Nanostructured Ceramic Oxides with a Slow Crack Growth Resistance Close to Covalent Materials

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that nanostructuring ceramic oxides significantly enhances their resistance to slow crack growth, achieving levels comparable to covalent ceramics, which is promising for long-term applications like implants.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel nanostructuration method that markedly improves the crack resistance of ceramic oxides, approaching the performance of covalent ceramics.

Findings

Nanostructured oxides exhibit crack growth resistance close to covalent ceramics.

Water adsorption effects at crack tips are mitigated by nanostructuring.

Enhanced durability for long-term applications like orthopaedic implants.

Abstract

Oxide ceramics are sensitive to slow crack growth because adsorption of water can take place at the crack tip, leading to a strong decrease of the surface energy in humid (or air) conditions. This is a major drawback concerning demanding, long-term applications such as orthopaedic implants. Here we show that a specific nanostructuration of ceramic oxides can lead to a crack resistance never reached before, similar to that of covalent ceramics.