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Converters & Calculators
What Is Stabilized Zirconia?
Why use stabilised zirconium dioxide rather than pure zirconium dioxide?
Stabilised Zirconium dioxide is widely used in the ceramics industry. Pure zirconium oxide undergoes a phase transformation with temperature changes from monoclinic (1173 °C) --> tetragonal (2370 °C) --> cubic (2690 °C) --> melt.
The volume changes during the phase transformation. The transition from tetragonal to monoclinic produces an increase in volume of approximately 9 %, thereby potentially causing cracks in the ceramics.
To resolve this issue, the cubic polymorph of zirconium dioxide must be stabilised over a broader temperature range. This is achieved by substituting some Zr4+ ions (ionic radius of 0.82 Å) in the crystal lattice with marginally larger ions, for example Y3+ (ionic radius of 0.96 Å). The resulting materials are known as stabilised zirconium dioxide.
The most commonly used stabilisers include calcium oxide (CaO), magnesium oxide (MgO), cerium oxide (CeO2), aluminium oxide (Al2O3) or hafnium oxide (HfO2).
Stanford Advanced Materials supplies various stabilised zirconium dioxide powders in bulk for the ceramics industry (see below):
Yttria‑stabilised zirconium dioxide
Alumina‑stabilised zirconium dioxide
Calcia stabilised zirconium dioxide
Cerium stabilised zirconium dioxide
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