Development of a ceramic zirconia composite with addition of nanoparticles

Abstract

Ceramic materials are widely used as biomaterials, with application in different biological fields (medicine, odontology, farmaceutics) and several projects and research are developed to find different application for ceramics as biomaterials. Zirconia (ZrO2) became an extensively used ceramic mainly for dental implants and prosthesis, as zirconia has high hardness, great wear resistance, biocompability and, mainly, high fracture toughness when compared to other ceramics, being even called 'ceramic steel'. Even with these great characteristics, researcher look for changes in zirconia properties, to enhance even more its fracture toughness, adding different components on its ceramic matrix. This Project aims to enhance zirconia fracture toughness creating a ceramic based composite material adding carbon nanotubes on its matrix. The addition of nanocomponents to a zirconia matrix has shown promising results in different researches and the nanotubes behavior acting as crack control mechanisms, retarding and blocking crack propagation is important to enhance zirconia toughness. Using conventional sintering methods and understanding the composite fabrication process, the main objective is to study carbon nanotubes influence on a zirconia matrix and how they affect its mechanical properties, checking the composite quality and performance when compared to pure commercial zirconia. Evaluating mechanical properties with tests and advanced microscopy techniques, this Project aims to study and understand the difficulties on producing a ceramic based composite and optimize the process of carbon nanotubes addition to ceramic matrices. (AU)