Materials Science & Engineering A 723 (2018) 134–140

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Materials Science & Engineering A

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/msea

Effects of La2O3 and Nb2O5 dopants on the microstructural development and T

fracture toughness of Al2O3 ceramic
⁎
Wen He, Yunlong Ai , Bingliang Liang, Weihua Chen, Changhong Liu
School of Material Science and Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, No.696, South Fenghe Avenue, Nanchang 330063, Jiangxi, PR China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Previous research has shown that the inherently low fracture toughness of Al2O3 ceramics can be improved by in
Al2O3 composite ceramics situ growth of a small volume fraction of anisotropic grains. In this study, 7.5La2O3-5Nb2O5-87.5Al2O3 (volume
Toughening mechanism percent) composite ceramics were fabricated by microwave sintering, with the intention of tailoring alumina
In situ growth microstructural development to improve fracture toughness. The effects of sintering temperature and holding
Columnar grain
time on density and fracture toughness of the composite were investigated, and the growth and toughening
Microwave sintering
mechanisms of columnar grains were discussed. The optimal sintering conditions for La2O3/Nb2O5 doped Al2O3
ceramics occurred at 1500 °C for 30 min, which is at least 100 °C lower than that of dense Al2O3. The phases
present in the 7.5La2O3-5Nb2O5-87.5Al2O3 included in situ columnar grains of α-Al2O3 and LaAl11O18, and
equiaxed grains of monoclinic LaNbO4. It is shown that a liquid phase induced the growth of columnar grains.
The fracture toughness of the 7.5La2O3-5Nb2O5-87.5Al2O3 composite ceramic was improved by 116% compared
with that of Al2O3, due to the anisotropic grain growth that enabled toughening mechanisms such as grain pull-
out, crack deflection, crack branching, crack bridging, and domain switching.

1. Introduction out, crack bridging, and crack deflection can toughen an alumina with
AGG [11–14]. In the literature, AGG of Al2O3 ceramics has been ob-
Alumina is one of the most widely used ceramics because its raw served by introducing the dopants such as TiO2 [15], TiO2-MgO [16],
materials are abundant and cost-effective, and its properties include CaF2 [12], Cr2O3 [17], Na2O-MgO [18], TiO2-SiO2 [19], La2O3 [20–22],
high hardness, excellent wear and corrosion resistance, high thermal and Nb2O5 [23]. In other case, AGG of Al2O3 ceramics was observed
resistance, and excellent thermal and electrical insulation [1]. How- when seed crystals such as α-Al2O3 abrasive powder [24,25], Al na-
ever, its low fracture toughness (KIC ~ 3.0 MPa m1/2) [2] restricts its use noparticles [26], and α-Fe2O3 [27] were introduced prior to firing. Note
in many applications. Much effort has been devoted in order to enhance that in these prior studies, only single additions of Nb2O5, La2O3 or
the toughness of Al2O3. One of the more common methods is to add a other oxides or fluorides formed AGG in Al2O3 ceramics. The only
second reinforcing phase such as particles, whiskers, or fibers to the published studies on the combined addition of La2O3 and Nb2O5 to
Al2O3 matrix [3–6]. However, this processing presents some dis- Al2O3 ceramics have been reported by our team [28].
advantages, including complex preparation steps, high costs, difficultly In order to promote the in situ growth of columnar grains and to
to obtain a uniform dispersion of the second phase, and potential health create a domain structure (LaNbO4) that results in improved fracture
hazards associated with the dispersion of whiskers and fibers. toughness values, Al2O3 ceramics were doped with 7.5La2O3 + 5Nb2O5
Faber and Evans predicted that an Al2O3 matrix containing more (volume percent) and densified in a microwave sintering technique in
than 10vol% columnar grains or 20 vol% platy grains would have a this study. The effects of sintering temperature and holding time on the
greatly enhanced fracture toughness [7]. In recent years, additives or density, microstructure, and fracture toughness of 7.5La2O3-5Nb2O5-
seed crystals in Al2O3 ceramics have been used to induce growth of 87.5Al2O3 ceramics (abbreviated to 7.5L5N) were investigated.
columnar Al2O3 grains, thereby resulting in in situ toughening [8,9].
These columnar grains, also described as anisotropic grain growth 2. Experimental procedure
(AGG), develop an interlocking microstructure which results in in situ
toughening [10]. The columnar grains act much the same as whiskers Commercially available α-Al2O3 powders (LeiPu Ceramic Material Co.
and fibers in the matrix, and toughening mechanisms such as grain pull- Ltd., Shandong, China) with a purity of 99.6 wt% α-Al2O3 and a mean

