Abstract
PSZ powders were fully densified by microwave heating a microwave oven for cooking. The pressed powder compacts of PSZ were sandwiched between two ZMA ceramic plates acting as preheaters and put in the oven. The PSZ pellet pre-heated by the ZMA ceramics more easily absorbed the miorowave energy and self-heated to a higher temperature. PSZ ceramics fabricated with a microwave oven for 16min exhibited a density of 6.04g/cm3, which is approximately equal to the density of materials sintered at 1450°C for 4h or at 1500°C for 16min by the conventional furnace method. The enhancement of the grain growth was observed in the materials sintered by microwave oven.
