The electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is recognized as the most versatile technique for processing particulate materials, due to low cost, deposition in minutes and forming of pieces with complex geometry shapes. In this work an experimental setup for the simultaneous conformation of 16 ceramic tubes by EPD was built. Bimodal submicron yttria-stabilized zirconia particles were deposited into graphite electrodes, after suitably adjusting the rheological characteristics of the suspension in isopropanol. After graphite burning and YSZ sintering at 1500 °C, the ceramic tubes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning probe microscope, impedance spectroscopy and electrical response as a function of oxygen content. Small dense one end-closed ceramic tubes, fully stabilized in the cubic phase, were successfully obtained by the EPD technique, showing the ability of that technique for processing large quantities of tubular solid electrolytes with electrical response to different amounts of oxygen according to the Nernst law.
electrophoretic deposition; yttria-stabilized zirconia; oxygen sensor
