Microwave sintering of ion conductive zirconia based composite dispersed with alumina

The powder compact of 8YSZ and 8YSZ composites dispersed with 30 mol% alumina, sintered by microwave heating was studied. The mechanical and electrical properties were measured and compared by those fabricated by conventional furnace. For alumina dispersed composite, the mechanical strength of microwave sintered body was similar to that of conventional one with slow heating rate. This difference between the mechanical strength generated from the slow and high heating rates attributed the internal stress generated by the nonequilibrium fabrication process. The observed high heating rate indicated that microwave sintering is not accompanied by the generation of internal stress.