STABILITY OF METASTABLE TETRAGONAL ZRO2 IN COMPOUND POWDERS AND NUCLEATION ARGUMENTS

ZrO2-SiO2 (1:1) mixtures and ZrO2 particles were prepared by a sol-gel method from the solutions of ZrOCl2·8H2O (ZOC) + Si(OC2H5)4 (TEOS) + C2H5OH and ZOC + C2H5OH + H2O + NH4Cl systems, respectively. Quantitative changes of phase crystallized by heating were compared with those of ZOC + TEOS + H2O and/or ZrO(NO3)2 · 2H2O + H2O systems, respectively. The stability of metastable tetragonal (mt)-ZrO2 particles depends on the Young's modulus of the SiO2 matrix. Transition metal oxides existing on the interface assisted in stabilizing mt-ZrO2. The order of the assistance agreed with that of the relative field strengths of their oxides. A relationship between the ionic radius and the volatility of anionic groups, and the difficulty of nucleation for the martensitic transformation accompanying a shear stress, is suggested. © 1990 Chapman and Hall Ltd.