Two-step sintering of nanocrystalline 8Y2O3 stabilized ZrO2 synthesized by glycine nitrate process

Two-step sintering was employed to consolidate nanocrystalline 8 mol% yittria stabilized zirconia processed by glycine-nitrate method. Results verified the applicability of this method to suppress the final stage of grain growth in the system. The grain size of the high density compacts (>97%) produced by two-step sintering method was seven times less than the pieces made by the conventional sintering technique. Up to ∼96% increase in the fracture toughness was observed (i.e. from 1.61 to 3.16 MPa m1/2) with decreasing of the grain size from ∼2.15 to ∼295 nm. A better densification behavior was also observed at higher compacting pressures.