Incorporating graphene into a sintered ceramic tape: Structural and magnetic properties of a zirconia-graphene composite

•ZrO2 tapes incorporated with graphene nanoplatelets.•Combining the tape casting and direct current plasma methods.•Effective insertion of the graphene into the ceramic structure.•Graphene is responsible for the ferromagnetic response of the sintered ceramic composite. We report an experimental investigation of the structural and magnetic properties of a zirconia-graphene composite. Specifically, we employed tape casting and direct current plasma method to incorporate graphene into a sintered ceramic tape. By considering experiments of rheology, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffractometry, Raman spectroscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscopy, we confirmed that the graphene is embedded in the structure of the zirconia-graphene composite. Further, through the magnetic characterization, we disclosed the ferromagnetic response of the sintered composite. Our findings demonstrated that the employed route successfully functionalizes graphene nanoplatelets and also promotes a magnetic response in ceramics composites, thus opening new possibilities of technological applications for Carbon-based composite materials.