Crystal structure of pure ZrO2 nanopowders

The crystal structure of pure (undoped) zirconia nanopowders synthesized by different wet-chemical routes has been investigated by synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Whereas some previous authors reported the retention of the cubic phase in similar materials, we demonstrate here that pure zirconia nanopowders with average crystallite sizes ranging from 5 to 10 nm exhibit the tetragonal phase. In addition, our results suggest that a tetragonal-to-cubic transition for decreasing crystallite size could eventually occur at a very small critical crystallite size. (c) 2006 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.