In order to meet the performance requirements of new aero-engines, it is necessary to develop thermal barrier coating materials that can be used under ultra-high temperature conditions. In recent years, there are many ceramic materials that have been proved to be promising in the field of thermal barrier coatings. Among these materials, the rare earth zirconate has the characteristics of low thermal conductivity and good stability at high temperature, while the zirconate gadolinium has the lowest thermal conductivity and the highest thermal expansion coefficient. The structural characteristics of zirconate gadolinium materials were overviewed. The order-disorder transition at high temperature was introduced and the reasons and change rules were summarized. The reasons why the zirconate gadolinium had good thermal properties compared with other materials were also briefly analyzed. Two methods commonly used in powder preparation process which named solid phase method and liquid phase method were summarized. On this basis, the research status of different preparation methods and the process both parameters of powder agglomeration in recent years were concluded. Finally, the defects of zirconate gadolinium in the application of thermal barrier coatings were put forward, such as the lower fracture toughness and thermal expansion coefficient, leading to the difficulty in forming single-layer zirconate gadolinium coatings and the lower thermal cycle life. In order to solve this problem, the modification methods of zirconate gadolinium and thermal barrier coatings at home and abroad were reviewed, including the doping modification, the material composite, the coating structure design and the coating preparation technology. At the same time, the development trend of new thermal barrier coatings materials combined with the advanced preparation technology was prospected.