From Zircon to High Purity Zirconia for Ceramics

Abstract

Zirconia ceramics possess an impressive combination of properties which enable them to compete with metals and alloys in many applications where high temperature performance and erosion and corrosion resistance are required. In order to produce zirconia ceramics for industrial applications, it is vital to produce zirconia powders of high purity, controlled particle size, morphology and surface area and weak agglomerate strength, Various methods for the production of zirconia powders have been proposed and these are described in the paper. The paper also includes a detailed description of the CSIRO process which produces high purity (99.9% ZrO₂) powder suitable for structural and electronic applications.