Yttria-stabilized cubic zirconia bicrystals with [110] symmetrical tilt grain boundaries were fabricated by using the diffusion bonding method. It was revealed that the grain-boundary atomistic structures, excess energies and solute segregation behaviours were strongly dependent upon the macroscopic geometries of the boundaries. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy, combined with lattice statics calculations, suggested that the grain-boundary structures were characterized by the accumulation of coordination-deficient cation sites at their cores. Their densities had a clear correlation with the excess energies and amounts of solute segregation. The orientation-dependence of the grain-boundary properties in cubic zirconia could therefore be understood in terms of local grain-boundary atomistic structures with characteristic mis-coordinated cation sites.

Structure, Energy and Solute Segregation Behaviour of [110] Symmetric Tilt Grain Boundaries in Yttria-Stabilized Cubic Zirconia. N.Shibata, F.Oba, T.Yamamoto, Y.Ikuhara: Philosophical Magazine, 2004, 84[23], 2381-415