Preparation and properties of yttria doped tetragonal zirconia polycrystal/Sr-doped barium hexaferrite ceramic composites

The effects of substitution of Ba2+ by Sr2+ on the magnetic property of barium ferrite and addition barium ferrite secondary phase to the 3 mol% yttria-doped tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (3Y-TZP) matrix on the mechanical property of composites were investigated. The Sr-doped barium ferrite (Ba1−xSrxFe12O19, x = 0, 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75) was synthesized by solid-state reaction in advance. Then 3Y-TZP/20 wt% Sr-doped barium ferrite composites were prepared by means of conventional ceramic method. It was found that a moderate amount of Sr added to barium ferrite could boost the saturation magnetization by 15% compared with the composites without Sr-doping. Besides, the composite with x = 0.50 possessed the best mechanical properties, such as 11.5 GPa for Vickers hardness and 8.3 MPa m1/2 for fracture toughness, respectively. It was demonstrated that magnetic and mechanical properties of the composites could be harmonized by the incorporation of barium ferrite secondary phase.