Abstract:
After the previous emergence of Gd
2O
3-doped colourless high-density synthetic cubic zirconia with a relative density of 6.60, a Yb
2O
3-doped colourless high-density synthetic cubic zirconia (abbreviated as CZ) with even higher density has appeared on the market. In this study, systematic analysis was performed on the Yb
2O
3-doped colourless high-density CZ via conventional gemmological tests, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray powder diffraction, and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The results showed that the sample has a relative density of approximately 7.40, which is significantly higher than that of both conventional CZ and Gd
2O
3-doped colourless high-density CZ. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that its pattern is basically consistent with the standard diffraction pattern of cubic zirconia, confirming its cubic phase. Meanwhile, XRF and LA-ICP-MS data revealed that the mass fraction of Yb
2O
3 in the sample is as high as 50.91%-54.56%, with the corresponding chemical formulas of (Zr
0.62Yb
0.50)O
2, (Zr
0.64Yb
0.48)O
2 and (Zr
0.64Yb
0.49)O
2, respectively. The contents of the other elements are relatively low, so Yb is inferred to be the stabilizer, which differs from conventional CZ stabilized by Y
2O
3 and the high-density CZ stabilized by Gd
2O
3. It is further inferred that the high density induced by Yb
2O
3 doping mainly stems from the relatively high atomic mass of Yb. In addition, with the rapid surge in gold prices, some merchants take advantage of its high-density feature to seek profits by falsifying the weight of jewelry, which should arouse consumers' vigilance.