Abstract
The co-precipitation method has been employed to prepare CeO 2 -ZrO 2 ceramics. The application of a wet chemical method is expected to yield highly sinterable material at lower sintering temperatures. The characteristics of the synthesized powders are evaluated with respect to the particle size distribution, calcination step, and the degree of agglomeration. The sintering behaviour of the prepared powder is studied at various temperatures to obtain different phase distributions and grain sizes. The amount of the monoclinic phase in the as-sintered specimen is decreased with increasing CeO 2 contents in CeO 2 -ZrO 2 . 13.7 mol% CeO 2 is sufficient to achieve a tetragonal phase in the CeO 2 -ZrO 2 system. In addition, Y 2 O 3 and MgO dopants in CeO 2 -ZrO 3 reduce the grain size and result in a fully tetragonal phase for the 10 mol% CeO 2 matrix. © 1988 Chapman and Hall Ltd.