Synthesis, microstructure and mechanical properties of reaction-infiltrated TiB2-SiC-Si composites

TiB₂-C preforms formed with different compositions and processing parameters were reactively infiltrated by Si melts at 1450 °C to fabricate TiB₂-SiC-Si composites. Phase constituent and microstructure of these composites were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The resulting composites are generally composed of TiB₂ and reaction-formed β-SiC major phases, together with a quantity of residual Si. Unreacted carbon is detected in the samples with a starting composition of 2TiB₂ + 1C formed at higher pressure and in all of the ones at the composition of 1TiB₂ + 1C. The distribution of these phases is fairly homogeneous in microstructure. TiB₂-SiC-Si composites show good mechanical properties, with representative values of 19.9 GPa in hardness, 395 GPa in elastic modulus, 3.5 MPa m^1/2 in fracture toughness and 604 MPa in bending strength. The primary toughening and strengthening mechanism is attributed to the crack deflection of TiB₂ particles.     

Effects of sintering additives on microstructure and mechanical properties of TiB2-WC ceramic-metal composite tool materials

TiB₂-WC ceramic-metal composite tool materials were fabricated using Co, Ni and (Ni, Mo) as sintering additives by vacuum hot-pressing technique. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the composite were investigated. The composite was analyzed by the observations of scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). The microstructure of TiB₂-WC ceramic-metal composites consisted of the fine WC grains and uniform TiB₂ grains. The brittle phase of Ni₃B₄ and a few pores were found in TiB₂-WC-Ni ceramic-metal composite. A lot of pores and brittle phases such as W₂CoB₂ and Co₂B were formed in TiB₂-WC-Co ceramic-metal composite. The liquid phase of Co was consumed by the reaction which led to the formation of the pores and the coarse grains of TiB₂. The pores, brittle phases and coarse grains of TiB₂ were harmful to the improvement of the mechanical properties of the composite. The sintering additive of (Ni, Mo) had a significant effect on the density and the mechanical properties of TiB₂-WC ceramic-metal composite. The formation of intermetallic compound of MoNi₄ inhibited the consumption of liquid phase of (Ni, Mo). The liquid phase of (Ni, Mo) not only inhibited the formation of the pores and the coarse grains of TiB₂ but also strengthened the interface energy between WC and TiB₂ grains. The grain size was fine and the average relative density of TiB₂-WC-(Ni, Mo) ceramic-metal composite reached 99.1%. The flexural strength, fracture toughness and Vickers hardness of TiB₂-WC-(Ni, Mo) ceramic-metal composite were 1307.0 ± 121.4 MPa, 8.19 ± 0.29 MPa m^1/2 and 22.71 ± 0.82 GPa, respectively.     

Influence of Ti on microstructure and strength of c-BN/ Cu-Ni-Sn-Ti composites

The c-BN grain has been brazed with Cu-Ni-Sn-Ti filler metal in vacuum at 1373 K holding for 600 s. The microstructure of the interface between c-BN grain and Cu-Ni-Sn-Ti filler metal has been studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The composition of the interface has been analyzed by X-ray diffraction analyzer (XRD). Experimental results showed that the reaction layer appeared at the interface between the c-BN grain and the filler metal. The reaction layer mainly consisted of TiN, TiB and TiB₂. And the thickness of the reaction layer increases with the increase of Ti content in the filler metal. When Ti content in the filler metal exceeds 15 wt.%, microcracks form at c-BN side of the interface because of the increase of TiN, CuTi and Cu₃Ti₂ brittle phases and residual stresses, leading to a decrease of the tensile strength of c-BN/Cu-Ni-Sn-Ti composites. Ti content in the filler metal had obvious influence on microstructure and strength of c-BN/ Cu-Ni-Sn-Ti composites. The maximum tensile strength reached 105.1 MPa with 10 wt.% Ti content in the filler metal.     

