In this work, the influence of mechanical activation (MA) of the precursor obtained by co-precipitation of yttrium and zirconium hydroxides on the processes occurring during its heating in the temperature range of 600–1300°C and the formation of nanocrystalline Y2Zr2O7 of cubic modification with the structure of disordered fluorite is studied. The study was carried out using complex thermal analysis, IR spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, specific surface area measurement, and scanning electron microscopy. MA of the precursor was carried out in a centrifugal-planetary mill AGO-2 with a zirconium dioxide grinding set. Carbonisation of the precursor during its preparation and MA as well as decarbonisation and dehydration during thermal treatment were investigated. Nanocrystalline powders of yttrium zirconate prepared from mechanically activated precursor are characterised by 3–5 times higher specific surface area compared to powders synthesised from the original precursor under the same calcination conditions. The microhardness and Young’s modulus of the ceramics prepared by spark plasma sintering using the mechanically activated precursor are respectively 78 and 23% higher than those of the ceramics obtained from the original precursor.
Kuzmenkov et al. (Mon,) studied this question.