Titanium nitrides as novel reactants for in-situ synthesis of TiB_(2)-based composites with improved properties

A novel in-situ reactive approach based on the reactions among TiN,aluminum and boron has been developed to synthesize TiB_(2)-based composites including TiB_(2)-h BN(TB)and TiB_(2)-h BN-AlN(TBA).Fully dense ceramics with fine-grained microstructure were successfully obtained via spark plasma sintering at 1850℃/60 MPa/5 min.Microstructure analysis suggests h BN flakes were homogenously distributed in the TiB_(2)matrix.For AlN,however,they were elongated into plate-like grains during sintering,in which lots of defects in terms of stacking faults and twinning structures were observed.The mechanical and thermophysical properties of as-sintered ceramics were comprehensively investigated and compared.In-corporating AlN significantly improved the flexure strength,hardness,fracture toughness and thermal conductivity of TiB_(2)-h BN ceramics.The electrical conductivity of TB(3.06×10^(6)S/m)is larger than that of TBA(2.35×10^(6)S/m)at room temperature,but the value(6×10^(5)S/m)was lower than that of TBA(6.9×10^(5)S/m)at 1173 K.Based on the measurement of electrical and thermal conductivity,electron and phonon contributions to thermal conductivities of TB and TBA were calculated and their temperature dependences were illustrated.