Nano-engineering of zirconia–noble metals composites

The possibility of preparation of Pt–3Y-TZP and Pd–3Y-TZP nano-composites was studied. The sonochemically synthesized Pt (Pd) nano-particles (∼2 nm) were impregnated into zirconia nano-aggregates (20–45 nm). The morphology manipulation technique allowed production of the composite zirconia-based aggregates in which a significant fraction of the Pt (Pd) crystallites was embedded into the zirconia dense aggregates. Using the colloidal technique and low-temperature (1150 °C) sintering, we prepared the Pt (Pd)–zirconia (0.5–1.5 wt.% of platinum) nano-composites with average 3Y-TZP grain sizes of 120 nm, and with the Pt (Pd) grain size in the range of 20–60 nm.