A new chemical pathway towards densification of tetragonal zirconia below 900 °C

Abstract

The recent development of low temperature sintering approaches leads to promising perspectives in terms of global optimization of functional materials and multi-materials. These new processes mobilize different densification mechanisms and offer a tremendous flexibility in terms of chemical reactivity. In this context, we focus here on the densification of yttria stabilized zirconia (3Y-ZrO2) at a temperature below 900 °C combining a transient chemical reactivity induced during the Cold Sintering Process with diffusion mechanisms activated during the Spark Plasma Sintering. The chemistry is tuned in-situ through the presence of a hydrated zirconium carbonate whose role at each stage of the whole process is discussed. Tetragonal 3Y-ZrO2 nanostructured ceramics were thus densified up to 92–95% below 900 °C.