The microstructure and mechanical properties of zirconia toughened alumina (ZTA) ceramic added with niobia (Nb2O5) through cold isostatic pressing (CIP) method was investigated. The amount of Nb2O5 is varied from 0 wt.% to 7 wt.%. The phase composition of the sintered bodies was analyzed with an x-ray diffractometer, while their microstructure was observed with a scanning electron microscope. It is found that up to 3 wt.% of Nb2O5 addition, the secondary phase of Nb2Zr6O17 presence as square shape particles confirm by SEM and EDX. The addition of 3 wt.% showed the highest Vickers hardness value with 1600HV. It was observed that, further addition of Nb2O5 (> 3 wt.% ) deteriorates the Vickers hardness of ZTA. While the fracture toughness value increased at 3 wt.% until 5 wt.% of Nb2O5 addition (6.71 MPa · √m and 6.80 MPa · √m respectively). It was also found that the value for bulk density increased and porosity decreased with the increasing of Nb2O5 addition.

Zirconia toughened alumina (ZTA) has shown a great effect in the cutting tool application due to its high hardness and comparable fracture toughness. However, the capability of the materials to be applied in as the dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is not being discussed in detail. In this study, an attempt is made to further explore the potential of ZTA to be applied in DRA. Various related characterization techniques were applied that is subjected to DRA properties. The addition of CeO2 (0 wt.% to 15 wt.%) on ZTA has been pressed into pellets shape and sintered at 1600 °C for 2 hours under pressureless conditions. Based on the XRD analysis, only corundum and yttria doped zirconia phases were present. Shift in position of the zirconia peaks was observed due to an existence of Ce2Zr3O10 phase. For the DRA measurement, ZTA with 10 wt.% CeO2 addition have resonated at 6.76 GHz which is suitable for X-band applications. Meanwhile the radiation pattern indicated the omnidirectional characteristic, which suggested that the signal could be received by this dielectric antenna in various positions. Therefore, ZTA- 10 wt.% CeO2 have high potential to be used as DRA that operates X-band frequency range applications.

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The aim of this research is to investigate the combined effects of CeO2 additions and hot-isostatic pressing sintering (HIPping) technique on the densification of ZTA ceramics. Addition of CeO2 to ZTA ceramics leads to formation of a secondary phase (CeAl11O18) which played a vital role in affecting the density and porosity. Microstructure investigations showed that HIPping had a significant role in the removal of pores. The sample with 5 wt.% of CeO2 addition showed the optimum value. The highest bulk density is 4.46 g/cm3 and the lowest percentage of porosity is 0.35%.

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