DLP 3D printing of scandia-stabilized zirconia ceramics

The present article aims to explore the printability of scandia-stabilized zirconia ceramic parts using desktop and low-cost DLP 3D printer. The acrylate-based homogeneous slurries with zirconia powder stabilized by 6 mol.% of Sc2O3 (6ScSZ) and 10 mol.% of Sc2O3 and 1 mol.% of Y2O3 (10Sc1YSZ) were prepared with appropriate rheological and UV-curing properties. In comparison with yttria-stabilized zirconia, slurries filled with 6ScSZ and 10Sc1YSZ powders reviled lower viscosity at the same solid content. The cure depth of the suspensions was suitable to print the objects with 50 μm of layer thickness, good interlayers connection, and surface finishing. No critical defects in ceramics such as cracks or delamination were observed. Both ceramics have the Vickers microhardness value of 11 GPa and the high ionic conductivity up to 0.2 S/сm at 900 °C demonstrating that the DLP is a promising method of fabricating scandia-stabilized zirconia parts as electrolyte material for SOFC application.