Preparation of Fine-Grained 10ScSZ bulks by Spark Plasma Sintering and Investigation of Sintering Temperature

Fine-grained compact in which 10 mol% scandia stabilized zirconia (10ScSZ) bulks were sintered by SPS taking combustion-synthesis powders as raw materials. The densification process of as-processed powders was investigated by measuring the real-time ram displacement of SPS during heating. It is estimated that the densification temperature of this material is around 1200 degrees C, at which the ram displacement is the minimum. In order to verify the effectiveness of the approach, 1050, 1100, 1150, 1200, 1250 degrees C were chosen as the sintering temperature to prepared bulk samples. The results reveal that the 10ScSZ sample sintered at 1150 degrees C has the highest relative density, reaching 99.4%, and a fine grain structure with an average grain size of 194 nm, which is basically consistent with the speculated results. An efficient and reliable method is proposed and confirmed for judging the proper SPS sintering temperature through the densification development.