Pressure filtration and sintering of a zirconia nanopowder

The aim of this work was to investigate the sintering behaviour of a material prepared by filter pressing of a zirconia powder with grain sizes of about 8 nm. The dispersed and flocculated water suspensions of the powder were filter pressed under 5 MPa. The differences between samples produced from different suspensions were shown. The observation of the microstructure evolution in samples heat-treated at different temperatures was performed. The crystalline arrangement in the material was very uniform, which led to uniform densification of the material. Heat treatment of the sample for 30 min at 1200oC resulted in the material of 99.9% relative density, and grains not larger than 150 nm. (author)