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (Y. Ai).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2018.03.057
Received 8 February 2018; Received in revised form 13 March 2018; Accepted 14 March 2018
Available online 15 March 2018
0921-5093/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
W. He et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 723 (2018) 134–140

isostatically pressed at 200 MPa and then calcined in a muffle furnace at

600 °C for 3 h to eliminate the organic binder. The green compacts were
sintered at various temperatures between 1450 °C and 1550 °C for times up
to 60 min using a 2.45 GHz multimode microwave sintering furnace (MW-
L0316V, shown in Fig. 1) in an air atmosphere.
The densities of the sintered specimens were measured by the
Archimedes method. The phase compositions were identified using an X-ray
diffractometer (XRD, D8ADVANCE, Bruker-AXS) with Cu-Kα radiation. The
microstructural and elemental analyses were carried out on as-heated speci-
mens using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM, Nova
NanoSEM450, FEI) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS, INCA Energy
250 X-max 50, Oxford Instruments), respectively. The crystal structure was
characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM,
Tecnai™ G2 F30, FEI). Using GB/T 23806-2009 standards, fracture toughness
(KIC) was measured by a single edge precracked beam (SEPB) method using a
universal testing machine (WDW-50, Jinan Times Instrument Co. LTD.,
Fig. 1. MW-L0316V microwave sintering furnace. China). After the samples were ground and polished to remove microcracks
and defects in the surface layers, the final specimen was a rectangular bar of
2 mm × 4 mm× 36 mm, with edges ground to R0.5 mm. The span and
crosshead speed for fracture toughness tests were 30 mm and 0.5 mm/min,
respectively. In each test, the maximum load prior to fracture was recorded
for the calculation of KIC.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Phase composition of the 7.5L5N composite ceramics

The XRD patterns of the 7.5L5N composite powder and dense

ceramics sintered at 1500 °C for 30 min are shown in Fig. 2. The dif-
fraction spectrum of the fired 7.5L5N composite ceramic (Fig. 2b) was
composed of α-Al2O3, monoclinic LaNbO4 and LaAl11O18, but there
were no peaks associated with La2O3 and Nb2O5. We deduced that
Nb2O5 reacted with La2O3 to form LaNbO4 at ~ 1000 °C during the
sintering process [29], and then the surplus La2O3 reacted with Al2O3 to
form LaAl11O18 according to the following reactions [30]:
Fig. 2. XRD patterns of the 7.5L5N composite powder (a) and ceramics (b) sintered at
La2O3 + Nb2O5 → 2LaNbO4 (1)
1500 °C for 30 min.
La2O3 + 11Al2O3 → 2LaAl11O18 (2)
particle diameter of ~ 5 µm was used as the matrix raw material and La2O3
and Nb2O5 (99.99 wt%, Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co. Ltd., Shanghai,
3.2. Effect of microwave sintering process on the 7.5L5N composite
China) were used as the dopant raw materials. Starting powders with a
ceramics
composition of 7.5La2O3-5Nb2O5-87.5Al2O3 and 5 wt% polyvinyl alcohol
(PVA) were ball milled together in a corundum jar with corundum ball mill
The effects of microwave sintering temperature and holding time on
media for 12 h in ethyl alcohol. After drying, the mixed powders were
the relative density and fracture toughness of the 7.5L5N composite
pressed into pellets or bars at 100 MPa. Next, the pellets and bars were cold
ceramic are presented in Fig. 3. With the increase of sintering

Fig. 3. Influence of sintering process on relative density and fracture toughness of 7.5L5N composite ceramics: (a) density as a function of temperature at a constant sintering time of
30 min (b) density as a function of holding time at a constant sintering temperature of 1500 °C.

