Features of the Electrophoretic Formation of Bulk Compacts Based on Zirconium Oxide Nanopowder

Abstract

The possibility of forming bulk compacts via electrophoretic deposition (EPD) using a nanopowder based on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is considered. Features of the kinetics of mass growth and changes in cell resistance and the morphology of the sediment during a long deposition time are studied using different geometries of the counter electrode of the EPD cell (flat and conical). EPD is performed with a stepwise increase in electric field strength. It is found that the shape of the counter electrode does not appreciably affect either the kinetics of changes in current or the growth of cell resistance, or the fraction of the solid phase in the wet compact in a suspension with sufficiently low conductivity (similar to 22.2 mu S/m). Slight increases of 8-10% in the mass of wet and dry compacts and 10.5% in the electric current are observed when a conical form of the counter electrode is used instead of a flat one. Numerical modeling is done in a two-dimensional approximation, allowing determination of the effect the counter electrode's geometry has on the local distribution of the electric potential and current density near the electrode.