Influence of ZrO2 alloying effect on the thermophysical properties of fluorite-type Eu3TaO7 ceramics

ZrO2 alloying effect is applied in fluorite-type Eu3TaO7 ceramics to decrease thermal conductivity and improve thermal expansion performance. The thermal conduction mechanism of Eu3TaO7 ceramics can be adjusted by ZrO2 alloying effect and the lowest thermal conductivity reaches 137 W. m(-1).K-1 at 900 degrees C. The Young's modulus of x mol% ZrO2-Eu3TaO7 ceramics decreases with the increasing ZrO2 content, as ZrO2 alloying effect can weaken the bonding strength of Eu3TaO7 and then increase the thermal expansion coefficients (10.7 x 10(-6) K-1, 1200 degrees C). Due to the excellent thermophysical properties, ZrO2-Eu3TaO7 ceramics exhibit great potentiality as high temperature thermal insulation materials. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Acta Materialia Inc.