Advantages and Disadvantages of Zirconia Ceramics

As an emerging ceramic material, zirconia ceramics have the following advantages:

• High hardness, high strength, high toughness, wear resistance, impact resistance and fracture resistance;
• Low thermal conductivity, high temperature resistance, can work stably in high temperature environment;
• Good chemical inertness and corrosion resistance, not easy to react with other substances or be corroded;
• No signal shielding, smooth and beautiful appearance, comfortable hand feeling.

The application fields of zirconia ceramics are very extensive, mainly including:

• 3C electronics field, such as mobile phone casing, camera lens, etc.;
• In the field of dental restoration, such as root canal posts, all-ceramic crowns and bridges, implant abutments, etc.;
• Machinery manufacturing fields, such as cutting tools, bearings, valves, etc.;
• Energy and environmental protection fields, such as hydrogen sensors, solid oxide fuel cells, etc.

Although zirconia ceramics have many advantages, there are also some disadvantages and challenges, mainly:

• The cost is high, the preparation process is complicated, and conditions such as high temperature and high pressure are required;
• Easy to absorb water, not conducive to environmental protection, easy to be contaminated with dust and dirt;
• Low ductile transition temperature (LTTT) is high, resulting in phase transformation at low temperatures and cracks;
• Mismatch in coefficient of thermal expansion with other materials, resulting in difficulty in joining or bonding.

These shortcomings and challenges limit the wider application of zirconia ceramics. Therefore, it is necessary to further improve the performance and process of zirconia ceramics, and develop new synthesis methods and composite materials.