The research demonstrates balanced hardness and toughness in zirconia ceramics with Y2O3 doping, indicating promising applications in materials engineering.
Achieving simultaneous enhancement of Vickers hardness and fracture toughness remains a critical challenge in designing oxide ceramic materials due to their partially antagonistic nature. In this study, we address this trade-off by tailoring the microstructure of zirconia (ZrO2) ceramics through Y2O3 doping and high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) sintering. Nanostructured composites were synthesized using 50 nm monoclinic ZrO2 and varying Y2O3 contents (3, 5, and 7 mol%) under 5 GPa at temperatures ranging from 400 to 2000 °C. Among them, 3 mol% Y2O3-doped zirconia (3Y-PSZ) sintered at 1200 °C achieved a well-balanced mechanical performance, with a Vickers hardness of 11.6 GPa and a fracture toughness of 9.26 MPa·m1/2. These results demonstrate that it is feasible to retain a high hardness while significantly enhancing toughness by controlling phase composition and grain refinement under HPHT conditions. This work offers valuable insights into microstructural optimization strategies for zirconia-based ceramics aiming to overcome the conventional hardness–toughness trade-off.
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You et al. (2025) studied this question.
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