Synthesis of Nanoscale Fully Stabilized Zirconia Powders by Urea Hydrolysis, Sintering and Electrical Characterization.

Active nanoscale powders of cubic phase zirconia stabilized with yttria, gadolinia, and scandia were successfully prepared by urea hydrolysis. Synthetic cubic zirconia powders had homogeneous, nanoscale, and less-agglomeration characteristics. Dense pellets of grain size about 0.4 µm exhibited grain boundary blocking resistance compared to the high frequency bulk resistance. Gadolinium doped system exhibited highest ionic resistivity. Yttria stabilized zirconia by urea hydrolysis in this work showed smaller ionic resistivity than the sample prepared from the commercial powder.