Nd₂O₃ DOPED YTTRIA STABILIZED ZIRCONIA CERAMICS FABRICATED BY CONVENTIONAL AND MICROWAVE SINTERING METHODS

Abstract

Cubic 8 mol. % yttria stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) ceramics doped with 9, 12 and 15 wt. % Nd 2 O 3 were sintered in a single mode 2.45 GHz microwave furnace at sintering temperature of 1400 °C for 20 min. and by conventional sintering at 1400 °C for 5 h. The microwave sintered samples attained higher densities than the conventional processed ones. The Nd 2 O 3 additions have adverse effects on densification of 8YSZ ceramics. The XRD investigations revealed that, cubic phase of 8YSZ remained stable and substitution of Zr 4+ ions by larger Nd 3+ ions causes an increase in the lattice parameters with Nd 2 O 3 additions. Vickers hardness of 8YSZ decreased with addition of Nd 2 O 3 irrespective of the sintering technique.