135
W. He et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 723 (2018) 134–140

Fig. 4. SEM images of the 7.5L5N composite ceramics sintered at different temperature for 30 min (a) 1450 °C, (b) 1475 °C, (c) 1500 °C, (d) 1550 °C.

temperature, the relative density and fracture toughness both increased developed grains and few pores in the sample, and the density at
at first, then reached maximum values, and finally decreased (Fig. 3a). 1500 °C was not sensitive to holding time (Fig. 3b). More micro-
At 1500 °C, the relative density and fracture toughness had the highest structural details will be discussed in the microstructural analysis pre-
values of 99.3% and 6.49 MPa m1/2, respectively, and this optimum sented in the next section. As the sintering temperature increased above
sintering temperature for 7.5L5N composite ceramic was at least 100 °C 1500 °C, the density of sintered samples decreased slightly, likely due to
lower than that of a pure Al2O3 ceramic (> 1600 °C) [31,32]. Possible grain growth. Therefore, we concluded that the optimal microwave
reasons for this improved density at lower sintering temperatures may sintering process for 7.5L5N composite ceramics was 1500 °C for
be the use of a microwave sintering process and the existence of a liquid 30 min.
phase from the La and Nb oxides during the sintering process [33].
When holding times were extended from 30 min to 60 min at 3.3. In-situ growth of columnar grains
1500 °C, the relative density increased slightly, but the fracture
toughness decreased slightly (Fig. 3b). Because no further improve- Fig. 4 shows SEM images of the 7.5L5N composites sintered at dif-
ments in fracture toughness and density were made with additional ferent temperatures for 30 min. The phases in the 7.5L5N composites
time at temperature, the optimum sintering conditions for this study were identified by combining the results of XRD shown in Fig. 2b and
were 1500 °C for 30 min. Comparing Fig. 3a and b, the sintering tem- EDS shown in Fig. 5 which indicate the presence of Al2O3, LaAl11O18
perature appeared to have more effect than holding time on the density and monoclinic LaNbO4 (marked by points B, D, C in Fig. 5a, respec-
of sintered samples. tively). These three phases were also specified in Fig. 4c (the lower
When the temperature was low (1450 °C), the microstructure was magnification of Fig. 5a). In the SEM micrographs, black grains were
not fully developed (93.2% of theoretical density) and it contained a Al2O3, gray grains were LaAl11O18, and white grains were LaNbO4. In
significant amount of closed porosity. With the increase of temperature some cases, the black Al2O3 grains grew into columnar grains, while the
from 1450 °C to 1475 °C or 1500 °C, a liquid phase contributed to well- gray LaAl11O18 grains were both platy and columnar. The white

136
W. He et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 723 (2018) 134–140

Fig. 5. EDS results of the 7.5L5N composite ceramics sintered at 1500 °C for 30 min.

LaNbO4 appeared to be distributed on the grain boundaries of Al2O3 TEM images and electron diffraction patterns of the 7.5L5N com-
and LaAl11O18. posites are shown in Fig. 6. A particularly large anisotropic Al2O3 grain,
High purity alumina typically does not exhibit AGG. Adding dopants a smaller columnar LaAl11O18 grain, and a monoclinic LaNbO4 phase
to alumina can generate AGG by means of introducing a liquid phase exhibiting domain structure and ferroelasticity were detected in Fig. 6a.
during sintering, by solute drag, by adsorption on grain boundary dis- The selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns of the columnar
locations, etc., but presence of a liquid phase is often the most common LaAl11O18 and the monoclinic LaNbO4 grains are shown in Fig. 6b and
mechanism for AGG [15–19]. The distribution of white LaNbO4 on the Fig. 6c, respectively. The LaAl11O18 protruded into the grain boundary
grain boundaries of columnar grains in the long axis direction suggests between two LaNbO4 grains, which further illustrates the in situ growth
that LaNbO4 plays a role in the columnar growth of Al2O3 and of columnar grains. Theoretically, when liquid phase LaNbO4 wets the
LaAl11O18 during the sintering process. The sample sintered at 1450 °C surface of an Al2O3 or LaAl11O18
had a few columnar grains (Fig. 4a), which suggests that a liquid phase grain, the surface energy decreases and allows to in situ growth of
was generated at this temperature. The reported melting point of columnar grains. This mechanism was evident in Fig. 6d, where a liquid
LaNbO4 is 1670 °C ± 20 °C [34], but this work demonstrated that mi- phase of LaNbO4 likely migrated to the grain boundaries, resulting in
crowave sintering decreased the sintering temperature by about 200 °C, several Al2O3 columnar grains.
most likely because the thermal vibration between the molecules was
intensified. As the temperature in our study was increased (1475 °C or
3.4. Toughening mechanism of 7.5L5N composite ceramics
1500 °C), there
was more liquid phase available to promote a greater number of
Our measured values for fracture toughness at room temperature
columnar grains (Fig. 4b and c). When the temperature was increased to
were higher (Fig. 2) than previously reported values for Al2O3 com-
1550 °C, some grains coarsened and the grains became more equiaxed,
posites [35], and our highest fracture toughness was 116% greater than
probably due to the excessive liquid phase (Fig. 4d).
that of pure, dense Al2O3 [2]. This improvement in fracture toughness is

