Effect of Sintering Temperature on the Mechanical Properties of Nanostructured Zirconia Fabricated via Colloidal Processing

This study aims to evaluate the effects of sintering temperature on the density and hardness of tetragonal zirconia polycrystals stabilized with 3 mol% 3Y-TZP dental ceramic type. Five cylindrical specimens were fabricated from zirconia powder of particle size 50 nm via colloidal processing. The specimens were sintered densely at the final sintering temperatures of 1000, 1100, 1200, and 1300 °C, respectively. The sintered density and hardness of the sintered specimen were then examined. The results showed that the sintered densities and hardness of the specimen increased as the temperature increased from 1000 °C to 1300 °C. Zirconia 3Y-TZP could gain near full density and reach hardness of as high as 11.30 GPa at the final sintering temperature of 1300 °C. The density and hardness of zirconia structured from 3Y-TZP can be improved by controlling the final sintering temperature.