Mechanical properties of ZrO2 ceramic stabilized by Y2O3 and CeO2

Abstract

ZrO2 ceramic was made from evenly dispersed (Y, Ce)-ZrO2 powder with different compositions, which was prepared by the chemical coprecipitation, and stabilized by compound additions through appropriate techniques. And its mechanical property that is related to the phase content and its microstructure was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scan electron microscope (SEM). The results show that Y2O3 has stronger inhibition to the growth of ZrO2 crystal than CeO2 has. Therefore, within an appropriate composition range of Y2O3 and CeO2, the higher the content of Y2O3, the lower the content of CeO2, the smaller ZrO2 crystal. Combining this feature and the stabilization technique with complex additions instead of simple addition, ZrO2 ceramic with high density and excellent mechanical properties can be made under normal conditions. It is concluded that the improvement of mechanical properties originates from the toughening of microcrack, phase transformation and the effect of grain evulsions.