Theoretical and experimental investigations of mechanical properties for polymorphous YTaO4 ceramics

In this work, the dense bulk polymorphous YTaO4 ceramics with M or M' phase are synthesized by spark plasma sintering method accompanying with different tempering procedures. Combined with the nano-indentation and theoretical calculation, their mechanical properties are systematically investigated. The identification of crystal structure reveals that the YTaO4 crystallizes into M phase (space group: I2/a) with higher tempering temperature, otherwise it crystallizes into M' phase (space group: P2/a). The results of mechanical properties indicate M-phase YTaO4 possesses larger Young's modulus and hardness than that of M' phase. It is stemmed from the chemical bonding strength of M phase is stronger than that of M' phase, and the stronger bonding strength of M phase also results in its elastic resilience is superior to M' phase. Besides, on account of the low symmetry of monoclinic crystal system, the Young's modulus of polymorphous YTaO4 ceramics exhibit strong anisotropy.