Zirconia-doped yttria transparent ceramics via slip casting and sintering

Abstract

In this work, slurries containing 70 wt % yttria (Y2O3) nanopowder (~90 nm), and 1 wt % zirconium (IV) chloride (ZrCl4) were prepared to fabricate yttria transparent ceramics via slip casting and sintering. To do this, several processing parameters including the pH value of slurries, amounts of Dolapix CE 64 as a dispersant, citric acid, solid load, and de-agglomeration time were optimized. Then, slip-casted samples with the highest relative green density (~65%) were sintered at 1715 °C under vacuum and the microstructure and transmission properties of the obtained samples were investigated. The results showed that with the addition of 1 wt % ZrCl4 to the slurry, the transparency of the fabricated Zr-doped yttria ceramics increased significantly and the highest transmittance (~78%) at a wavelength of 800 nm was obtained for 3 mm-thick sintered samples with a total relative density of 99.4 ± 0.2%. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.