High-pressure structural evolution of undoped tetragonal nanocrystalline zirconia

Abstract

The structure of nanocrystallized zirconia has been investigated in the 1--40-GPa pressure range at ambient temperature. A continuous transformation towards the ideal fluorite cubic structure is observed from 8 GPa. The complete transformation seems to be achieved at 30 GPa. The compressibility of the tetragonal and cubic forms are derived and discussed.