Properties and Fabrication of Nanostructured 2/3 Cr-ZrO2 Composite for Artificial Joint by Rapid Sinerting

Despite having many attractive properties, ZrO2 ceramic has a low fracture toughness which limits its wide application. One of the most obvious tactics to improve its mechanical properties has been to add a reinforcing agent to formulate a nanostructured composite material. Nanopowders of ZrO2 and Cr were synthesized from CrO3 and Zr powder by high energy ball milling for 10 h. Dense nanocrystalline 2/3Cr-ZrO2 composite was consolidated by a high-frequency induction heated sintering method within 5 min at 600 degrees C from mechanically synthesized powder. The method was found to enable not only rapid densification but also the inhibition of grain growth, preserving the nano-scale microstructure. Highly dense 2/3CrZrO(2) composite with relative density of up to 99.5% was produced under simultaneous application of a 1 GPa pressure and the induced current. The hardness and fracture toughness of the composite were 534 kg/mm(2) and 7MPa center dot m1/2, respectively. The composite was determined to have good biocompatibility.