Growth behavior of aluminum borate whiskers on zirconia toughened alumina (ZTA) particle surface

Abstract

In this work, B4C-covered zirconia-toughened alumina (ZTA) particles are prepared and oxidised at 1050 °C for different times (0, 2, 4, and 8 h) in air. The X-ray diffraction and electron probe micro-analysis results show that the covering layer is mainly composed of oxide B2O3 intermetallics, residual B4C particles, and Al18B4O33 whiskers. The scanning electron microscopy results show that the growth of Al18B4O33 whiskers on the ZTA particles enhances with increasing heat preservation time; the optimum holding time is determined to be 8 h Al2O3 in the ZTA particles diffuse into the covering layer and combine with B2O3 to form Al18B4O33 whiskers; the Al18B4O33 whiskers grow via the liquid-solid mechanism.