Hardfacing of AISI304 steel: fabrication of oxide-boride-nitride ceramic matrix composite layer by laser-assisted high temperature chemical reaction

Composition, structure and properties of the products of self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) are characterised by some distinctive features. High heating rate, fast cooling after rapid completion of the reactions and steep temperature gradients make SHS very effective in producing in situ composites with ceramic reinforcements. In the present work, hardfacing of AISI304 substrates has been done by fabricating a hard ternary ceramic matrix composite layer of Al₂O₃–TiB₂–TiN by laser surface treatment at different scan speeds. The formation of the surface layer is due to laser-triggered SHS followed by laser melting. A mixture of Al, TiO₂ and hBN has been used as a precursor for the SHS reaction. The study of the microstructure of the as-fabricated composite layer reveals the co-existence of TiB₂ and TiN phases in the nanometric size range in Al₂O₃ matrix. The presence of all the phases has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and Raman spectroscopy. The average grain sizes were calculated for the reinforcing phases and found to be 36 and 66?nm for TiB₂ and TiN, respectively, for the ceramic layer fabricated with a scan speed of 10?mm?s^?1, whereas 21 and 53?nm have been observed for TiB₂ and TiN, respectively, for the ceramic layer fabricated with the scan speed of 5?mm?s^?1. The understanding of the chemical synthesis in the SHS reaction mentioned here and the process of development of the reinforced composite in the fabrication of the hardfaced layer over steel surface will be immensely helpful in the discernment of the mechanical properties and, thus, finding the target area for the usage of this product. The virtues of the process and formation of the hard composite are reflected well in the microhardness achieved in the fabricated layers, as it is significantly higher than that of the substrate (AISI304 steel). In addition, indentation with a Berkovich tip in a nano-indentation set-up helped in further evaluation of the composite’s hardness and elastic modulus. The property spectrum of the composite, as reported here, indicates its suitability in various wear-intensive applications.     

Phase constituents and microstructure of laser cladding Al2O3/Ti3Al reinforced ceramic layer on titanium alloy

Laser cladding of the Fe₃Al + TiB₂/Al₂O₃ pre-placed alloy powder on Ti-6Al-4V alloy can form the Ti₃Al/Fe₃Al + TiB₂/Al₂O₃ ceramic layer, which can greatly increase wear resistance of titanium alloy. In this study, the Ti₃Al/Fe₃Al + TiB₂/Al₂O₃ ceramic layer has been researched by means of electron probe, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and micro-analyzer. In cladding process, Al₂O₃ can react with TiB₂ leading to formation of amount of Ti₃Al and B. This principle can be used to improve the Fe₃Al + TiB₂ laser cladded coating, it was found that with addition of Al₂O₃, the microstructure performance and micro-hardness of the coating was obviously improved due to the action of the Al-Ti-B system and hard phases.     

Microstructures and mechanical properties of the in situ TiB-Ti metal-matrix composites synthesized by spark plasma sintering process

In situ synthesized TiB reinforced titanium matrix composites have been synthesized by spark plasma sintering (SPS) process at 950-1250 °C, using mixtures of 15 wt% TiB₂ and 85 wt% Ti powders. The effects of the sintering temperature on densification behavior and mechanical properties of the TiB-Ti composites were investigated. The results indicated that with rising sintering temperatures, relative densities of the composites increase obviously, while the in situ TiB whiskers grow rapidly. As a result, bending strength of the TiB-Ti composites increases slowly at the combined actions of the factors referred above. Fracture toughness of the composites is improved remarkably due to the large volume fraction of Ti matrix, the crack deflection, pull-out and the micro-fracture of the needle-shaped TiB grains. The results also suggested that TiB-Ti composite sintered at 1250 °C by SPS process exhibits the highest relative density of 99.6% along with bending strength of 1161 MPa and fracture toughness of 13.5 MPa m^1/2.     

