The objective of this work was the development of Al2O3-ZrO2 ceramic composites using recycled-source of ZrO2(Y2O3). Al2O3 powder was mixed with different proportions of ZrO2(Y2O3) arising from pre-sintered blocks used in dental prostheses manufacturing. The mixtures containing 3wt% to 15wt% ZrO2(Y2O3) were uniaxially pressed at 80MPa and sintered at 1600°C-2h. Raw materials and sintered samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), relative density, hardness and fracture toughness. The results of X-ray diffraction showed α-Al2O3 and tetragonal-ZrO2 as crystalline phases after sintering. Furthermore, the relative density in all compositions was higher than 95%. The samples presented Vickers hardness and fracture toughness higher than 1300HV and 3.5MPa. m1/2, respectively.

The yttria stabilized zirconia, ZrO2 (Y2O3) has been widely used in dental prosthesis manufactured by CAD/CAM technique. This material is developed in the form of pre-sintered blocks, which are machined by extracting various customized prosthesis and generating a loss of about 30% of material. ZrO2(Y2O3) is notably a toughening for other ceramics, and has a high cost, so reusing discards these applications less noble, is strategically interesting. In this work the proposal is to recover discharges of ZrO2 (Y2O3) arising from prosthetic laboratories, reprocess them in order to reduce the particles size and subsequently sintering, demonstrating the potential use in applications less noble in dentistry. Discharges Residual of ZrO2-(Y2O3) were fragmented and then sieved to particle size separation. Powders of smaller than 63 μm were uniaxially pressed at different pressures. The compacts were characterized by the relative density showing green density of the order of 40%. After characterization, compacts were sintered at 1550°C-2h. The sintered material was characterized as its relative density and crystalline phases.

In this work, compacting powders of different ZrO2(Y2O3) are investigated relating the particle size, compaction pressure, and use of binders. Powders of ZrO2 stabilized with 3mol % Y2O3 with an average particle size of 0.15 to 0.7μm presence of both bonding and 0.15μm without addition of binder, were uniaxially compacted with pressures of 30 to 115MPa. Green density between 40% and 50% were obtained. The results indicate that powders sized less densification above 1400°C, while the larger sizes only after reaching full densification above 1500°C. Crystallographic characterization indicates that the powders have a percentage of monoclinic phases in the range of 15% to 26%, but only after sintering tetragonal phase is identified.