Effect of dopants on the sintering behaviour and stability of tetrafonal zirconia ceramics

The microstrueture development during non-isothermal and isothermal sintering has been studied for tetragonal zireonia ceramics (TZP) containing carious amounts of Y, Ce and Ti. Smaller grain sizes were obtained when Ce-TZP was doped with yttrium. This could he attributed to segregation of yttrium to the grain boundaries, thus causing an impurity drag. With increasing temperature the grain growth in the Ce-TZP samples became faster, which could be attributed to the absence of a dragging force. The slow grain growth at low temperature in the Ce-TZP samples could he attributed to the slow diffusion kinetics of the diffusing species (trivalent and tetravalent cerium). The critical grain size for retainment of the tetragonal phase at room temperature is larger in the ECe-TZP systems compared to the Y-TZP amt Ce-TZP systems. The chemical stability increased by doping Y-TZP with cerium or titanium.