Self-Propagating High-Temperature Reduetive Synthesis of TiB2-Al2O3 Composite Powders

TiB2-Al2O3 composite powders were produced by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis（SHS） method with reductive process from B2O3-TiO2-AI system. X-ray diffraction（XRD） and scanning electron microscopy（SEM） analyses show the presence of TiB2 and Al2O3 only in the composite powders produced by SHS. The powders are uniform and free-agglomerate. Transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and high resolution electron microscopy （HREM） observation of microstructure of the composite powders indicate that the interfaces of the TiB2-Al2O3 bond well, without any interfacial reaction products. It is proposed that the good interfacial bonding of the composite powders can be resulted from the TiB2 particles crystallizing and growing on the Al2O3 particles surface with surface defects acting as nucleation centers.     

Preparation of porous silicon carbide by combustion synthesis

Porous silicon carbide ceramics were prepared by combustion synthesis technique. SiC/TiC composite was gained by combustion reaction of Si, C and Ti. Thermodynamics analysis of Si-C-Ti system indicates that the content of TiC in products should be larger than 30%. The experimental results show that the content of Ti C should be larger than 25% to achieve a complete combustion reaction. The X-ray diffractometry results show that the final products with a relative density of 45%-64% are composed of a-SiC,β-SiC, TiC and a small quantity of Si. The images of scanning electron microscopy show that the structures of grain in SiC based porous ceramics consist of particles with a few microns in size.     

Effects of SiC amount on phase compositions and properties of Ti_3SiC_2-based composites

The phase compositions and properties of Ti3SiC2-based composites with SiC addition of 5%-30% in mass fraction fabricated by in-situ reaction and hot pressing sintering were studied. SiC addition effectively prevented TiC synthesis but facilitated SiC synthesis. The Ti3SiC2/Ti C-SiC composite had better oxidation resistance when SiC added quantity reached 20% but poorer oxidation resistance with SiC addition under 15% than Ti3SiC2/TiC composite at higher temperatures. There were more than half of the original SiC and a few Ti3SiC2 remaining in Ti3SiC2/Ti C-SiC with 20% SiC addition, but all constituents in Ti3Si2/TiC composite were oxidized after 12 h in air at 1500 °C. The oxidation scale thickness of TS30, 1505.78 μm, was near a half of that of T,2715 μm, at 1500 °C for 20 h. Ti3SiC2/Ti C composite had a flexural strength of 474 MPa, which was surpassed by Ti3SiC2/TiC-SiC composites when SiC added amount reached 15%. The strength reached the peak of 518 MPa at 20% SiC added amount.     

Self-Propagating High-Temperature Reductive Synthesis of TiB_2-Al_2O_3 Composite Powders

TiB2-Al2O3 composite powders were produced by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis(SHS) method with reductive process from B2O3-TiO2-Al system. X-ray diffraction(XRD) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM) analyses show the presence of TiB2 and Al2O3 only in the composite powders produced by SHS. The powders are uniform and free-agglomerate. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution electron microscopy (HREM) observation of microstructure of the composite powders indicate that the interfaces of the TiB2-Al2O3 bond well, without any interfacial reaction products. It is proposed that the good interfacial bonding of the composite powders can be resulted from the TiB2 particles crystallizing and growing on the Al2O3 particles surface with surface defects acting as nucleation centers.     

Preparation and Microstructural Analysis of Ti2AlC/TiAl（Nb） Composite

By using the spark plasma sintering process, Ti2AlC/TiAlcomposite with the addition of Niobium （Nb） was prepared in-situ and the microstructure of Ti2AlC/TiAl （Nb） composite was investigated by means of transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and high-resolution electron microscopy （HREM）. The results indicate that new-formed Ti2AIC particles disperse with a high degree of uniformity and well combine with the matrix. In the area of phase interface the d-spaces of Ti2AlC （100） and TiAI （110） were measured as 0.2648 nm and 0.2991 nm,respectively. The atom arrangement beside the interface was only partly corresponding, existing in semicoherent state. On the contrary, in the area of grain interface the d-spaces of TiAl （100） and TiAl （110） were measured as 0.2462 nm and 0.2631 nm,respectively and the atom arrangement beside the interface was almost corresponding, existing in coherent state.     

