Dilatometric sintering study of fine-grained ceramics from ultradispersed admixture composed of Ce0.09Zr0.91O2 and MgO–Al2O3

The experiment was carried out to produce fine-grained ceramics with a grain size of less than 5 μm. Ultradispersed oxide mixture MgO–Al2O3 (weight ratio MgO/Al2O3 value was 3/97) and solid solution Ce0.09Zr0.91O2−δ were used as initial nanopowders with a crystallite size less than 10 nm. Dilatometric investigation was carried out at the temperature interval 1100–1550 °C using three temperature modes, included various heating and cooling rates and isothermal plots. Initial metal oxide powders were obtained by modified sol–gel technique using N-containing organic compounds for sol stabilization. It was shown that the role of MgO in nanopowdery composition for sintering is to accelerate the sintering due to the formation of the liquid phase with spinel MgAl6O10. It was determined, that the presence of interim isotherms on the temperature rise curves does not impact the rate and quality of sintering.