Effect of oxygen partial pressure on temperature for onset of flash sintering 3YSZ

In this paper, it is demonstrated that in an oxygen-enriched environment, the oxygen partial pressure affects the onset temperature of flash sintering of 3 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia (3YSZ). Flash sintering experiments were performed with oxygen partial pressures in the range of 0.25–1 atm. The results indicate that the onset temperature increased by increasing oxygen partial pressure. According to the plots of the conductivity as a function of temperature, the oxygen partial pressure might affect the onset temperature, by changing the conductivity in the pre-flash stage. Combined to the analysis of the law of mass action, it was established that electron conduction might also represent a critical parameter during the pre-flash stage of flash sintering, excluding the oxygen vacancy conduction.