Optical spectroscopy, ESR spectroscopy, and standard and wavelength- and-temperature-resolved thermoluminenscence spectroscopy of as-sintered and γ-irradiated medical-grade yttrium-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (Y-TZP) material showed that the pronounced colour change, after irradiation, from off-white to a purplish-grey shade can be related to two electronic transitions at local defects in the crystal lattice. The first transition could be associated with an electron-hole state characterized by an oxygen ion trapped in the vicinity of a yttrium ion (Y'ZrO*) and can be correlated with an optical absorption band at 2.6 eV (480 nm). The second transition is presumably an extrinsic defect correlated with an optical absorption band at 3.2 eV (395 nm). From the experimental results it can be concluded that those local electronic defects responsible for the colour change on γ-irradiation do not influence safety-related mechanical or chemical properties of the ceramic femoral ball heads of hip endoprostheses produced from Y-TZP.
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Dietrich, A., Heimann, R.B. & Willmann, G. The colour of medical-grade zirconia (Y-TZP). J Mater Sci: Mater Med 7, 559–565 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00122179
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00122179