Effect of heating on the surface fractal dimensions of ZrO2

摘要

The sol-gel method for making ceramic or glass materials is growing in attention from scientific and technological points of view [1]. Glasses, glass-ceramics and ceramic materials are commonly obtained from organic liquids throughout the sol-gel process [2]. In the ceramics field, alumina (AI2O3) and zirconia (ZrOa) materials are the most investigated, Zirconia has long been used as a ceramics material thanks to its elevated fusion point (2700 °C), its low thermal conductivity and its high corrosion resistance. Besides, zirconia is used as a catalyser [3] and it is a good ionic conductor. Zirconia has also been used as a coating material for alumina fibres in order to improve the mechanical properties of ceramic matrix composites in oxidizing environments at elevated temperatures [4]. In this last case the sol-gel process route has been shown to produce good results [5].