Sintering properties of zirconia-based ceramic composite

• Published in: Materials research innovations Vol. 18; no. sup6; pp. S6-105 - S6-108
• Main Authors: Chew, W. J. Kelvin, Ramesh, S., Wong, Y. H., Misran, H., Yusuf, F., Tan, C. Y., Amiriyan, M., Tolouei, R., Teng, W. D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 08.12.2014
• Subjects: Composite; Density; Mechanical properties; Resistivity; Sintering; Y-TZP; Zirconia; ZrB
• ISSN: 1432-8917; 1433-075X
• DOI: 10.1179/1432891714Z.000000000939

This study examines the effects of different ZrB 2 content on various mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of ZrB 2 /Y-TZP composite. Composites with ZrB 2 content of up to 20 wt-% were particularly beneficial at the lower sintering temperature range by achieving greater densification and better hardness than Y-TZP monolith. In contrast to the trends estimated from rule of mixture, the increment of ZrB 2 content did not result in any significant improvement in the elastic modulus and hardness of the zirconia composites. Nevertheless, all composites showed tremendous improvement in fracture toughness compared with monolithic Y-TZP and thus, suggested that other toughening mechanisms were operative besides transformation toughening of zirconia. Incorporation of ZrB 2 up to mass fraction of 20 wt-% into Y-TZP generally did not affect the tetragonal phase stability of zirconia. Significant reduction of electrical resistivity of the composites was achieved with ZrB 2 content of 20 wt-% and sintering temperature of 1400°C.