Study of the Sintering Dental Ceramic Waste from ZrO2-Y2O3 System

During processing of zirconia blocks, where they are used for different dental implants type, most of the loosed material as a powder is subsequently discarded. Besides damage to the environment, waste of material results in financial losses, resulting in higher final cost of treatment. The yttria stabilized zirconia (Y-TZP) has a variety of applications due to it is combination of high strength and fracture toughness. The objective was to reuse zirconia waste analyzing the effects of sintering temperature. The starting materials used in this study were two different powders of ceramic system ZrO3-Y2O3: commercial zirconia nanoparticle and microparticle zirconia waste. The raw material was shaped by uniaxial and isostatic pressing and then sintered at 1500, 1550 and 1600 ° C over 1 hour. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and dilatometry were used to powder characterization. After sintering density / porosity, flexural strength, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were realized .The waste showed similar values of density, and grain size to commercial material studied, confirming that it can be reused.