High toughness and strength in yttria–neodymia costabilized zirconia ceramics

Yttria–neodymia costabilized zirconia (1Y2Nd-TZP) ceramics were manufactured from stabilizer-coated pyrogenic nanopowders via hot pressing. The evolution of mechanical properties, phase composition, microstructure and stabilizer distribution with sintering temperature were investigated to understand why these materials exhibit an outstanding combination of high strength and toughness. 1Y2Nd-TZP develops a bimodal microstructure with large non-transformable stabilizer-rich cubic grains embedded in an ultrafine grain matrix of highly transformable tetragonal grains. Compressive residual stress triggers high stress intensity threshold and bending strength.