Sinterability of 8 mol% Yttria Stabilized Zirconia

The sintering behaviour of low cost 8 mol% yttria stabilized zirconia powders has been studied. The effect of sintering holding time of the sintered granulated and milled 8YSZ were determined using density measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The elemental composition, particle size and morphology of the as-received 8YSZ powder and proceed for milling was investigated. 48 hours of ball milling on granulated 8YSZ resulted rises in specific surface area and sintered at 1550°C with the various period of time (4, 5, 6 and 7 hours). The milled 8YSZ sample with 5h sintering holding period coded as F5, sintering activity improved and the relative density came up to 98.3%. But then, granulated 8YSZ achieved only 62.7% with 5 hours holding time. Crystal structure analysis for milled 8YSZ powder consists of 59.6% of cubic ZrO2 phase, 40.1% of tetragonal ZrO2 and 0.3% of monoclinic ZrO2. Meanwhile, granulated 8YSZ indicated low content in cubic ZrO2 but high amount in monoclinic ZrO2 phase. In brief, low cost 8YSZ reached higher densification of 98% successfully.