Synthesis of Zr O2-Ce O2 ceramic powders by coprecipitation

Ceria stabilized zirconia powders with 8 to 16 mol% (Ce O2) were prepared by a coprecipitation process with ammonium hydroxide solutions. Wet chemical process were used with the purpose of producing dense ceramics with appropriate microstructure at low sintering temperatures. For the characterization of the produced powders, techniques as particle size distribution, specific surface measurement crystalline phase identification and others were used. It has been found that powders with ceria contents higher than 12 mol% shows tetragonal phase stabilization. Ceramic bodies were pressed and sintered at 1500 and 1600deg C for 1 hour, with good final densification and microstructure formed by uniformly shaped grains with diameters of about 1 μm. (author)