Influence of Obtaining Conditions on Kinetics of the Initial Sintering Stage of Zirconia Nanopowders

The present paper is devoted to the problem of sintering ceramics based on yttria-stabilized zirconia (Y-TZP). In this paper, we studied the effect of two obtaining methods (co-precipitation and technical hydrolysis) on sintering kinetics of Y-TZP nanopowders. We used the constant rate of heating (CRH) method at different heating rates for determining the sintering mechanisms. The basic mechanism and activation energy (Q) of diffusion at the initial sintering stage were estimated using the sintering rate equations that are applicable to the CRH data. We found that nanopowder 3Y-TZP produced by the co-precipitation method (DIPE) was sintered according to the volume diffusion mechanism (n = 1/2) and nanopowder TZ-3Y (TOSOH) produced by the technical hydrolysis was sintered according to the grain boundary diffusion mechanism (n = 1/3).