Effect of the sintering method on microstructure and thermal and mechanical properties of zirconium oxophosphate ceramics Zr2O(PO4)2

Due to an ultra-low thermal expansion, Zr2O(PO4)(2) could find many applications as a thermal shock resistant material. To this end, ceramic processing is a key step in order to reach best properties. In this work, Zr2O(PO4)(2) was sintered by conventional sintering and by the spark plasma sintering technique (SPS) with and without additive. Samples made by conventional sintering with ZnO as sintering aid have a maximum relative density of around 92%. Microstructure is composed of large grains and microcracks can be observed. When doped with 5 wt. % of MgO, samples can be densified by SPS up to 99.6% of the relative density and the grain size maintained between 0.5 and 1.5 mu m. Thermal conductivity and Vickers microhardness were investigated as a function of the microstructure. Best values were obtained for the ceramic doped with 5 wt.% MgO and sintered by SPS, thanks to a fine microstructure and a small amount of residual microcracks.