Structure and morphological analysis of various composition of yttrium doped-zirconia prepared from local zircon sand

Yttrium ions, Y³⁺ were doped into ZrO₂ that was synthesized from zircon sand. Zircon sand is a side product of tin mining plant in Bangka Island, Indonesia. Solid state reaction was chosen as the method to dope yttrium ions from Y₂O₃ into ZrO₂ at various % mol of 4.5; 8 and 10. This research aims to understand the crystal structure, morphological analysis and particle size analysis. The X-ray diffraction analysis equipped with Le Bail refinement found that the prepared ZrO₂ is in two phases of the monoclinic and tetragonal structure, and the structure changed to cubic after yttrium ions doping. However, the monoclinic and tetragonal still exist. Various yttrium concentrations provide different morphology, in which 4.5 YSZ shows a blocking phase indicated as the presence of impurities. The blocking phase seems to prevent sintering and allows a line crack on the material layer. Meanwhile, 8YSZ and 10YSZ show homogeneous morphology and without provides a line crack. The mean particle size after sintering is in between 1.1 - 1.5 μm.