137
W. He et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 723 (2018) 134–140

Fig. 6. TEM images and electron diffraction patterns of the 7.5L5N composite ceramics.

attributed to the in-situ growth of the columnar grains of Al2O3 and to mechanical stress [36]. Tsunekawa and Takei directly confirmed
LaAl11O18. Fig. 7 shows SEM images of the crack propagation paths in domain switching of LaNbO4 by measurements for hysteresis in its
the 7.5L5N composites sintered at 1450 °C for 60 min. When the cracks stress-strain curves [37]. It is likely that LaNbO4 may release the stress
encountered columnar grains within the matrix, their propagation concentration ahead of a crack tip via domain switching, resulting in
paths were changed, likely due to typical toughening mechanisms of improved fracture toughness. Domain switching in ceramic has also
grain pull-out (Fig. 7a), crack deflection (Fig. 7a and b), crack reported in other studies [38,39].
branching (Fig. 7b) and crack bridging (Fig. 7c). It is important to mention that there were likely multiple tough-
Besides toughening mechanisms that are related to the elongation of ening mechanisms occurring simultaneously in these 7.5L5N compo-
crack path, domain structure switching of ferroelastic LaNbO4 grains sites, including grain pull-out, crack deflection, crack branching, crack
may also have an impact on improved fracture toughness in 7.5L5N bridging and domain structure switching. Each of these toughening
composite ceramics. The domain structure of ferroelastic LaNbO4 grains mechanisms may not have significantly enhanced toughening alone,
in the 7.5L5N composites sintered at 1475 °C and then immediately but synergistically toughened the composite by their interactions with
cooled is presented in Fig. 8. In this image, the domain appeared as a each other.
flat sheet arranged in parallel at equal widths, where the domain widths
ranged from 18.5 nm to 27 nm, depending on the orientation of the 4. Conclusions
grain with respect to the image. A ferroelastic crystal has two or more
states (orientations) in the condition without mechanical stress and can We fabricated 7.5La2O3-5Nb2O5-87.5Al2O3 composite ceramics by
be transformed from one to another of these states when it is submitted microwave sintering at 1450–1550 °C for hold times up to 60 min, and

138
W. He et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 723 (2018) 134–140

Fig. 7. SEM images of the crack propagation paths in the 7.5L5N composite ceramics (1450 °C, 60 min).

Fig. 8. Domain structure of LaNbO4 in the 7.5L5N composite ceramics heated to 1475 °C and immediately cooled.

the optimal microwave sintering conditions were 1500 °C for 30 min. sintering process, LaNbO4 and the columnar grains of Al2O3 and
The microwave sintering temperature of our Al2O3 ceramics doped with LaAl11O18 were formed in situ. TEM, SEM, and EDS results indicated
La2O3/Nb2O5 was at least 100 °C lower than sintering temperatures for that a liquid phase was responsible for in situ growth of columnar
pure Al2O3 ceramics. The phases present in the 7.5L5N composite grains. The fracture toughness of the composite ceramics was 116%
ceramics consisted of α-Al2O3, LaNbO4, and LaAl11O18. During the higher than the fracture toughness of pure Al2O3 ceramic due to the

