BULK ZIRCONIA NANOCERAMICS PREPARED BY COLD ISOSTATIC PRESSING AND PRESSURELESS SINTERING

Zirconia nanoparticles (stabilized by 1.5 and 3 mol.% of yttria) with particle size below 10 nm were prepared by a sol-gel synthesis. Isostatically pressed green bodies had pore radii smaller than 5 nm. After pressureless sintering at 1100 ∞C the bodies had a density exceeding 99%t.d. and grain size below 80 nm. The sintering activation energy of zirconia nanoceramics was more than twice lower than sintering activation energy of submicrometric zirconia.