Growth, Characterization and Comparison of Zirconia-Graphite Ceramic Carbon Composites

The density of ZrO2 ceramic carbon composites prepared by the conservative solid sintering technique is as close to any commercially available ZrO2. The Vicker's hardness as well as modulus of the sample with 1400°C high temperatures treated, is quite high compared to the lower 1200°C HTT samples. From S1 to S6 on comparison, it is found that porosity for S6 is minimum and maximum for S1. After comparing with ceramic monolith the flexural strength and modulus shows a remarkable improvement in its value. The average grain size measured from the width of the x-ray peaks, the information highlighted by x-ray diffractogram comes from a deeper level of the lattice. The optical micrograph shows the sample was uniform except for asperities arising due to leakage of pitch while carbonizing. The rest of the micrographs help in finding the grain size as well as the extent of infiltration of pitch into the system.