@article{Kim2026, 
author = {Sung-Hyun Kim and Sevag Momjian and Sang-Min Hong and Jong-Won Kim and Ha-Jin Gu and Young-Jae Kim and Ah-Hyeon Park and Muhammad Uzair and Pathan Sharief and Jeong-Min Park and Chung-Soo Kim and Kyung-Seok Moon and Jing Guo and Clive A. Randall and Sang-Chae Jeon},
title = {Combining multiple strategies for fast densification and superior mechanical properties in 8YSZ with cold sintering pre-treatment},
year = {2026},
journal = {Journal of Advanced Ceramics},
volume = {15},
number = {5},
pages = {9221278},
keywords = {mechanical property, densification, cold sintering, 8 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ)},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/JAC.2026.9221278},
doi = {10.26599/JAC.2026.9221278},
abstract = {The cold sintering process (CSP), which has recently attracted significant research attention, is an emerging technique that enables the densification of high-melting-point ceramics at temperatures far lower than those required for conventional sintering (CS) by utilizing solvent-assisted mechanisms. In this study, CSP is employed as a pretreatment strategy for 8 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) to modify the initial microstructural and interfacial state prior to high-temperature sintering. In parallel, Fe2O3 was introduced as a sintering aid to enhance grain-boundary diffusion during the high-temperature stage. Rather than acting as an independent densification step, CSP establishes a path-dependent initial condition that governs the subsequent densification trajectory during conventional sintering. CSP at 180 °C for 1 h under a uniaxial pressure of 200 MPa, followed by postannealing at 1200 °C for 30 min, resulted in a high relative density of 98.11% theoretical density (TD). Depending on the type of solvent, the treated samples exhibited either a high Vickers hardness (Hv = 14.99 GPa) or a high fracture toughness (KIC = 5.56 MPa·m1/2), reflecting differences in grain growth mode and crack-path geometry. Stage-resolved densification kinetics were directly monitored using laser dilatometry, enabling the identification of pressure-driven rearrangement, solvent-mediated consolidation, and thermally activated diffusion contributions. The results demonstrate that CSP pretreatment governs the particle packing topology and interfacial chemistry, while Fe2O3 addition primarily amplifies high-temperature grain-boundary diffusion. This sequential coupling establishes a mechanistic framework for path-dependent densification in CSP-assisted ceramic processing.}
}