The Strength of Structural Ceramics: Zirconia

In order to enable the equipment to work in a variety of harsh environments, structural ceramics, as a new material with excellent mechanical, thermal and chemical properties, have gradually replaced similar metal products and occupied an important position in modern industry. Among them, zirconia ceramics, which has excellent mechanical and thermal properties, has become a famous strength in the field of structural ceramics.

Zirconia cylinder liner and plunger

Zirconia ceramic cylinder liner and plunger have the characteristics of wear resistance, corrosion resistance, high-temperature resistance, high strength, high hardness, long service life and high impact resistance, which are widely used in oil and gas operation equipment such as mud pump, oil pump, injection pump, and fracturing pump. Compared with metal products, its product performance has been improved by 8-10 times, which greatly improves the efficiency of oil and gas exploitation, reduces the cost of exploitation, and has good economic and social benefits.

Zirconia tubes

Sander accessories

With the wide use of new energy and nano-new materials, horizontal sand mill, vertical sand mill, mixing mills and other kinds of ultra-fine grinding equipment demand is rising. Because of its excellent performance, small wear and other advantages, zirconia ceramic accessories (including zirconia grinding media, turbine and left wheel, zirconia rods, grinding block, sieve, etc.) effectively improve the grinding efficiency of grinding equipment and reduce wear, so it is widely used in electrode materials, nanomaterials, ink, medicine, chemical industry, ceramics, and other industries.

Wear-resistant ceramic

Zirconia wear-resistant ceramics have the advantages of large hardness, high strength, good wear-resistant performance, long service life, heat shock and so on, and can withstand all kinds of tests in a harsh working environment, so it is often used for grinding and polishing materials, wear-resistant coating, pipe or equipment lining, equipment structure parts, and other fields. Common zirconia wear-resisting ceramic products are a wear-resisting cylinder, wear-resisting block, lining board, lining brick and liner, and so on, different product types and specifications can be selected according to different equipment and usage.

Yellow zirconia

The yellow zirconia is mainly used in various zirconia wire drawing wheel, wire drawing wheel, tower wheel. It has the characteristics of high strength, corrosion resistance, high wear resistance, good self-lubrication, good thermal stability, fatigue resistance, and high-cost performance.

Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) Grinding Media

Zirconia grinding media and ball

Zirconia grinding balls are prepared by isostatic pressure process with micron and sub-nano zirconia and yttrium oxide as raw materials. Due to the characteristics of extremely low grinding loss, high density, strong toughness, high hardness, high temperature resistance, acid and alkali resistance, corrosion resistance, magnetic resistance, etc., it is often used in the ultra-fine grinding and dispersion of materials requiring “zero pollution” and high viscosity and high hardness, which is common in electronic ceramics, magnetic materials, zirconia, medicine and food, pigments, dyes, inks, special chemical industries.

Stanford Advanced Materials supplies high-quality zirconia products to meet our customers’ R&D and production needs. Please visit https://www.samaterials.com/ for more information.

Applications of Zirconia in Structural And Functional Ceramics

Zirconia is a kind of inorganic nonmetallic material with high-temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance, and excellent electrical conductivity. Since the mid-1970s, developed countries have invested heavily in the research and development of zirconia products, extending the application field of zirconia to structural and functional materials. Zirconia is also one of the new high-performance materials in the national industrial policy, which is widely used in various industries.

Applications of zirconia in structural ceramics

In 1975, R.G.Garvie, Australia, prepared partially stabilized zirconia with calcium oxide as a stabilizer, and improved the toughness and strength of zirconia for the first time, which greatly expanded its application in the field of structural ceramics.

1. Zirconia ceramic bearings

Zirconia ceramic bearing has the characteristics of wear resistance, corrosion resistance, high-temperature resistance, high cold resistance, oil-free self-lubrication, resistance to magnetoelectric insulation, etc. It can be used in an extremely harsh environment and under special working conditions.

Zirconia ceramic bearings have been used in micro cooling fans, and the product life and noise stability are better than traditional ball and sliding bearing systems. Foxconn is the first company to use zirconia ceramic bearings in computer cooling fans.

2. Zirconia ceramic valve

At present, valves commonly used in various industries are made of metal materials. Due to the limitation of metal material itself, the corrosion damage of metal has a considerable impact on the working life, reliability and service life of valve wear resistance.

The working climate of the valve pipeline is very complicated. Hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and some organic acids in oil, gas, and reservoir water increase the destructive power of their surfaces, rapidly disabling them. Zirconia ceramic valve has excellent wear resistance, corrosion resistance, high-temperature resistance, and thermal shock resistance, so it is suitable for this field.

3. Zirconia abrasive material

Zirconia ball has the advantages of high hardness, low wear rate and long service life, which can greatly reduce the pollution of grinding materials and ensure the quality of products. Besides that, zirconia material has high density and strong impact energy when used as a grinding medium, which can greatly improve the grinding dispersion efficiency. Good chemical stability determines its corrosion resistance and can be used in acidic and alkaline media.

Applications of zirconia in functional ceramics

1. Zirconia ceramic knives

Zirconia ceramic knife has the characteristics of high strength, wear resistance, no rust, no oxidation, acid and alkali resistance, anti-static, and no reaction with the food. Its body is as shiny as jade, which also makes it an ideal high-tech green knife. At present, the main products on the market are zirconia ceramic knife, scissors, razor, scalpel and so on, which has become popular in Europe, America, and Japan in recent years.

zirconia ceramic knife

2. Zirconia high-temperature heating element

Zirconia is an insulating material at room temperature, its resistivity is as high as 1015 Ω cm, and it can conduct electricity when the temperature to 600 ℃. When the temperature reaches 1000℃ above, it is a good conductor and can be used as 1800℃ high-temperature heating element, with the highest operating temperature of 2400℃. At present, zirconia has been successfully used in heating elements and equipment with an oxidation atmosphere above 2000℃.

3. Zirconia bioceramics

The quality of ceramic tooth material directly affects its quality and patients’ health. The inner crown of porcelain teeth is made of different metal materials, which is easy to oxidize with saliva. Since there is no metal inner canopy, zirconia ceramic teeth have good transparency, excellent gloss, and effectively avoid tooth allergies and gum black lines.

4. Zirconia coating material

Zirconia thermal barrier ceramic coating material with a high-performance stabilizer such as yttrium oxide (Y2O3) is mainly used in high-performance turbine aero-engine. The thermal barrier coating uses ceramic insulation and corrosion resistance to protect the metal material, which can not only improve the fuel combustion efficiency but also greatly extend the life of the engine. Thermal barrier coating has important application value in aviation, aerospace, surface ships, large thermal power generation, and automobile power, etc. It is one of the most important technologies in modern national defense.

5. Zirconia oxygen sensor

Oxygen sensors are essential in the automotive industry for engines that use three-way catalytic converters to reduce pollution emissions. Currently, there are two kinds of oxygen sensors in use: titanium oxide and zirconia. Japanese scientists made a porous oxygen sensor out of zirconia, which is installed in an engine to automatically detect the ratio of oxygen to combustion gas in the engine, and automatically control the ratio of input gas and output gas, thus greatly reducing the harmful gas emissions from cars.

Stanford Advanced Materials supplies high-quality zirconia ceramic products to meet our customers’ R&D and production needs. Please visit https://www.samaterials.com for more information.