Fabrication,microstructure,and properties of 8 mol%yttria-stabilized zirconia(8YSZ)transparent ceramics

Fine grained 8 mol%yttria-stabilized zirconia(8YSZ)transparent ceramics with high optical and mechanical properties were fabricated by air pre-sintering and hot isostatic pressing(HIP)using commercial 8YSZ powders as the raw material.The pre-sintered ceramics with fine grains and appropriate relative density play a key role to achieve high transparency and suppressed grain size after HIP post-treatment at relatively low temperatures.With the increase of HIP temperature from 1350 to 1550℃,the in-line transmittance of 8YSZ ceramics at 600 nm increases from 56.9%to 71.5%(2.5 mm in thickness),and the average grain size increases from 2.4 to 16.3μm.The corresponding bending strength of 8YSZ transparent ceramics decreases from 328±20 to 289±19 MPa,the hardness(H)decreases from 12.9±0.1 to 12.5±0.2 GPa,and the fracture toughness(KIC)decreases from 1.30±0.02 to 1.26±0.03 MPa·m^(1/2).Systematical investigations were carried out to study the combination of high optical transparency and excellent mechanical properties in 8YSZ ceramics.