Effect of Y2O3 on cracking susceptibility of laser-clad Ti-based composites coatings

Ti-based composite coatings reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB and TiC were deposited on Ti6AlaV substrates by laser cladding. The effects of Y2O3 on the microstructure and cracking susceptibility of the coatings were investigated in details. It is shown that a small amount of Y2O3 addition can significantly refine the microstructure of the coatings by hastening spheroidization of the primary phase structure. The maximum refinement in microstructure was obtained with the optimum （2 wt%） addition of Y2O3. Moreover, it can increase the volume fraction of TiC and reduce the residual stress of the coatings due to the decrease in lattice distortion of the α（Ti） matrix. All of these factors lead to the reduction in cracking susceptibility of the coatings containing Y2O3 on the premise that the hardness of the coatings is improved. The fracture toughness of the coatings without and with Y2O3 （2 wt%） is 8.32 and 17.36 MPa.m1/2, respectively. Scanning electron microscope examination reveals a transition of the fractured surfaces from cleavage fracture to quasi-cleavage fracture resulting from the Y2O3 addition.     

Microstructural evolution of titanium matrix composite coatings reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB and TiC by laser cladding

Titanium-based composite coatings reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB and TiC particles were successfully fabricated on Ti6Al4V by laser cladding using Ti-B_4C-Al or Ti-B_4C-C-Al powders as the precursor materials.The microstructural and metallographic analyses were made by X-ray diffraction(XRD),optical microscope(OM),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA).The results show that the coatings are mainly composed ofα-Ti cellular dendrites and a eutectic transformation p...     

Fabrication of High-purity Ternary Carbide Ti3AlC2 by Spark Plasma Sintering （SPS） Technique

The effect of silicon on synthesis of Ti3AlC2 by spark plasma sintering （SPS） from TiC/Ti/Al powders was investigated. X-ray diffraction （XRD） and scanning electron microscope （SEM） were used for phase identification and microstructure evaluation. The results show that addition of silicon can considerably accelerate the synthesis reaction of Ti3AlC2 and fully dense, essentially single-phase （purity 〉98%） polycrystalline Ti3AlC2 could be successfully obtained by sintering 2TiC/lTi/lAl/0.2Si powders at 1 200- 1 250 ℃ under a pressure of 30 MPa. SEM photographs show that the obtained Ti3AlC2 samples from mixtures powders are in plane-shape with a size of about 2-5 μm and 10-25 μm in the thickness dimension and elongated dimension, respectively.     

Preparation of Ti3SiC2 with Aluminum by Means of Spark Plasma Sintering

Polycrystalline bulk Ti3SiC2 material with a high purity and density was fabricated by spark plasma sintering from the elemental powder mixture with starting composition of Ti3Si3Si1-xAlxC2 , where x = 0. 05 -0.2. X-ray diffraction patterns and scanning electron microscopy photographs of the fully dense samples show that a proper addition of aluminum promotes the formation, and accelerates the crystal growth rate of Ti3SIC2, conse-quently results in a high purity of the prepared samples. The synthesized Ti3 SiC2 is in plane-shape with a size of about 10- 25μm in the elongated dimension. Solid solution of aluminum decreases the thermal stability of Ti3SiC2, and lowers the temperature of Ti3SiC2 decomposeing to be 1300 ℃ .     

