Sintering behavior and physical properties of ZnO‐modified BaZrO ₃ ceramics

Abstract Barium zirconate (BaZrO ₃ ) ceramics possesses poor sintering properties, in order to improve its densification behavior and reduce the sintering temperature, zinc oxide (ZnO) was selected as a sintering aid in this study. The effects of ZnO content on the sintering kinetic parameters and physical properties of BaZrO ₃ ceramic samples heated at 1300–1600°C were investigated. As the addition of ZnO increased from 0 to 5 wt.%, the calculated sintering activation energy decreased from 117.3 to 19.22 kJ/mol. The change of activation energy leads to the decrease of the optimum adding amount of ZnO with the increase of heat treatment temperature, showing 1300°C (5 wt.%), 1400°C (3 wt.%), 1500°C (2 wt.%), 1600°C (1 wt.%). The 1500°C sintered sample with 2 wt.% ZnO achieved a relative density of 96.00% and a maximum cold modulus of rupture (CMOR) of 94.5 MPa.