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Low-Temperature Spark Plasma Sintering of a SiC Nanopowder with a Very Thin Al-Based Layer
K. Shimoda
Research Center for Structural Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1, Sengen, Tsukuba, 305 – 0047 Ibaraki, Japan.
received April 16, 2018, received in revised form May 23, 2018, accepted Juni 14, 2018
Vol. 9, No. 4, Pages 411-418 DOI: 10.4416/JCST2018-00035
Abstract
A SiC nanopowder with an Al-based layer synthesized by means of laser pyrolysis was used to fabricate bulk SiC using spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 1600 – 1800 °C. The surface structure of the novel SiC nanopowder was analyzed by means of field-emission scanning/transmission electron microscopy (FE-SEM/TEM), while the surface chemistry was characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The average particle size was around 45 nm with a very thin (< 5 nm) coating of Al-containing compounds. The effect of the SPS temperature on the density and mechanical and thermal properties of bulk SiC was investigated. Sintered densities above 96 % were obtained at temperatures as low as 1700 °C. Toughened microstructures, which consisted of platelets and relatively small equiaxed SiC grains incorporating crystalline Al4O4C, were observed after SPS treatment at 1800 °C. The samples fabricated by means of SPS at 1800 °C had a typical bending strength of 592 MPa, fracture toughness of 5.4 MPam1/2, and thermal conductivity of 80 W/mK.
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Keywords
SiC, nanopowders, additives, sintering, microstructure
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