Excellent mechanical property of fast hot pressure sintering CaZr4(PO4)6 low thermal expansion ceramics

The low mechanical property of the CaZr4(PO4)6 (CZP) ceramics restrict its application prospects in area of high anti-thermal shock applications. Herein, the fast hot pressure sintering (FHP) was adopted to modify the microstructure and optimize the mechanical property of CZP ceramics for the first time. The as-fabricated CZP ceramics exhibited smaller grain size and lower stomatal rates than that of the normal-pressure sintering ce-ramics owing to the lower processing temperature and shorter insulation time. Consequently, the CZP ceramics prepared with FHP method demonstrated an unprecedented bending strength of 94.5 MPa, with the thermal expansion coefficient of the CZP ceramics remaining at a low level. This study is important for promoting the application of CZP ceramics in flood anti-thermal shock applications, the fast hot pressure sintering would trigger a new direction of improvement methods of sodium zirconium phosphate ceramics.