

Fig.6 Cross-sectional inverse pole figures (a1-d1), grain boundary (GB) maps (LAGB—low angle grain boundary, HAGB—high angle grain boundary) (a2-d2), and kernel average misorientation (KAM) maps (a3-d3) of cold-sprayed Ni coatings prepared from Ni powders with different oxygen contents^[36]
(a1-a3) NO (b1-b3) AO₁ (c1-c3) AO₂ (d1-d3) AO₃

Fig.7 Hardnesses of cold-sprayed coatings prepared from nickel powders with various oxygen contents^[36]

Fig.8 Tensile mechanical properties of cold-sprayed deposits prepared from stored and acid-pickled copper powders^[37]

Fig.9 Electrical conductivities of deposits prepared from copper powders with different oxygen contents (Inset shows the preparation procedure of the specimen used for electrical conductivity measurement)^[23]

Fig.10 Deposition efficiencies of copper powder with different oxygen contents and the cross-sectional microstructures of the coating corresponding to different powder deposition efficiencies^[23]

Fig.11 Tensile mechanical properties of copper deposits prepared by cold spray additive manufacturing (CSAM)^[39]
(a) strain-stress curves of the CSAM Cu deposit (Inset shows the tensile sample before and after fracture)
(b) comparisons of the mechanical properties with the previously reported works (CS-AS—CSAM Cu deposit by various researchers, CS-annealed—CSAM Cu deposit after annealing, SMAT—surface mechanical grinding treatment, ECAP—equal channel angular pressing, SEBM—selective electron beam melting, SLM—selective laser melting, L-DED—laser-directed energy deposition, UTS—ultimate tensile strength)

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