抄録
ZrO2 has been used for hip and knee joint replacements because of the excellent combination of biocompatibility, low density and corrosion resistance. However the low fracture toughness of ZrO2 ceramic limits its wide application. One of the most obvious tactics to improve the mechanical properties has been to formulate a nanostructured composite materials. Nanopowders of Ni and ZrO2 were synthesized from NiO and Zr by high energy ball milling. A highly dense nanostructured 2Ni-ZrO2 composite was consolidated by pulsed current activated sintering within 2 min under 1 GPa pressure. This process allows very quick densification to near theoretical density and prohibits grain growth in nano-structured materials. The grain sizes of Ni and ZrO2 in the composite were calculated. Finally, the average hardness and fracture toughness values of nanostructured 2Ni-ZrO2 composite was investigated.
