Nanocrystalline Powders in ZrO.sub.2-Y.sub.2O.sub.3-CeO.sub.2-Al.sub.2O.sub.3-CoO System for Microstructural Design of ZrO.sub.2-Bazed Color Composites

The changes in the physical-chemical properties of ZrO.sub.2-Y.sub.2O.sub.3-CeO.sub.2-Al.sub.2O.sub.3-CoC nanocrystalline powders, produced by hydrothermal synthesis combined with mechanical mixing, are investigated. It is found out that, in the presence of cobalt compounds, the temperatures of phase transformations of ZrO.sub.2-based solid solution decrease. The powders are characterized by increased activity to sintering. AMIS software is used for processing the research results on the powder morphology. The flame atomic absorption spectrometry is used to confirm that the probability of cobalt wash-out from ZrO.sub.2-Y.sub.2O.sub.3-CeO.sub.2-Al.sub.2O.sub.3-CoO composites does not exceed 0.2 mg/l. The research results will be used for the microstructural design of blue ZrO.sub.2-based composites.