Re. Juarez et al., Synthesis and structural properties of zirconia-based nanocrystalline powders and fine-grained ceramics, DEFECT DIFF, 177-1, 2000, pp. 1-26
The synthesis and structural properties of zirconia-based nanocrystalline p
owders and fine-grained ceramics are reviewed, emphasising the conditions r
equired for the retention of the high temperature tetragonal and cubic phas
es, which are the most important ones for applications. Different methods f
or the synthesis of powders (coprecipitation, amorphous citrate process, so
l-gel, polymerised complex method and gel-combustion) and for the preparati
on of ceramics are discussed. The equilibrium phase diagrams of the most co
mmonly studied zirconia-based binary systems (ZrO2-Y2O3; ZrO2-MgO; ZrO2-CaO
and ZrO2-CeO2) are considered and the domains of existence of the tetragon
al and cubic phases are analysed, taking into account its relation with the
preparation of ceramics that present these phases. The existence of three
tetragonal forms in several compositionally homogeneous zirconia-based soli
d solutions (such as ZrO2-Y2O3; ZrO2-Er2O3; ZrO2-Nd2O3; ZrO2-Sm2O3; ZrO2-Yb
2O3; ZrO2-CeO2 and ZrO2-CaO) is also reviewed, considering the influence of
the crystallite size. Some discrepancies and topics not fully understood,
which are nowadays subject of intense investigation, are discussed in detai
l.