Internal Nano Voids in Yttria-Stabilised Zirconia (YSZ) Powder

Abstract

Porous yttria-stabilised zirconia ceramics have been gaining popularity throughout the years in various fields, such as energy, environment, medicine, etc. Although yttria-stabilised zirconia is a well-studied material, voided yttria-stabilised zirconia powder particles have not been demonstrated yet, and might play an important role in future technology developments. A sol-gel synthesis accompanied by a freeze-drying process is currently being proposed as a method of obtaining sponge-like nano morphology of embedded faceted voids inside yttria-stabilised zirconia particles. The results rely on a freeze-drying stage as an effective and simple method for generating nano-voided yttria-stabilised zirconia particles without the use of template-assisted additives.

Keywords

• 7–8 mol % YSZ
• sol-gel
• freeze-dry
• XRD Rietveld refinement
• internal nano-voids