Effect of low-temperature plasma treatment on the chemical properties of zirconium dioxide

Powders and ceramic samples of yttrium-stabilized zirconia ZrO2+Y2O3 have been studied. The effect of high- frequency low-temperature plasma treatment on the properties of yttrium-stabilized zirconium dioxide powder and the properties of yttrium-stabilized zirconium dioxide samples was studied. It has been shown that the plasma processing changes the acidity of water-powder suspensions and solutions from 5.09 to 3.43 pH which signifies the improvement of wettability of powders. At the same time, the pH of the ceramic samples when they were in distilled water increased under the initial processing conditions from 5.7 to 7.63. The results obtained are fundamentally important for the creation of materials for biomedical purposes.