Zircon‐Zirconia Ceramics Prepared from Plasma Dissociated Zircon

Abstract
A ceramic consisting of a dispersion of ZrO2 particles (∼25%) in zircon was prepared by sintering partially leached plasma dissociated zircon. ZrO2 particles smaller than ∼150 nm were tetragonal inform; larger particles were monoclinic. The large increase in proportions of tetragonal ZrO2 after sintering may be ascribed partly to a reduction in particle size by reaction to form zircon, and partly to a matrix effect on the tetragonal to monoclinic transformation.