Study of zircon or zirconia crystals addition in ceramic glazes by impedance spectroscopy

The addition of fine-grained polycrystalline tetragonal (3%Y2O3–TZP) zirconia, monoclinic zirconia, or zircon to conventional, single-firing, ceramic glazes with the aim of enhancing their hardness, fracture toughness and wear resistance for floor tile applications was studied by impedance spectroscopy (IS). This technique proved to be useful to monitor several interfacial phenomena, since the response of sintered bodies revealed interesting microstructure-electrical relationships. As a consequence, it might be used as a complementary technique to evaluate different opacity levels of glazes.