Ceramic thermal barrier coatings are applied to superalloys used in gas turbine engineering to increase the operating temperature and the energy conversion efficiency. However, dust consisting of CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 (CMAS) from the air can be injected into the engines and corrode the thermal barrier coatings. Lanthanide zirconates are promising materials in thermal barrier coatings due to their low thermal conductivities, good phase stability and good corrosion resistance. However, the corrosion resistance mechanism of CMAS on lanthanide zirconates is still not clearly understood. In this work, the corrosion mechanism of Gd2Zr2O7 and Sm2Zr2O7 in CMAS is studied. The results show that the CMAS can easily react with lanthanide zirconate thermal barrier coatings to form a dense layer, which can resist further corrosion. (C) The Author(s) 2016. Published by ECS. All rights reserved.