Comparison of aqueous and non-aqueous tape casting of fully stabilized ZrO2 suspensions

Abstract

Laminated and subsequently sintered samples were prepared via aqueous (W_YSZ) and non-aqueous (E_YSZ) tape casting technique from fully stabilized zirconia ceramic powder. Preparation conditions optimised for the E_YSZ were implemented in a varied form to the W_YSZ and compared with each other. Namely the homogenisation time, rheological behaviour and density of the prepared green and sintered samples were investigated and described. Fully sintered samples with ~99.5% of theoretical density after sintering were prepared from 15 sheets pressed together via ethanol based suspension. The water based process leads to ~54.9% and 94.2% of theoretical density after lamination and sintering, respectively. The SEM analysis of the green sheets provides an evidence of entrapped air bubbles in both systems. For the W_YSZ it was ~0.7μm diameter and ≤0.2μm by E_YSZ, which was the reason of differences in obtained final densities of prepared materials.