Fabrication and Microstructural Characterization of Nano-crystalline ZrO₂-based Composite

摘要

Nanocrystalline ZrO₂-spinel powders consisting of nano-particles of ≤ 10 nm can successfully be synthesized using high-energy ball-milling process. Using spark-plasma-sintering technique, the nanocrystalline powders can be consolidated into dense nanocrystalline composite with an average grain size of 2-spinel composite can significantly be improved by the nano-crystalization. Flexural strength σ_f was heightened by a factor of 2.0-2.5: the maximum σ_f of the nanocrystalline composite reached ～2.4 GPa. Flow stress of the nanocrystalline composite can be lowered by about 50% than that of submicrometer-sized composite.