Magnesium oxide stabilized zirconia ceramics are zirconia toughened ceramics prepared with magnesium oxide as a stabilizer. Cubic zirconia and metastable tetragonal zirconia ceramics can be prepared according to the different contents of magnesium oxide stabilizers and the differences in preparation processes. By controlling the nucleus growth of the tetragonal phase, magnesium oxide partially stabilized zirconia ceramics with the best bending strength and fracture toughness can be obtained. Its application is roughly the same as that of yttrium oxide stabilized zirconia ceramics. And because of its unique thermal shock resistance. It is widely used in metallurgy, steel, and petrochemical industries. It can also be used to manufacture special ceramic cutting tools, standard measuring tools, mechanical seals, stamping dies, and various wear-resistant parts in the machinery and textile industry.
Yttria stabilized zirconia ceramics, English abbreviation Y-TZP. Zirconia toughened ceramics prepared with yttrium oxide (Y2O3) as a stabilizer. Generally, when the molar fraction of yttria content is 2% to 3%, it is called “yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal”; when the molar fraction of yttria content is above 8%, it is called “yttria-stabilized cubic zirconia polycrystal”. It has high strength, good fracture toughness, high hardness, high elastic modulus, linear expansion coefficient similar to that of metal, good wear resistance, non-magnetic, and acid and alkali medium corrosion resistance. It is mainly used in oil extraction, communication equipment manufacturing, chemical fiber, measuring tools, watches, and other industries.
Compared with yttria-stabilized zirconia, the outstanding advantage of magnesium oxide-stabilized zirconia is that it has excellent mechanical properties and creep resistance at relatively high temperatures. However, the research and development of magnesium-stabilized zirconia are restricted by two unfavorable factors: First, the solid solution temperature of magnesium oxide in the cubic zone of zirconia is very high, which makes it difficult for magnesium-stabilized zirconia to be completely sintered; second, magnesium oxide temperature zirconia is prone to crystal phase separation and a large amount of tetragonal phase instability when it is higher than 1000°C, which causes the material performance to decline, seriously restricting its application in high-temperature areas. Therefore, the future research focus of using magnesium oxide to stabilize zirconium oxide is to strive to reduce the sintering temperature and achieve low-temperature sintering; at the same time, improve its high-temperature mechanical properties and expand its application range.