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Microstructure of Ultrafine-Grained Al2O3–ZrO2 Ceramics Produced by Two-Step Spark Plasma Sintering

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Inorganic Materials Aims and scope

Abstract—

We have studied the effect of monoclinic ZrO2 additions (1.5, 5, and 10 vol %) on the shrinkage kinetics of submicron α-Al2O3 powder. Ceramic samples were prepared by two-step spark plasma sintering (SPS). It has been shown that the two-step SPS process (heating to the temperature corresponding to 90% relative density and isothermal holding at this temperature) allows one to obtain ceramics with ultrafine-grained microstructure and high, near-theoretical density. Large ZrO2 additions (10%) lead to an increase in the activation energy for SPS and a decrease in grain-boundary deformation rate in the isothermal holding step.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In the transmission electron microscopic work, we used equipment at the Materials Research and Metallurgy Shared Research Facilities Center, Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (National University of Science and Technology) (Russian Federation Ministry of Science and Higher Education, project no. 075-15-2021-696).

Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, grant no. 20-73-10113.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lobachevsky National Research University, 603022, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

    M. S. Boldin, A. A. Popov, G. V. Shcherbak, A. A. Murashov, A. V. Nokhrin, V. N. Chuvil’deev & K. E. Smetanina

  2. Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (National University of Science and Technology), 119049, Moscow, Russia

    N. Yu. Tabachkova

  3. Prokhorov General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    N. Yu. Tabachkova

Authors
  1. M. S. Boldin
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  2. A. A. Popov
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  3. G. V. Shcherbak
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  4. A. A. Murashov
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  5. A. V. Nokhrin
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  6. V. N. Chuvil’deev
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  7. K. E. Smetanina
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  8. N. Yu. Tabachkova
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Correspondence to M. S. Boldin.

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Translated by O. Tsarev

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Boldin, M.S., Popov, A.A., Shcherbak, G.V. et al. Microstructure of Ultrafine-Grained Al2O3–ZrO2 Ceramics Produced by Two-Step Spark Plasma Sintering. Inorg Mater 58, 1090–1097 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0020168522100041

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0020168522100041

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