Shape memory zirconia foams through ice templating

Abstract

Ceria doped zirconia has been shown to exhibit enhanced shape memory properties in small volume structures such as particles and micropillars. Here those properties are translated into macroscopic materials through the fabrication of zirconia foams by ice templating. Directional freezing is used to produce foams with micron-sized pores and struts that can locally take advantage of the shape memory effect due to their fine scale. The foams are subjected to thermal cycling and x-ray diffraction analysis to evaluate the martensitic transformation that underlies shape memory properties, and are found to survive the transformation through multiple cycles. Keywords: Freeze casting; Foams; Shape memory effect; Martensitic phase transformation