Preparation and characterization of zirc

The popularity of zirconia has increased due to its unique properties known as transformation toughening. Alumina is utilized to stabilize the tetragonal crystalline structure of zirconia at room temperature. This study aims to develop zirconia-alumina systems using two distinct mixing methods through the sol-gel technique. The first method involved mixing zirconia and alumina precursors during the hydrolysis stage, whereas the second method was implemented during the drying stage of the sol-gel process. The material phases for both methods were evaluated, resulting in a zirconia-alumina system with an 80% weight ratio of ZrO2 to 20% Al2O3. The mixtures were calcined at 900 °C for 2 hours. The findings indicated that using the solution mixing phase resulted in a larger specific surface area compared to the solid mixing phase, attributed to the smaller particle size obtained through this method. Both methods effectively contributed to retaining the tetragonal crystalline state of zirconia, highlighting the significance of the hydrolysis stage in achieving the desired material properties.