Fabrication of Electrically Conductive Si₃N₄ Ceramics by Dispersion of Carbon Nanotubes

Electrically conductive Si3N4 ceramics were fabricated by dispersion of different characteristics of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). When the sintering aid of Y2O3-Al2O3-TiO2-AlN was used for lower temperature densification, it was confirmed that CNTs existed in Si3N4 ceramics from SEM observation and SiC was not identified in XRD analysis, which means that CNTs did not react with Si3N4. Relative density and electrical conductivity of the CNT dispersed Si3N4 ceramics depended on the characteristics of CNTs. Aggregation of CNTs, which is outstanding in much thinner CNTs, should limit densification of Si3N4. CNTs were well-dispersed by beads milling in ethanol. As a result, beads milling process was confirmed to be effective in unraveling and dispersing CNTs. It was shown that better dispersion of CNTs with higher aspect ratio resulted in higher density and electrical conductivity.