An effective strategy for preparing transparent ceramics using nanorod powders based on pressure-assisted particle fracture and rearrangement

Achieving full densification of some ceramic materials, such as Y₂O₃, without sintering aids by spark plasma sintering (SPS) is a great challenge when plastic deformation contributes limitedly to the densification as the yield stress of the material at an elevated temperature is higher than the applied sintering pressure. Herein, we demonstrate that particle fracture and rearrangement is an effective strategy to promote the densification during the pressure-assisted sintering process. Specifically, Y₂O₃ nanocrystalline powders composed of nanorod and near-spherical particles were synthesized and sintered at various temperatures by the SPS. The results show that the relative density of the ceramics prepared by the nanorod powders is higher than the density of the ceramics from the near-spherical powders after 600 ℃ due to the fracture and rearrangement of the nanorods at low temperatures, which leads to the decrease of particle size and the increase of density and homogeneity. Based on this novel densification mechanism, ultrafine-grained Y₂O₃ transparent ceramics with good optical and mechanical properties were fabricated successfully from the nanorod powders.