Dielectric and microwave properties of ZrO2 doped CaO-SiO2-B2O3 ceramic matrix composites

The behavior of dielectric and microwave properties against sintering temperature has been carried out on CaO-SiO₂-B₂O₃ ceramic matrix composites with ZrO₂ addition. The results indicated that ZrO₂ addition was advantageous to improve the dielectric and microwave properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns show that the major crystalline β-CaSiO₃ and a little SiO₂ phase existed at the temperature ranging from 950 °C to 1050 °C. At 0.5 wt% ZrO₂, CaO-SiO₂-B₂O₃ ceramic matrix composites sintered at 1000 °C possess good dielectric properties: ?_r = 5.85, tan δ = 1.59 × 10⁻⁴ (1 MHz) and excellent microwave properties: ?_r = 5.52, Q · f = 28,487 GHz (11.11 GHz). The permittivity of Zr-doped CaO-SiO₂-B₂O₃ ceramic matrix composites exhibited very little temperature dependence, which was less than ±2% over the temperature range of −50 to 150 °C. Moreover, the ZrO₂-doped CaO-SiO₂-B₂O₃ ceramic matrix composites have low permittivity below 5.5 over a wide frequency range from 20 Hz to 1 MHz.     

Improvement in the corrosion resistance of TiB2/A356 composite by molten-salt electrodeposition and anodization

This study reported a novel treatment to improve the corrosion resistance of TiB₂/A356 composites. The method was employed in combination of the molten-salt electrodeposition and subsequent electrochemical anodization technique. By means of molten-salt electrodeposition, the Al coatings were deposited on the surface of TiB₂/A356 composites. It was found that the morphology of the Al coatings is closely related to the current density. Thus, under the suitable condition, a dense and uniform Al coating can be obtained, with the crystal size in the range of 0.5–2 μm and the coating thickness of ~ 9 μm. This continuous Al layer can eliminate the adverse corrosion contribution of TiB₂ particles in Al matrix. The following step of anodization was designed to convert the Al film to an anodized Al oxide film for further corrosion protection. The electrochemical corrosion behavior was evaluated by potentiodynamic polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. These results showed the corrosion resistance was greatly enhanced in TiB₂/A356 composites with an anodized Al-coating than that of the anodized composites. It is evident that the new treatment of metal electrodeposition in molten salts and following anodization is an effective method of anti-corrosion in composites.     

Oxidation and corrosion of silicon nitride ceramics with different sintering additives at 1200 and 1500 °C in air, water vapour, SO2 and HCl environments - A comparative study

The effect of different sintering additives on the high temperature oxidation and corrosion behaviour of silicon nitride based ceramics was investigated. Comparative tests were conducted at 1200 and 1500 °C in air, in water vapour, and with the highly corrosive gases HCl and SO₂. Si₃N₄ was prepared with MgO, Al₂O₃, Y₂O₃ and Al₂O₃ + Y₂O₃ sintering additives. Hot pressed discs were tested for a total time of up to 128 h. The electrically conductive ceramic composites Si₃N₄ + TiN and Si₃N₄ + MoSi₂ were also tested under the same conditions. The effects that the different corrosion environments have on the different ceramics are presented. SEM studies of the oxidised ceramics show the direct transformation of Si₃N₄ grains into SiO₂ through a reaction interface layer.     

Microstructure, mechanical properties and thermal shock behavior of h-BN-AlN ceramic composites prepared by combustion synthesis

h-BN-SiC-AlN-TiN ceramic composites with volume content of AlN-TiN ranging from 20% to 70% were prepared by combustion synthesis from powder compacts of B₄C, Si, Al and TiN under 100 MPa nitrogen pressure. The volume fraction of AlN-TiN was found to have a significant influence on the microstructure, mechanical properties and thermal shock resistance of the composites. With the increasing volume content of AlN-TiN, the mechanical properties of the composites were improved remarkably, while thermal shock resistance decreased. Thermal shock tests showed that the critical thermal shock temperature (ΔT) was higher than 1200 °C for the composites with AlN-TiN contents of 30 vol%; while it was decreased to 850 and 670 °C for the composites with AlN-TiN contents of 50 and 70 vol%, respectively.     

