Abstract
A study of defects behavior in pressure-compacted yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) nanopowders with different contents of Y2O3 and ceramics obtained by sintering the YZS nanopowders was performed. Positron annihilation techniques were involved in this study as the principal tools.
Theoretical calculations have indicated that the zirconium vacancies are the only deep positron traps in these materials. In the compacted YSZ nanopowders, a majority of positrons is trapped either in the vacancy-like defects situated along grain boundaries or in vacancy clusters at intersections of grain boundaries.
The intensity ratio was found to be correlated with the mean grain size. A significant grain growth during sintering of the YSZ nanopowders above 1000 °C was observed.