Effect of calcination on minimally processed recycled zirconia powder derived from milling waste.

Objective: To assess the influence of calcination process on the properties of minimally processed recycled 3Y-TZP, and to compare it with its commercial counterpart.

Methods: Non-milled 3Y-TZP waste was collected, fragmented and ball-milled to a granulometric < 5 µm. Half of the recycled powder was calcined at 900 °C. Recycled 3Y-TZP disks were uniaxially pressed and sintered to create two recycled groups: 1) Calcined and 2) Non-calcined to be compared with a commercial CAD/CAM milled 3Y-TZP. The microstructure of experimental groups was assessed through density (n = 6), scanning electron microscopy (n = 3) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (n = 3); and the crystalline content was evaluated through X-ray diffraction (XRD) (n = 3). Optical and mechanical properties were investigated through reflectance tests (n = 10), and Vickers hardness, fracture toughness (n = 5), and biaxial flexural strength tests (n = 16), respectively. Fractographic analysis was performed to identify fracture origin and crack propagation. Statistical analyses were performed through ANOVA followed by Tukey´s test, and by Weibull statistics.

Results: Particle size distribution of recycled powder revealed an average diameter of ∼1.60 µm. The relative density of all experimental groups was > 98.15 % and XRD analysis exhibited a predominance of tetragonal-phase in both recycled groups, which were similar to the crystallographic pattern of the control group. Cross-section micrographs presented flaws on the non-calcined group, and a more homogeneous microstructure for the calcined and commercial groups. Commercial samples showed lower contrast-ratio and higher translucency-parameter than the recycled groups, where non-calcined presented higher translucency-parameter and lower contrast-ratio than its calcined counterpart. The commercial group presented higher fracture toughness and characteristic strength than the recycled groups. Moreover, the calcined group exhibited higher hardness, characteristic strength, and probability of survival at higher loads than the non-calcined group. Fractographic analysis depicted the presence of microstructural flaws in the non-calcined group, which may have acted as stress-raisers and led to failures at lower flexural strengths values.

Significance: The calcination process improved the microstructure, optical, and mechanical properties of the recycled 3Y-TZP.