Grain boundary structure and solute segregation in CuO doped 3 mol% yttriastabilized zirconia

The microstructure of the grain boundaries and solute segregation are studi ed for 0.3 mol%CuO doped 3 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia (3Y-TZP) using T EMs equipped with EDS and EELS. The observations revealed grain boundaries of various thickness ranging from a sharp boundary without any extra phase to those with amorphous-like phase, of up to 2 nm thickness in between. The re were also pockets filled with amorphous-like phase at the triple junctio ns of grain boundaries. Segregation of Cu and Y were observed not only in t hese amorphous-like regions but also along sharp grain boundaries without a ny extra phase.