Effect of Heating Mode on Sinterability of YSZ+CeO2 Ceramics

Abstract

In the current research work, a comparative study on densification and microstructural evolution of CeO2 particle reinforced 8 mol % yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) sintered ceramics has been carried out. The ceramic compacts were fabricated via microwave and conventional sintering methods. The sintering conditions that were used for microwave and conventional methods are 1400 °C for 20 min and 1400 °C for 5 h, respectively. The sintered samples were characterized for densification, microstructural behavior, and hardness. Microwave sintering method of sintering resulted in high sintered densities as compared to the conventional counter parts. Microwave sintered samples exhibited finer grains as compared to conventionally sintered specimens. The grain size of the 8YSZ+CeO2 sintered ceramics was found to decrease with CeO2 addition. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed no phase change because of CeO2 addition. The Vickers hardness was found to increase with increasing amount of CeO2.

Keywords

• yttria stabilized zirconia
• microwave sintering
• CeO2-YSZ ceramics