Effect of Graphene-Oxide Addition on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Two-Stage Sintered Zirconia-Toughened Alumina (ZTA) Composites

Abstract

United Nations has estimated that 130 million people would suffer from osteoarthritis worldwide by 2050. This disease would require patients to undergo a surgery known as Total Hip Replacement (THR) which has a failure rate of approximately 1 % with a lifespan of 20 years. The biomaterials used to manufacture this total hip artroplasty are mainly made of Zirconia-Toughened Alumina. In this work, Zirconia Toughened Alumina (ZTA) composites with 10 vol% Y-TZP content were doped with small amount (0.01 to 1 wt%) of graphene oxide (GO). The GO-doped ZTA composites were produced via two-stage sintering with T1 ranging between 1400°C and 1550°C, heating rate of 20°C/min, followed by T2 of 1350°C and 12 hours holding time. The sintered ZTA samples were then evaluated on its microstructure and mechanical properties such as bulk density, Vickers hardness, Young’s modulus and fracture toughness to investigate the effect of GO addition on ZTA samples prepared via two-stage sintering. The results showed that ZTA composites containing up 0.1 wt% GO is beneficial in improving the microstructural and mechanical properties of ZTA composites prepared via two-stage sintering. The sample recorded a high hardness of up to 18.5 GPa, Young’s modulus of 406 GPa and fracture toughness of 5.8 MPam1/2 when sintered at T1 of 1450℃.