Effects of conventional and flash sintering methods on the properties of ZrO2-SnO2 nanocomposites

Abstract

ZrO2-SnO2 nanocomposite was produced in nanofiber (NF) form in three different ratios by volume (%v/v) by electro-spinning technique. Microstructure and morphological characterization of NFs reveal the ternary system of ZrO2-SnO2-ZrSnO4. Also, when the composition ratio of NFs was changed, both the band gap and the electrical (flash) sintering (ES or FS) event affected the temperature and sinter time variation. FS experiments were used at 3.77mA/mm2 current cutoff under thermal (844-878℃) and electric field (420V/mm). Highly dense nanocomposites were obtained in less than 80 seconds with a maximum power absorption of 1.58W/mm3. Thanks to the low sintering temperature and time, the nanostructured surface morphology of the nanocomposites was obtained. In addition to the FS process, ZrO2-SnO2-ZrSnO4 CNFs were sintered for 1 hour at 1200℃ using the conventional sintering (GS) method. This study investigated the effects of the difference in sintering techniques on the sintering temperature and time, as well as on properties such as density and hardness. As the amount of Sn (%v/v) in the composition increases, the density increases, but the hardness value decreases. It has been proven that in ZrO2-SnO2-ZrSnO4 CNFs, denser and harder compositions are obtained with FS treatment compared to GS. When all these results are evaluated, it is believed that the synthesized nanocomposites can be used as a valid candidate in the health system such as dental implants due to their antimicrobial effect and non-toxicity in the model organism. © 2024 Gazi Universitesi. All rights reserved.