GRAIN-GROWTH OF DIFFERENTLY DOPED ZIRCONIA

Grain growth has been characterized for various zirconia alloys and ca tion segregations have been measured with AES and ESCA. The samples we re prepared by coprecipitation, followed by compacting and sintering a t 1400 degrees C for different times. Grain growth was found to depend strongly on the dopants, e.g. on their radius and valence state. Howe ver; segregation factors of these cations did not reveal significant d ifferences. Impurities up to 1 wt% are found to control grain growth v ia a grain boundary layer. Large amounts of Cr2O3 and SnO2 tend to sup press grain growth effectively by the spherical shaped precipitations. The results are discussed in relation to the existing grain growth mo dels.