139
W. He et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 723 (2018) 134–140

toughening mechanisms of grain pull-out, crack deflection, crack Sci. Eng. 19 (1995) 169–178.
branching, crack bridging and domain structure switching. [16] X. Wang, P.L. Wang, Y.B. Cheng, Effect of TiO2 and MgO additions on micro-
structures of Al2O3, J. Inorg. Mater. 16 (2001) 979–984.
[17] D.H. Riu, Y.M. Kong, H.E. Kim, Effect of Cr2O3 addition on micro-structural evo-
Acknowledgements lution and mechanical properties of Al2O3, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 20 (2000)
1475–1481.
[18] C.Z. Kuang, G.F. Deng, J.Z. Kuang, Study on self-toughened Al2O3 ceramics with
This work is financially supported by the National Natural Science Na2O- MgO additives, J. S. Inst. Metall. 25 (2004) 16–20.
Foundation of China (Grant No.51064022), Aeronautical Science [19] Y.M. Kim, S.H. Hong, D.Y. Kim, Anisotropic abnormal grain growth in TiO2/SiO2
Foundation of China (Grant No.2010ZF56020) and the Jiangxi doped alumina, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 83 (2000) 2809–2812.
[20] F.L. Qian, Z.P. Xie, J.L. Sun, F. Wang, Effect of La2O3 addition on microstructure
Provincial Department of Education Science and Technology Project and microwave dielectric properties of Al2O3 ceramics, J. Chin. Ceram. Soc. 40
(DB201601012, DA201701375). The authors gratefully acknowledge (2012) 1708–1712.
the Instrumental Analysis Centre of Northwestern Polytechnical [21] W.H. Wang, X.Y. Li, T. Qiu, Effect of La2O3 on properties of Al2O3materials by hot-
pressing sintering, Acta Mater. Compos, Acta Mater. Compos. Sin. ( Chin.) 28
University for the TEM experimental assistance.
(2011) 145–149.
[22] Y.J. Yao, T. Qiu, B.X. Jiao, C.Y. Shen, Effect of Y2O3, La2O3, Sm2O3 on behaviors of
References alumina ceramics, J. Chin. Rare Earth Soc. 23 (2005) 158–161.
[23] H. Yamamoto, S. IiO, Effects of in-situ formed platelet-like grains on mechanical
properties of alumina, Ceram. Mater. Compos. Struct. 20 (1989) 29–39.
[1] R.G. Munro, Evaluated material properties for a sintered α-alumina, J. Am. Ceram. [24] Y.I. Yoshizawa, F. Saito, Low temperature sintering of α-Al2O3 with the aid of
Soc. 80 (1997) 1919–1928. abrasive powder in wet grinding, Adv. Powder Technol. 8 (1997) 163–173.
[2] W. Acchar, A.M. Segadães, Properties of sintered alumina reinforced with niobium [25] Z.P. Xie, L.C. Gao, W.C. Li, Growth rule of seeds abduction elongated grains and
carbide, Int. J. Refract. Met. Hard Mater. 27 (2009) 427–430. high fracture toughness alumina ceramics, Sci. China Ser. E 33 (2003) 11–18.
[3] X.M. Wang, P.Q. La, B.J. Wang, G.L. Yang, Toughening effect of ZrB2 in Al2O3-ZrB2 [26] X.N. Zhang, Z.P. Xie, L.H. Xu, W.Y. Yang, In situ growth of elongated Al2O3 grains
nanocomposite ceramics, Rare Metal. Mater. Eng. 45 (2016) 1714–1718. induced by Al nanoparticles, Mater. Des. 30 (2009) 4507–4510.
[4] D. Trejo-Arroyo, J. Zárate-Medina, J.M. Alvarado-Orozco, M.E. Contreras-Garcia, [27] J. Tartaj, G.L. Messing, Anisotropic grain growth in α-Fe2O3-doped alumina, J. Eur.
M.S. Boldrick, J. Muñoz-Saldaña, Microstructure and mechanical properties of Ceram. Soc. 17 (1997) 719–725.
Al2O3-YSZ spherical polycrystalline composites, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 33 (2013) [28] Y.L. Ai, K. Wu, B.L. Liang, C.H. Liu, W. He, W.H. Chen, F. He, Mechanical properties
1907–1916. of La2O3 and Nb2O5 doped Al2O3 ceramics prepared by microwave sintering, J.
[5] M. Backhaus-Ricoult, P. Eveno, Creep properties of an alumina-zirconia composite Ceram. Soc. Jpn. 122 (2014) 166–170.
reinforced with silicon carbide whiskers, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 11 (1993) 51–62. [29] J. Li, C.M. Wayman, Monoclinic-to-tetragonal phase transformation in a ceramic
[6] X.Y. Qu, F.C. Wang, C.S. Shi, N.Q. Zhao, E.Z. Liu, C.N. He, F. He, In situ synthesis of rare-earth orthoniobate LaNbO4, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 80 (1997) 803–806.
a gamma-Al2O3 whisker reinforced aluminium matrix composite by cold pressing [30] M.V. Bukhtiyarova, A.S. Ivanov, L.M. Plyasova, G.S. Litvak, A.A. Budneva,
and sintering, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 709 (2018) 223–231. E.A. Paukshtis, Structure and acid-base properties of hexaaluminates, React. Kinet.
[7] K.T. Faber, A.G. Evans, Crack deflection processes-1 theory, Acta Metall. 31 (1983) Catal. Lett. 93 (2008) 375–387.
565–576. [31] J.P. Cheng, D. Agrawal, Y.J. Zhang, R. Roy, Microwave sintering of transparent
[8] H. Song, R.L. Coble, Origin and growth kinetics of platelike abnormal grains in alumina, Mater. Lett. 56 (2002) 587–592.
liquid-phase-sintered alumina, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 73 (1990) 2077–2085. [32] W. He, Study on Microwave Sintering Technology and Properties of ZrO2(n)-Al2O3
[9] J.H. Ahn, J.H. Lee, S.H. Hong, N.M. Hwang, Effect of the liquid-forming additive Composite Ceramics, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang, 2009, pp. 40–41.
content on the kinetics of abnormal grain growth in alumina, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 86 [33] Y.F. Hsu, Influence of Nb2O5 additive on the densification and microstructural
(2003) 1421–1423. evolution of fine alumina powders, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 399 (2005) 232–237.
[10] Z.J. Shen, Z. Zhao, H. Peng, M. Nygren, Formation of tough interlocking micro- [34] H. Takei, S. Tsunekawa, Growth and properties of LaNbO4 and NdNbO4 single
structures in silicon nitride ceramics by dynamic ripening, Nature 417 (2002) crystals, J. Cryst. Growth 38 (1977) 55–60.
266–269. [35] P.L. Chen, I.W. Chen, In-situ alumina/aluminate platelet composites, J. Am. Ceram.
[11] A. Altay, M.A. Gulgun, Origin and growth kinetics of plate-like abnormal grains in Soc. 75 (1992) 2610–2612.
liquid-phase sintered alumina, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 86 (2003) 623–629. [36] P. Sarin, R.W. Hughes, D.R. Lowry, Z.D. Apostolov, W.M. Kriven, High-temperature
[12] J.F. Tong, D.M. Chen, B.W. Li, X.G. Liu, The preparation and properties of high properties and ferroelastic phase transitions in rare-earth niobates (LnNbO4), J. Am.
fracture toughness alumina ceramics with elongated grains in situ, Vac. Electron. 4 Ceram. Soc. 97 (2014) 3307–3319.
(2005) 15–18. [37] S. Tsunekawa, H. Takei, Domain switching behavior of ferroelastic LaNbO4 and
[13] S.F. Rong, Z.S. Ji, Y.C. Zhu, J.Q. Zhang, Effect of rod-like grain on properties and NdNbO4, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 40 (1976) 1523–1524.
toughening mechanism of 3Y-TZP/A12O3 ceramics, Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. [38] H. Horiuchi, T. Kobayashi, A.J. Schultz, Time-of-flight pulsed neutron diffraction
China 18 (2008) 388–392. study on uniaxial stress-induced domain switching in LaNbO4, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 30
[14] Y. Chen, Y. Zhang, T.Y. Wan, Z.B. Yin, J.A. Wang, Mechanical properties and (1991) 2035–2039.
toughening mechanisms of graphene platelets reinforced Al2O3/TiC composite [39] J. Li, C.M. Wayman, Domain boundary and domain switching in a ceramic rare-
ceramic tool materials by microwave sintering, Mater. Sci. Eng. A (2017) 190–196. earth orthoniobate LaNbO4, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 79 (1996) 1642–1648.
[15] D.S. Horn, G.L. Messing, Anisotropic grain growth in TiO2-doped alumina, J. Mater.

140