Scheme of all known oxyphosphates.

Thermodynamics of Rare Earth Oxyphosphates

This area of research focuses primarily on the thermodynamics of rare earth oxyphosphates. These high-temperature ceramics are, in principle, oxygen-rich phosphates and are characterised by low chemical reactivity towards a wide range of highly reactive substances, as well as high melting points (typically above 1700 °C). Potential applications lie in the field of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) for high-end engineering materials such as alloys for the design of airplane turbines.

Selected publications

  • Ligen Wang, Konrad Burkmann, Sergey V. Ushakov, Edric X. Wang, Jared Matteucci, Mara Scheuermann, Eric Melnitschuk, Robert Glaum, Hongwu Xu, Elizabeth J. Opila, Alexandra Navrotsky, Qi-Jun Hong, Structure and stability of 7:3 rare earth oxide-phosphates: a combined ab initio and experimental study, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 2026, 109(8), e71085, doi: 10.1111/jace.71085
  • Qi-Jun Hong, Sergey V. Ushakov, Ligen Wang, Konrad Burkmann, Jared Matteucci, Jun Wu, Andrew Fitch, Chathuranga S. Witharamage, Hongwu Xu, Elizabeth J. Opila, Robert Glaum, Alexandra Navrotsky, Ab initio molecular dynamics prediction and experimental validation of the 14:4 rare-earth oxide-phosphate structure, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2026, 123(18), e2604858123, doi: 10.1073/pnas.2604858123