Zircon-Zirconia (ZrSiO4-ZrO2) dense ceramic composites by Spark Plasma Sintering

N.M. RENDTORFF; SALVATORE GRASSO; CHUNFENG HU; GUSTAVO SUÁREZ; E.F. AGLIETTI; YOSHIO SAKKA

JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN CERAMIC SOCIETY

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2012 vol. 32 p. 787 - 793

0955-2219

Dense reinforced zircon (ZrSiO4) 20 vol.% zirconia (ZrO2) ceramic composites were obtained by spark plasma sintering (SPS) starting from high  energy milled commercially available powders. The sintering temperature and holding time resulted in two different microstructural configurations. In the first configuration, the nano sized zirconia nanoparticles (100 nm) act as a bonding phase continuously dispersed along the zircon micrónico grains. In the second one, a continuous zircon phase with well dispersed zirconia grains was achieved. Both configurations led to improvement in fracture toughness and Vickers hardness if compared to pure zircon material processed under the same sintering condition. By comparing the developed microstructure configurations, the second one exhibits higher fracture toughness (almost 4.0MPam1/2) due to the more effective zirconia reinforcement effects. energy milled commercially available powders. The sintering temperature and holding time resulted in two different microstructural configurations. In the first configuration, the nano sized zirconia nanoparticles (100 nm) act as a bonding phase continuously dispersed along the zircon micrónico grains. In the second one, a continuous zircon phase with well dispersed zirconia grains was achieved.