Sol–gel preparation and characterization of ceria stabilized zirconia minispheres

A novel processing technique based on sol–gel drop generation method has been developed to prepare fine zirconia minispheres for use as grinding media. Zirconium oxalate gel formation from the prepared sol was obtained in proper synthesis condition using Zirconium oxy-chloride octahydrate(ZrOCl2·8H2O) as starting material. The transparent oxalate gel was then added dropwise into the setting solution for the formation minispheres. To obtain the required fluidity and viscosity a suitable binder was mixed to the sol and stabilizing agent of required mol% was added to stabilize the phase formation. The addition of stabilizing agent transformation toughened the minispheres, with a complete retention of the tetragonal phase in the final product sintered at 1500 °C. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated the removal of most of the volatiles by 600 °C. Density and Crystallite size were found to be increasing linearly with sintering temperature. The phase identification, density variation, chemical decomposition, functional group specification and microstructural features for the dried and sintered final product were studied.