Growth kinetics of tetragonal and monoclinic ZrO2 crystallites in 3 mol% yttria partially stabilized ZrO2 (3Y-PSZ) precursor powder

• The crystalline structures were composed of tetragonal and monoclinic ZrO2.
• Growth kinetics of t-ZrO2 in the 3Y-PSZ precursor powder is described as: Dte2=(4.57±0.55)t0.12±0.02exp(-(24.79±0.38)×103RT).
• Growth kinetics of m-ZrO2 in the 3Y-PSZ precursor powder is described as: Dm2=(4.40±1.63)t0.17±0.08exp(-(66.47±3.97)×103RT).

The growth kinetics of tetragonal and monoclinic ZrO2 crystallites in 3 mol% yttria partially stabilized ZrO2 (3Y-PSZ) precursor powder has been investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution TEM (HRTEM). After calcination of the 3Y-PSZ precursor powder between 773 and 1073 K for 2 h, the crystalline structures were composed of tetragonal and monoclinic ZrO2 as the primary and secondary phases, respectively. When the 3Y-PSZ precursor powder was calcined at 773 K for 2 h, the BET specific surface area was 97.13 m2/g, which is equivalent to a particle size of 10.30 nm. The crystallite sizes determined via XRD and BET agreed well, indicating that the powder was virtually non-agglomerated. The growth kinetics of tetragonal and monoclinic ZrO2 crystallite isothermal growth in the 3Y-PSZ precursor powder are described by: Dte2=(4.57±0.55)t0.12±0.02exp(-(24.79±0.38)×103RT) and Dm2=(4.40±1.63)t0.17±0.08exp(-(66.47±3.97)×103RT), respectively, for 773K≤T≤1073K. Dte and Dm denote the crystallite size of tetragonal and monoclinic ZrO2 at time t and temperature T, respectively.