Microstructure and abrasive wear behaviour of anodizing composite films containing Si C nanoparticles on Ti6Al4V alloy

Anodized composite films containing Si C nanoparticles were synthesized on Ti6Al4 V alloy by anodic oxidation procedure in C4O6H4Na2 electrolyte. Scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, energy dispersive spectroscopy（EDS） and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS） were employed to characterize the morphology and composition of the films fabricated in the electrolytes with and without addition of Si C nanoparticles. Results show that Si C particles can be successfully incorporated into the oxide film during the anodizing process and preferentially concentrate within internal cavities and micro-cracks. The ball-on-disk sliding tests indicate that Si C-containing oxide films register much lower wear rate than the oxide films without Si C under dry sliding condition. Si C particles are likely to melt and then are oxidized by frictional heat during sliding tests. Potentiodynamic polarization behavior reveals that the anodized alloy with Si C nanoparticles results in a reduction in passive current density to about 1.54×10-8 A/cm2, which is more than two times lower than that of the Ti O2 film（3.73×10-8 A/cm2）. The synthesized composite film has good anti-wear and anti-corrosion properties and the growth mechanism of nanocomposite film is also discussed.     

Preparation and ferroelectric properties of Bi<Subscript>3.4</Subscript>Ce<Subscript>0.6</Subscript>Ti<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>12</Subscript> thin films grown by sol-gel method

We have investigated the preparation and properties of Bi_3.4Ce_0.6Ti₃O₁₂ thin films. The Bi_3.4Ce_0.6Ti₃O₁₂ thin films were fabricated on the Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates using sol-gel method. The structure and morphology of the films were characterized using X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. The thin films showed a perovskite phase and dense microstructure. The dielectric constant and the dissipation factor of the Bi_3.4Ce_0.6Ti₃O₁₂ thin films were about 172 and 0.031 at 1 kHz, respectively. The 2P _r and 2E _c of the Bi_3.4Ce_0.6Ti₃O₁₂ thin films were 67.1 μC/cm² and 299.7 kV/cm, respectively, under an applied field of 600 kV/cm. The Bi_3.4Ce_0.6Ti₃O₁₂ film did not show fatigue up to 4.46×10⁹ switching cycles at a frequency of 1 MHz, and showed good insulating behavior according to the test of leakage current. Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (Grants No. 2004ABA082)     

Valence electron structure of the (ZrTi)B<Subscript>2</Subscript> solid solutions calculated by the three models

The Zr-rich (Zr_0.8Ti_0.2)B₂ and the Ti-rich (Ti_0.8Zr_0.2)B₂ solid solutions are formed when TiB₂ and ZrB₂ are hot-pressed. To forecast the properties of the two solid solutions, their valence electron structure was analyzed based on the empirical electron theory (EET) of solids and molecules. We used three different models, the average atom model, the average cell model and the real cell model, and compared with the calculation results from the three models. In the real cell model, the lattice constants of the solid solutions were supposed to be changed or unchanged. The results showed that different models could only result in slight change in the hybridization levels of the metal atoms in the two solid solutions and little difference between the calculation values. However, they can not change the variant trend of the valence electron structure nor the properties of the solid solutions. Thus, the three models and the methods are appropriate and the calculation results are reasonable and consistent. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 90505015)     

The influence of mo additive on the microstructure and property of Ti/Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> composite

The influence of Mo on the microstructure, bending strength and HV of Ti/Al₂O₃ composite was studied, and the influence mechanism was analyzed. The results indicate that after the addition of Mo, the composite organization is finer and phases distribution is better-proportioned which make the microstructure denser, the bending strength and HV of composite are also increased to a degree. But the bending strength increases first then decreases with the increasing of Mo content, so the appropriate Mo content for the Ti/Al₂O₃ composite is to be further confirmed. WANG Zhi: Born in 1962 Funded by Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50232020) and Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (No. 2002F21)     

Microstructures and mechanism of Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>/Al composites fabricated by the reaction between SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and molten aluminum

Al₂ O₃/Al composite was fabricated by the reaction between SiO₂ and molten aluminum. The microstructures of the composite obtained under different reaction conditions were analyzed. The formation mechanism of the composite microstructure was discussed. Results show that the reaction kinetics is influenced remarkably by the reaction temperature, reaction time and the quantity of SiO₂. The morphologies of Al₂O₃ have different features, depending on the reaction temperature. The composite has equaxed Al₂O₃ grains when materials reacted below 1200°C, and the composite is composed of a large number of fine Al₂O₃ grains and aluninum. The composite has a frame-shaped Al₂O₃ microstructure at the reaction temperature of above 1250°C. CHENG Xiao-min: Born in 1964 Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 91522)     

