Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of the Australian Ceramic Society, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
This study investigates the surface properties of zirconia fabricated via nano particle jetting (NPJ), a material jetting–based additive manufacturing (AM) technique, and compares them to conventionally milled (CM) zirconia following plasma surface treatment. AM zirconia discs were produced using a 3 mol% yttria-stabilized ZrO₂ slurry, while CM discs were prepared from semi-sintered blocks. Both sample types were sintered at 1500 °C, ground, and subjected to low-pressure, low-temperature air plasma treatment for 1 or 5 min. Initial grain sizes were 0.545 ± 0.211 μm for AM and 0.520 ± 0.214 μm for CM zirconia, and X-ray diffraction confirmed the preservation of the tetragonal phase after treatment. Surface roughness parameters remained within the nanometer range and were unaffected by plasma exposure. As-built water contact angles were 59.1° ± 8.6° for AM and 58.9° ± 9.0° for CM zirconia, indicating comparable inherent hydrophilicity. Plasma treatment effectively reduced carbon residues and enhanced surface wettability by lowering the contact angles to 14.5° ± 3.1° (AM) and 15.7° ± 2.2° (CM) after 1-min treatment. However, no significant differences were observed with longer treatment durations. The effect was sustained for at least 72 h in closed storage but reverted after 2 months in ambient conditions. Vickers hardness of AM zirconia was 1298 ± 13 HV1.0, which was lower than that of CM zirconia (1341 ± 8 HV1.0) and plasma treatment had no measurable effect on surface hardness. This is the first study to systematically compare NPJ-manufactured and milled zirconia under standardized plasma conditions. The findings demonstrate the feasibility of NPJ zirconia for dental applications and the potential of plasma surface modification to improve early-stage biological responses through enhanced wettability.