Morphology and Composition of Nanocrystalline Stabilized Zirconia using Sem-Eds System

Bismuth oxide of known mole percentages has been incorporated into zirconia matrix via co-precipitation method. The co-precipitated powders containing mixed oxides of bismuth and zirconium are dried and calcined in air at 200°C and 800°C respectively to obtain nanosized-stabilized zirconia. The microstructures and the composition of the nanosized-stabilized zirconia are investigated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) at a low accelerating voltage of 5kV. The results revealed that the powders are homogenously sintered with particle size having typical dimensions in the range of ~1.0-255μm. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic (EDS) analysis of the solid solutions confirm a predominance in the concentration of bismuth and zirconium while sodium, chlorine, and oxygen are present in minor concentration. The quantitative analytic results from EDS were used to determine Zr/Bi ratio.