Properties of 2 mol% yttria stabilized zirconia-alumina-cerium hexaaluminate composites

Abstract

Yttria stabilized zirconia (Y-TZP) has become a standard material in a variety of biomedical and mechanical engineering applications due to its high strength and toughness. In order to obtain improved properties in terms of strength, hardness and low temperature degradation resistance second phases, typically alumina are added. In this study an alumina toughened zirconia recipe with 20 vol% alumina in a 2Y-TZP matrix was modified by progressive substitution of alumina by up to 10 vol% cerium hexaaluminate (CA6). Samples were produced by hot pressing. The cerium hexaaluminate was synthesized in situ by reduction of tetravalent ceria and reaction sintering with alumina at 1450 °C. The materials reach attractive 4-point bending strength values of greater than 1170-1390 MPa at a fracture resistance of 6.4-7 MPa√m. Vickers hardness is slightly reduced from 1405 HV10 to 1380 HV10 with increasing CA6 fraction. Results show that substitution of alumina by low amounts CA6 does not lead to drastic changes in the mechanical properties. Hardness is slightly reduced while strength reaches a flat maximum at 4 vol% CA6 substitution. The toughness slightly declines with CA6 addition which is caused by reduced transformability of the tetragonal zirconia phase despite a slight coarsening of the matrix observed upon CA6 addition.