Fabrication and Properties of the Tape-Cast Si₃N₄ with Rod-Like Si₃N₄ Seed Addition

Silicon nitride ceramics with and without β-Si3N4 seed addition were prepared via tape casting nonaqueous ceramic slurries, laminating the green ceramic tapes, and gas pressure sintering the green bodies in nitrogen atmosphere. Lu2O3 and SiO2 were used as sintering additives. The results showed that the rod-like β-Si3N4 seed was helpful to enhance β-Si3N4 grain growth unidirectionally. The elongated grains grown from seeds were preferentially oriented parallel to the casting direction, resulting in anisotropic microstructure. When a stress was applied with along the grain alignment, the bending strength of the tape-cast Si3N4 with 3 wt% β-Si3N4 seed addition measured at 1500oC was 738 MPa, which was almost the same as the room temperature bending strength 739 MPa, and the fracture energy can be improved from 301 J/m2 at room temperature to 781 J/m2 at 1500oC. The large fracture energy and bending strength at 1500oC were attributable primarily to the unidirectional alignment fibrous grains and a high melting point grain boundary phase.