Preparation and Structural Characterization of Ultrafine Zirconia Powders

Factors concerning the stabilization of the tetragonal and cubic phases, metastable at room temperature, with respect to the monoclinic stable phase in ultrafine zirconia powders are studied. The importance of Na+ ions in the initial zirconia amorphous gel in obtaining a cubic phase has been confirmed. By an X‐ray diffraction study using a new peak profile fitting procedure, the amount of the crystalline phases and their microstructural properties (crystallite size and lattice distortions) have been obtained. Copyright © 1989, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserve