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arXiv · 2606.12860

Leveraging rapid sintering to retain metastable zirconia in copper

Wangshu Zheng·Xi Chen·Xuyang Feng·Aiji Zou·Andrew Yun Ru Ng·Xiaoqing Wang·Zhili Dong·Qiang Guo·Chee Lip Gan
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Abstract

Cermets combining metastable ceramics and ductile metals promise superior toughness and strength. However, retaining metastability often requires high-temperature sintering that coarsens microstructures and relaxes matrix constraint. Here we introduce an ultrafast high-temperature sintering (UHS) strategy to overcome this trade-off in zirconia-copper cermets. By applying Joule heating at around 100 degrees C per second to 900 degrees C with only a 20 second hold, we obtained cermets containing up to 50 weight percent of metastable austenite in zirconia at room temperature within a fine-grained and homogeneous microstructure. The rapid sintering kinetically favors semi-thermal austenite formation while suppressing copper grain growth and matrix relaxation, thereby stabilizing the high-temperature phase and simultaneously preserving microstructural refinement. This approach offers significant potential for copper-based composites in applications such as transformation toughening, self-healing, and crack detection.

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Wangshu Zheng, Xi Chen, Xuyang Feng, Aiji Zou, Andrew Yun Ru Ng, Xiaoqing Wang, Zhili Dong, Qiang Guo, Chee Lip Gan. 2026-06-11. Leveraging rapid sintering to retain metastable zirconia in copper. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.12860

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