Colored translucent zirconia sintered body, its production process and its use

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9174877-B2
Application number	US-201113883151-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 4, 2011
Priority date	Nov 11, 2010
Publication date	Nov 3, 2015
Grant date	Nov 3, 2015

Abstract

A colored translucent zirconia sintered body contains a transition metal element as a coloring agent, having a clear color tone and high transparency, and being excellent in both design properties and esthetic properties, and its production process. A colored translucent zirconia sintered body includes yttria in an amount of at least 6 mol % and at most 15 mol % and at least one member selected from the group consisting of iron, nickel, manganese, cobalt, chromium, copper and vanadium in an amount of at least 0.02 mol % and at most 0.5 mol % as calculated as oxides, and having a porosity of at most 1,000 ppm. The average crystal grain size is preferably at most 60 μm.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A colored translucent zirconia sintered body having a crystalline phase, comprising yttria in an amount of at least 6 mol % and at most 15 mol % and at least one member selected from the group consisting a iron, nickle manganese, cobalt, chromium, copper and vanadium in an amount of at least 0.02 mol % and at most 0.6 mol % as calculated as oxides, and having a porosity of at most 1,000 ppm;
wherein the crystalline phase is a cubic fluorite structure.

2. The colored translucent zirconia sintered body according to claim 1 , which has an average crystal grain size of at most 60 μm.

3. The colored translucent zirconia sintered body according to claim 1 , which contains titania in an amount of at least 3 mol % and at most 20 mol %.

4. The colored translucent zimonia sintered body according to claim 1 , which has a maximum in-line transmittance of at least 30% at a sample thickness of 1 mm at a measurement wavelength of from 300 nm to 800 nm.

5. The colored translucent zirconia sintered body according to claim 1 , which has a haze of at most 70% at a sample thickness of 1 mm.

6. A process for producing the colored translucent zirconia sintered body as defined in claim 1 , which comprises molding a zirconia powder containing at least one member selected from the group consisting of iron, nickel, manganese, cobalt, chromium, copper and vanadium, and yttria, sintering it under normal pressure, further carrying, out a hot isostatic pressing (HIP) treatment followed by annealing, wherein a primary simered body having a relative density of at least 90% and at most 99% and an average crystal grain size of at most 10 μm, is subjected to the HIP treatment.

7. The process for producing the colored translucent zirconia sintered body according to claim 6 , wherein the zirconia powder containing at least one member selected from the group consisting of iron, nickel, manganese, cobalt, chromium, copper and vanadium, and yttria, further contains titania.

8. The process for producing the colored translucent zirconia sintered body according to claim 6 , wherein the primary sintering temperature is at least 1,325° C. and at most 1,400° C., and the HIP treatment temperature is at least 1,450° C. and at most 1,650° C.

9. A member containing the colored translucent zirconia sintered body as defined in claim 1 .

10. jewelry containing the member as defined in claim 9 .

11. An exterior component containing the member as defined in claim 9 .

Assignees

• Yamauchi Shoichi
• Yamashita Isao
• Tsukuma Koji
• Tosoh Corp

Inventors

• Yamauchi Shoichi
• Yamashita Isao
• Tsukuma Koji

Classifications

• C04B2235/96

  Properties of ceramic products, e.g. mechanical properties such as strength, toughness, wear resistance · CPC title

• C04B35/486 Primary

  Fine ceramics · CPC title

• C04B2235/963

  Surface properties, e.g. surface roughness · CPC title

• C04B2235/3272

  Iron oxides or oxide forming salts thereof, e.g. hematite, magnetite · CPC title

• C04B2235/5409

  expressed by specific surface values · CPC title