Preparation of Y-TZP ceramic fibers by electrolysis-sol-gel method

Polycrystalline yttria stabilized tetragonal Zirconia (T-ZrO₂) fibers were obtained by pyrolysis of gel fibers using zirconium oxychloride octahydrate as raw material. The spinnable zirconia sol was prepared by electrolyzing the zirconium oxychloride octahydrate solution in the presence of acetic acid and sugar (sucrose, glucose or fructose), in which the molar ratio of CH₃COOH/ZrOCl₂ · 8H₂O and sugar/ZrOCl₂ · 8H₂O was in the range of 1.0–4.0 and 0.2–0.4, respectively. The relation of spinnability to the shape of colloidal particle was discussed. The as-prepared zirconia fibers sintered at different temperatures show smooth and crack-free surface with the diameter of 5–10 μm. Slow heating rate below 600 °C and then sintering at 1,400 °C for 30 min were necessary to obtain the dense tetragonal zirconia ceramic fibers, the particles composed the fibers had the size of ∼150 nm.