Rapid In Situ Reactive Sintering and Properties of ZrO₂-ZrW₂O₈ Composites

ZrO2-ZrW2O8 diphasic composites with controllable coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) are synthesized by rapid in-situ reactive sintering with ZrO2 and WO3 as reactants. High density of ZrO2-ZrW2O8 composites without decomposition of ZrW2O8 is obtained with Y2O3 sintering additive. The CTEs of specimen with ZrO2 to ZrW2O8 mass ratio 1:1.0, 1:1.3, 1:1.5 and 1:2.0 are measured to be about 1.20×10−6, 0.31×10−6, -0.78×10−6 and -1.13×10−6 K−1, respectively. Raman mappings demonstrate homogenous dispersions of ZrO2 and ZrW2O8 in the ZrO2-ZrW2O8 composites. In addition to the role as sintering additive, some Y3+ cations enter the lattice to substitute Zr4+ in ZrW2O8, leading to an increase in disorder and a decrease in phase transition temperature of ZrW2O8 in the composites.