Synthesis and characterisation of YSZ-Al2O3 nanostructured materials

In this work a co-precipitation route was used to synthesise two yttria-stabilised-zirconia (YSZ) phases with different concentrations of alumina (Al2O3). A tetragonal, with 3 mol% yttria, and a cubic, with 8 mol% yttria, phases were added with alumina in different weight proportions, 90/10, 80/20, 70/30, and 60/40, respectively. After synthesised, products were sintered in a range 800-1100 degrees C for different intervals of time. Compounds were characterised by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Rietveld refinements, using FULPROF-Suite software, were carried out to obtain the cell parameters and structural characterisation of products.