Effect of Al and Si Additions on the Synthesis of Spark Plasma Sintered Zr₂Al₄C₅ Creamic

Abstract:

The Zr₂Al₄C₅ ceramic was successfully fabricated by the spark plasma sintering at 1800 °C for 10 min under uniaxial 20 MPa pressure in vacuum using a mixed raw materials of Zr, Al, Si and graphite powders. The X-ray diffraction analysis results showed that the unexpected Zr₂Al₃C₅ phase rather than target compound Zr₂Al₄C₅ formed in the sintered samples. An initial Zr:Al:C molar ratio of 2:4.2:4.8 for raw powders, and even 55 mol.% excess Al, did not lead to a phase transformation from Zr₂Al₃C₅ to Zr₂Al₄C₅. When 4 wt.% Si was induced in the starting powders, the major phase became Zr₂Al₄C₅ and no obvious Zr₂Al₃C₅ was detected in the sintered samples with an initial Zr:Al:C molar ratio of 2:6.2:4.8 (55 mol.% excess Al). The introduction of Si could suppress and even remove additional ZrC, and Si atoms would exclusively occupy the site of Al to make Zr₂Al₄C₅ become a stable solid solution. The scanning electron microscopy observation showed that the as-synthesized Zr₂Al₄C₅ grains had elongated, rod-like and/or plate-like shapes. The mechanical properties of the sintered Zr₂Al₄C₅ ceramic were also investigated, and it showed a hardness of 11.06±0.34 GPa and a fracture toughness of 4.6 ± 0.4 MPa×m^1/2.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volume 697)
• Pages: 530-534
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.697.530
• Online since: July 2016
• Authors: Q.L. Guo*, Jun Jun Pei, Ji Zhong Gan, Jun Guo Li, Lian Meng Zhang
• Keywords: Mechanical Properties, X-Ray Methods, Zr₂Al₄C₅ Ceramic

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