Effect of annealing on ESR characteristics of zirconia nanopowders with different impurity compositions

An ESR study is performed for four groups of zirconia nanopowder samples: nominally pure ZrO2 powders (first group), zirconia samples with Y2O3 and Sc2O3 impurities (second group), samples with different amounts of Cr2O3 (third group), and samples containing both Y2O3 and Cr2O3 (fourth group). The effect of annealing on ESR signals due to Zr3+ ions (sample groups 1 and 2) and Cr5+ ions (groups 3 and 4) is studied. It is established that, although the Zr3+ and Cr5+ ions have similar ESP characteristics, the annealing exerts different effects on ESR signals of these ions. Annealing in the temperature range 200–900°C leads to a monotonic increase in the amount of Zr3+ ions. Interestingly, the annealing temperature at which Zr3+ ions begin to generate ESR signals is different for samples with different impurity compositions. Unlike the Zr3+ ions, the annealing curves of the ESR signals due to the Cr5+ ions pass through an extremum at T = 500–600°C.