Structural Stability of Hafnia-Based Materials at Ultra-High Temperature

This study assesses the structural stability at ultra-high temperature of the following selected compositions: 6.5 and 14 mol. % of RE2O3 (RE = Dy, Y, Er, Yb, and Lu) doped HfO2. Under thermal cycling and thermal shock, the structural stability was evaluated at 2400°C with water vapor flux using a specific test bench with a 3 kW CO2 laser. The cubic phase stability, which is theoretically important in the broad temperature range from 25 to 2800°C, was determined by a quantitative analysis of the X-ray diffractograms. Fully and partially stabilized HfO2, obtained respectively with 14 mol. % and 6.5 mol. % of dopants, showed different behaviors to thermal damage. Thermal expansion was measure…