Effect of isothermal treatment on sintering and properties of YSZ ceramics

This paper presents an investigation of characteristics of zirconia based ceramic materials commonly used as the electrolyte material for solid oxide fuel cells application. The operating temperature of such devices is high. The mechanical and electrical properties of the bulk ceramic or ceramic coatings strongly depend on their microstructures. Effect of isothermal treatment up to 1000 T on sintering and properties of YSZ ceramics are studied. The phase composition and microstructural stability after heat treatment are investigated. SEM and XRD techniques were applied to examine the morphology, microstructure and composition of the samples. The paper presents an investigation of zirconia based ceramics (8 mol% Y2O3) prepared from precursor powder synthesized by co-precipitation technique.