STABILIZED ZIRCONIAS PREPARED BY MECHANICAL ALLOYING

Cubic zirconias stabilized by various additive oxides have been obtain ed by mechanical alloying using high-energy ball-milling. Starting mat erials are powders of monoclinic zirconia mixed with magnesia, calcia, or yttria. Solid-state reaction is induced by ball-milling and, under given experimental conditions, a single phase consisting of cubic-zir conia nanocrystals is prepared from constituent oxides. Energy dispers ive analyses in electron microscopy on ball-milled powders confirm tha t cubic zirconias have the composition corresponding to that of starti ng powders.