Hydrothermal Synthesis of 6mol% Yttria Stabilized Cubic ZrO2 Nano Powders

Abstract

YSZ (Yttria-stabilized zirconia) is a ceramic material that is used for electronic and structural materials due to its excellent mechanical properties and specific electrical characteristics according to the Yttrium addition. Hydrothermal synthesis has several advantages such as fine particle size, uniform crystalline phase, fast reaction time, low process temperature and good dispersion condition. In order to synthesize YSZ nanoparticles with high crystallinity, hydrothermal synthesis was performed at various concentrations of NaOH. The hydrothermal process was held at a low temperature (100 °C), with a short process time (2,4,8 hours); the acidity or alkalinity of solution was controlled in a range of pH 2~12 by addition of NaOH. The optimum condition was found to be pH 12, at which high solubility levels of Y(OH) and Zr(OH) were reported. The synthesized nano powder showed high crystallinity and homogenous composition, and uniform particle size of about 10 nm.