Controlled sintering and phase transformation of yttria-doped tetragonal zirconia polycrystal material

In this paper, 3 mol% yttria-doped tetragonal zirconia polycrystal material (3 mol% Y2O3-ZrO2) was prepared using an optimised pressureless sintering process. The phase change and particle size distribution of Y2O3-ZrO2 during sintering were studied, and the effect of sintering temperature on the properties of Y2O3-ZrO2 was analysed. The raw materials and prepared samples were analysed using XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, and Gaussian mathematical fitting. The results show that sintering encourages the transformation of the monoclinic phase into the tetragonal phase, thus improving the crystallinity of the sample. The relative content of the tetragonal phase in the sample increased from 57.43% to 99.80% after sintering at 1200 degrees C for 1 h. In the range of sintering temperatures studied in this paper (800-1200 degrees C), the zirconia material sintered at 1000 degrees C presented the lowest porosity and the best density.

Automated summary

In this study, 3 mol% yttria-doped tetragonal zirconia polycrystal material was prepared using optimised pressureless sintering process and the effect of sintering temperature on the properties of the material was analysed. The results showed that sintering promoted the transformation of the monoclinic phase into the tetragonal phase, leading to improved crystallinity of the sample. Zirconia material sintered at 1000 degrees C demonstrated the lowest porosity and highest density among the studied temperatures.