Design strategy of phase and microstructure of Si_(3)N_(4) ceramics with simultaneously high hardness and toughness

Aiming to achieve silicon nitride( Si_(3)N_(4))ceramics with high hardness and high toughness,the relationships among phase composition,microstructure,and mechanical properties of Si_(3)N_(4) ceramics prepared by spark plasma sintering(SPS)at temperatures ranging from 1500 to 1800℃were investigated in this study.Two stages with different phase and microstructure features were observed and summarized.Theα-βphase transformation occurs first,and the development and growth of grains lag behind.During the first stage,the average grain size remains basically unchanged,and the hardness maintains at a value of~20.18±0.26 GPa,despite theβ- Si_(3)N_(4) phase fraction increases from 7.67 to 57.34 wt%.Subsequently,the equiaxed grains transform into rod-like grains with a high aspect ratio via the reprecipitation process,resulting in a significant increase in the fracture toughness from 3.36±0.62 to 7.11±0.15 MPa·m^(1/2).In the second stage of sintering process,the fraction ofβ- Si_(3)N_(4) phase increases to 100.00 wt%,and the grain growth also rapidly occurs.Thus,the fracture toughness increases slightly to 7.61±0.42 MPa·m^(1/2),but the hardness reduces to 16.80±0.20 GPa.The current results demonstrate that the phase contents ofβ- Si_(3)N_(4) and the microstructure shall be carefully tailored to achieve high-performance Si_(3)N_(4) ceramics. Si_(3)N_(4) ceramics with a finegrained bimodal microstructure,consisting of the mainα-andβ-phases,can exhibit the optimized combination of hardness and toughness.