Thermal conductivity of ytterbia-stabilized zirconia

   The 3-10 mol.% Yb2O3-ZrO2 (YbSZ) ceramics were synthesized by solid reaction methods and sintered at 1600 °C. The phases were identified by high-resolution X-ray diffraction with a Kα1 monochromator, and it was found that the tetragonal-prime phases exist in 3-6 mol.% YbSZ. The thermal conductivity of the sintered YbSZ ceramics were measured using a laser flash method and it was demonstrated that the values of the thermal conductivities of the 5 and 10 mol.% YbSZ ceramics are the lowest at high and room temperature, respectively, and much lower than that of 7YSZ. The lower thermal conductivity of YbSZ ceramics may be due to the heavier dopant of ytterbium and the tetragonal-prime ZrO2 phase.