Structure and dielectric properties of ZnO and Nb<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>5</Subscript> doped BaO-TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> system microwave ceramics

The microwave dielectric properties and microstructure of BaTi4.3ZnyO9.6＋y ＋0.02 mol% SnO2＋0.01 mol% MnCO3＋x mol% Nb2O5（x=0-0.05, y=0-0.08） system ceramics were studied as a function of the amount of ZnO and Nb2O5 doped. Addition of （y=0-0.05） ZnO and （x=0-0.025） Nb2O5 enhanced the reactivity and decreased the sintering temperature effectively. It also increased the dielectric constant ε r and quality factor Q（=1/tan 8） of the system due to the substitution of Ti^4＋ ions with incorporating Zn^2＋and Nb^5＋ ions, which was analyzed by the reaction ZnO＋Nb2O5＋ 3 TiTxTi →ZnTi＋ 2NbTi＋3TiO2. When the system doped with （y=0.05） ZnO and （x=0.025） Nb205 were sintered at 1 160 ℃ for 6 h, the εr. Qf0 value and rfwere 36.5, 42 000 GHz, and＋1.8 ppm/℃, respectively, at 5 GHz.     

Effect of La doping on microstructure and ferroelectric properties of Bi<Subscript>4</Subscript>Ti<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>12</Subscript> thin films prepared by sol-gel method

The Bi4Ti3Oi2 and Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 thin films were prepared on the Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate using the sol-gel method. The effect of La doping on the microstructure and ferroelectric properties of Bi4Ti3O12 films were investigated. Both the Bi4Ti3O12 and Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 thin films exhibited typical bismuth layered perovskite structure. The 2Pr （remanent polarization） value of Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 thin films is 18.6 μC/cm^2, which is much larger than that of Bi4Ti3O12 thin films. And the Bi3.2eLa0.75Ti3O12 films show fatigue-free behavior, while the Bi4Ti3O12 thin films exhibit the fatigue problem. The mechanism of improvement of La doping was discussed.     

Preparation and characterization of nanocomposite MgFe<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript>/SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

Nanocomposites MgFe₂O₄/SiO₂ were successfully synthesized by the sol-gel method in the presence of N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF). The formation of pure MgFe₂O₄ was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron diffraction. The structural evolution of MgFe₂O₄ nanocrystals was followed by powder X-ray diffraction and IR absorption spectroscopy. The formation of spinel structure of MgFe₂O₄ started at 800 °C, and completed at 900 °C. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements suggest that the particle sizes increase with the increasing annealing temperature, and the mean particle sizes of the spherical samples annealed at 800 °C, 900 °C and 1 050 °C are ca. 3 nm, 8 nm and 11 nm, respectively. Magnetization measurements at room temperature and 78 K indicate superparamagnetic nature of these MgFe₂O₄ nanocrystals. Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No. 30771676), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20081842), and the Foundation of Nanjing Bureau of Personal for the Returned Overseas Chinese Excellent Scholars     

Eleetronie Structures and Bonding Properties of Ti2AlC and Ti3AlC2

The relation among electronic structure, chemical bond and property of Ti2AlC, Ti3AlC2 and doping Si into Ti2AlC was studied by density function and the discrete variation （DFT-DVM） method. After adding Si into Ti2AlC, the interaction between Si and Ti is weaker than that between Al and Ti, and the strengths of ionic and covalent bonds decrease both. The ionic and covalent bonds in Ti3AlC2, especially in Ti-Al, are stronger than those in Ti2AlC. Therefore, in synthesis of Ti2AlC, the addition of Si enhances the Ti3AlC2 content instead of Ti2AlC. The density of state （DOS） shows that there is mixed conductor characteristic in Ti2AlC and Ti3AlC2. The DOS of Ti3AlC2 is much like that of Ti2AlC. Ti2SiAl1-xC has more obvious tendency to form a semiconductor than Ti2AlC, which is seen from the obvious difference of partial DOS between Si and Al 3/7.