Crystal structure of pure ZrO2 nanopowders

D.G. LAMAS; A.M. ROSSO; M. SUAREZ ANZORENA; A. FERNÁNDEZ; M.G. BELLINO; M.D. CABEZAS; N.E. WALSÖE DE RECA; A.F. CRAIEVICH

SCRIPTA MATERIALIA

Elsevier

Año: 2006 vol. 55 p. 553 - 556

1359-6462

The crystal structure of pure (undoped) zirconia nanopowders synthesized by different wet-chemical routes has been investigated by synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Whereas some previous authors reported the retention of the cubic phase in similar materials, we demonstrate here that pure zirconia nanopowders with average crystallite sizes ranging from 5 to 10 nm exhibit the tetragonal phase. In addition, our results suggest that a tetragonal-to-cubic transition for decreasing crystallite size could eventually occur at a very small critical crystallite size.