Effect of light attenuation on curing performance of ZrO2 ceramic for stereolithography

The attenuation coefficient of ultraviolet UV light is a critical factor influencing the mechanical properties of photocurable ceramics. Aiming to fabricate high-precision and high-performance ZrO2 ceramics, this study systematically investigates the impact of the UV attenuation coefficient on the polymerization kinetics of ZrO2 ceramic slurries. Through linear fitting, the absorption and scattering coefficients of the ZrO2 slurry were determined as 66 cm−1. By integrating the Beer-Lambert law, we further validated how the UV attenuation coefficient affects the variation in C=C double bond conversion within the cured slurry layers. Additionally, based on Mie scattering theory, although the incident energy was 52 mW cm−2 and slice thickness was 50 μm, the curing depth Cd and exposure energy In{E}_{o} is optimal. The ZrO2 ceramic was formed , in which the sintered sample density was 6.02 g cm−3 (99%).