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Synthesis, microstructure, and properties of high purity Mo2TiAlC2 ceramics fabricated by spark plasma sintering

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  • Published: 23 December 2020
  • Volume 9, pages 759–768, (2020)
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Journal of Advanced Ceramics
Synthesis, microstructure, and properties of high purity Mo2TiAlC2 ceramics fabricated by spark plasma sintering
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  • Yunhui Niu1,
  • Shuai Fu2,
  • Kuibao Zhang1,
  • Bo Dai1,
  • Haibin Zhang3,
  • Salvatore Grasso2 &
  • …
  • Chunfeng Hu2 

  • 1237 Accesses

  • 33 Citations

  • Explore all metrics

Abstract

The synthesis, microstructure, and properties of high purity dense bulk Mo2TiAlC2 ceramics were studied. High purity Mo2TiAlC2 powder was synthesized at 1873 K starting from Mo, Ti, Al, and graphite powders with a molar ratio of 2:1:1.25:2. The synthesis mechanism of Mo2TiAlC2 was explored by analyzing the compositions of samples sintered at different temperatures. It was found that the Mo2TiAlC2 phase was formed from the reaction among Mo3Al2C, Mo2C, TiC, and C. Dense Mo2TiAlC2 bulk sample was prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 1673 K under a pressure of 40 MPa. The relative density of the dense sample was 98.3%. The mean grain size was 3.5 μm in length and 1.5 μm in width. The typical layered structure could be clearly observed. The electrical conductivity of Mo2TiAlC2 ceramic measured at the temperature range of 2–300 K decreased from 0.95 × 106 to 0.77 × 106 Ω–1·m–1. Thermal conductivity measured at the temperature range of 300–1273 K decreased from 8.0 to 6.4 W·(m·K)–1. The thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) of Mo2TiAlC2 measured at the temperature of 350–1100 K was calculated as 9.0 × 10–6 K–1. Additionally, the layered structure and fine grain size benefited for excellent mechanical properties of low intrinsic Vickers hardness of 5.2 GPa, high flexural strength of 407.9 MPa, high fracture toughness of 6.5 MPa·m1/2, and high compressive strength of 1079 MPa. Even at the indentation load of 300 N, the residual flexural strength could hold 84% of the value of undamaged one, indicating remarkable damage tolerance. Furthermore, it was confirmed that Mo2TiAlC2 ceramic had a good oxidation resistance below 1200 K in the air.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Thousand Talents Program of Sichuan Province, the Open Project of State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base for Nonmetal Composites and Functional Materials (17kffk01), the Outstanding Young Scientific and Technical Talents in Sichuan Province (2019JDJQ0009), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51741208 and 52072311).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. State Key Laboratory of Environment-Friendly Energy Materials, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, China

      Yunhui Niu, Kuibao Zhang & Bo Dai

    2. Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031, China

      Shuai Fu, Salvatore Grasso & Chunfeng Hu

    3. Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, 621900, China

      Haibin Zhang

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    1. Yunhui Niu
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    Correspondence to Chunfeng Hu.

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    Niu, Y., Fu, S., Zhang, K. et al. Synthesis, microstructure, and properties of high purity Mo2TiAlC2 ceramics fabricated by spark plasma sintering. J Adv Ceram 9, 759–768 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40145-020-0412-7

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    • Received: 12 May 2020

    • Revised: 13 August 2020

    • Accepted: 14 August 2020

    • Published: 23 December 2020

    • Issue Date: December 2020

    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40145-020-0412-7

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    Keywords

    • MAX phase
    • Mo2TiAlC2
    • synthesis
    • microstructure
    • properties
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