Structure and properties of ZrO2-MgO powders

Abstract

It have been studied magnesia stabilized zirconia (ZrO2-MgO) powders produced by high-frequency decomposition of water salt solutions. It have been shown that due to precursor dissociation powders consist of spherical particles with smooth surface and irregular hollow aggregates resembling foam. An increase in the magnesium concentration in the precursor has an effect on the powder properties, namely, the specific surface decreases significantly and the bulk density increases. Zirconia in the nanostructured state is present only in the powders with 8.6 and 13.9 mole% MgO, with the size of the c-ZrO2 crystallites in them no more than 100 nm. In powder with 43.3 mole% of MgO the magnesia content in c-ZrO2 solid solution corresponds to its solubility limit of 22.2 mole% at temperature 2100°C.