Compaction and Pressureless Sintering of Zirconia Nanoparticles

• Published in: Journal of the American Ceramic Society Vol. 90; no. 9; pp. 2735 - 2740
• Main Authors: Trunec, Martin, Maca, Karel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.09.2007; Blackwell; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Building materials. Ceramics. Glasses; Ceramic industries; Ceramic powders; Ceramic sintering; Ceramics; Chemical industry and chemicals; Exact sciences and technology; Grain size; Materials science; Miscellaneous; Nanoparticles; Nanostructure; Porosity; Sintering; Sintering (powder metallurgy); Technical ceramics; Zirconium dioxide; Scanning electron microscopy; High resolution; Nanoparticle; Isostatic pressing; Vacuum sintering; Stabilized zirconia; Compaction; Powder sintering; Experimental study; Precursor; Oxide ceramics; Transmission electron microscopy; Yttrium Oxides; Technical ceramics; Zirconium Oxides; Manufacturing; Porosity; Ceramic nanomaterials; Microstructure
• ISSN: 0002-7820; 1551-2916
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2007.01781.x

Four nanometer‐sized zirconia powders stabilized by 3 mol% Y2O3 were used for the preparation of dense bulk ceramics. Ceramic green bodies were prepared by cold isostatic pressing at pressures of 300–1000 MPa. The size of the pores in ceramic green bodies and their evolution during sintering were correlated with the characteristics of individual nanopowders and with the sintering behavior of powder compacts. Only homogeneous green bodies with pores of <10 nm could be sintered into dense bodies (>99% t.d.) at a sufficiently low temperature to keep the grain sizes in the range <100 nm. Powders with uniform particles 10 nm in size yielded green bodies of required microstructure. These nanoparticle compacts were sintered without pressure to give bodies (diameter 20 mm, thickness 4 mm) with a relative density higher than 99% and a grain size of about 85 nm (as determined by the linear intercept method).