Sintering kinetics involving grain growth and densification of Mg-PSZ nanopowders

Sintering kinetics have been found to be effective in judging the evolution of ceramics. By using magnesium oxide-partially stabilized zirconia (Mg-PSZ) powder prepared by co-precipitation as raw materials, the evolution of densification and grain growth for Mg-PSZ ceramics were investigated. The results indicated that the densification of samples was mainly controlled by grain boundary diffusion in intermediate sintering stage. During the sintering process, the grain growth mechanisms included normal grain growth, abnormal grain growth and solid solution drag-controlled grain growth. Interestingly, the apparent activation energy for grain growth of Mg-PSZ ceramics is lower than that of ZrO 2 –Y 2 O 3 ceramics in the solid solution drag-controlled grain grow process, which will cause grain to grow easily. The sintering kinetics and microstructure of Mg-PSZ ceramics were studied, and the kinetic equation of grain growth at different temperatures was established. The results show that the strength difference between Mg-PSZ and yttrium oxide-stabilized zirconia is closely related to the easy grain growth of Mg-PSZ ceramics.