Zirconia ceramics have shown a wide applicable prospect in dental prosthetics because it possesses excellent mechanical performance and biocompatibility. The rheological behavior and curing properties of zirconia stereolithography slurry were studied, as well as the microstructure of the green, pyrolyzed, and sintered body.Variquat CC-42 NS was proved to be effective for zirconia powder dispersing in photocurable resin (SP-RC700). The curing characteristic of slurry showed that the depth of penetration tended to increase with the solid loading. Finally, the zirconia all-ceramic crowns were fabricated via DLP-based stereolithography printer. Results showed that the particles were evenly distributed in the cured resin matrix without obvious agglomeration, and the interlayered structure disappeared after binder burnout. The sample with a major crystalline phase of tetragonal zirconia and a porosity of 10(1)% were obtained after sintering at 1550°C.
K E Y W O R D Sceramic stereolithography, microstructure, rheological properties, zirconia all-ceramic crown