Effect of the fuel type on the synthesis of yttria stabilized zirconia by combustion method

Nano-sized 8 mol% yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) powders were synthesized by the combustion method using two different fuels (urea and glycine). The effect of the nature and amount of the fuel was investigated on the phase structure, particle size and microstructure of the resulted YSZ ceramics. The results showed that YSZ powders synthesized using urea presented larger crystallite size and lower specific surface area than those derived from glycine route. This behavior is closely related to the combustion flame temperature. The elevated temperature during combustion synthesis with urea favored the formation of large aggregates, instead of loose and porous particles as observed for glycine route. As a consequence, the best result in terms of densification was obtained for the pellets prepared by sintering of powders synthesized through glycine route.