Effect of ultrasonic vibration on microstructural evolution of the reinforcements and degassing of in situ TiB2p/Al-12Si-4Cu composites

Some issues such as clustering of TiB₂ particles, formation of long rod-like Al₃Ti particles, as well as high porosity level usually associate with the fabrication of in situ TiB_2p/Al-alloy composites via conventional stir casting technique using Ti and B as reactants. High-intensity ultrasonic vibration was introduced in our research to solve the above issues. The process involved that the original in situ TiB_2p/Al-12Si-4Cu sample with large clusters of TiB₂ particles, large long rod-like Al₃Ti particles and high porosity was remelted at 850 °C, and then ultrasonic vibration was applied to the melt with an ultrasonic probe. The microstructural evolution of the samples treated by ultrasonic vibration with different time was examined by using SEM. After treated by ultrasonic vibration for 12 min, large clusters of TiB₂ particles were broken up effectively and TiB₂ particles were dispersed uniformly in the matrix, and long rod-like Al₃Ti particles were turned into blocky ones with the size of 10 μm due to the effect of ultrasonic stirring. In the meantime, the porosity in the composites decreased from about 6.5% to 0.86% due to the effect of ultrasonic degassing. Microhardness test suggested that a homogeneous microstructure of the composite was achieved after ultrasonic treatment. An effective approach using high-intensity ultrasonic vibration to optimize the microstructures of the particulate reinforced Al-alloy composites was proposed, and the mechanism of the effect of high-intensity ultrasonic vibration on the microstructural evolution of the reinforcements and degassing of composites was also discussed in our research.     

A new TiB2 + CrSi2 composite – Densification,characterization and oxidation studies

A new composite of TiB₂ with CrSi₂ has been prepared with excellent oxidation resistance. Dense composite pellets were fabricated by hot pressing of powder mixtures. Microstructural characterization was carried out by XRD and SEM with EDAX. Mechanical and physical properties were evaluated. Extensive oxidation studies were also carried out. A near theoretical density (99.9% TD) was obtained with a small addition of 2.5 wt.% CrSi₂ by hot pressing at 1700 °C under a pressure of 28 MPa for 1 h. The microstructure of the composite revealed three distinct phases, (a) dark grey matrix of TiB₂, (b) black phase – rich in Si and (c) white phase – Cr laden TiB₂. Hardness and fracture toughness were measured as 29 ± 2 GPa and 5.97 ± 0.61 MPa m^1/2, respectively. Crack branching, deflection and bridging mechanisms were responsible for the higher fracture toughness. With increase in CrSi₂ content, density, hardness and fracture toughness values of the composite decreased. Thermo gravimetric studies revealed the start of oxidation of the composite at 600 °C in O₂ atmosphere. Isothermal oxidation of these composites showed better oxidation resistance by formation of a protective oxide layer. TiO₂, Cr₂O₃ and SiO₂ phases were identified on the oxidized surface. Effects of CrSi₂ content, temperature and duration of oxidation on the oxide layer formation are reported. Activation energy of the composite was calculated as ∼110 kJ/mol using Arrhenius equation. Diffusion controlled mechanism of oxidation was observed in all the composites.     

Mechanical and tribological properties of duplex treated TiN, nc-TiN/a-SiNx and nc-TiCN/a-SiCN coatings deposited on 410 low alloy stainless steel

The use of hard and superhard nanocomposite (nc) coatings with tailored functional properties is limited when applied to low alloy steel substrates due to their low load carrying capacity. Specifically in this work, in order to enhance the performance of martensitic SS410 substrates, we applied a duplex process which consisted of surface nitriding by radio-frequency plasma followed by the deposition of single layer (TiN, nc-TiN/a-SiN_x or nc-TiCN/a-SiCN) or multilayer (TiN/nc-TiN/a-SiN_x, TiN/nc-TiCN/a-SiCN) coating systems prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). We show that plasma nitriding gives rise to a diffusion layer at the surface due to diffusion of nitrogen and formation of the α-Fe and ε-Fe₂N phases, respectively, leading to a surface hardness, H, of 11.7 GPa, compared to H = 5 GPa for the untreated steel. Among the TiN, nc-TiN/a-SiN_x and nc-TiCN/a-SiCN coatings, the latter one possesses the highest H value of 42 GPa and the highest H³/E_r² ratio of 0.83 GPa. Particularly, the TiN/nc-TiCN/a-SiCN multilayer coating system exhibits superior tribological properties compared to single layer TiN and multilayer TiN/nc-TiN/a-SiN_x coatings: this includes excellent adhesion, low friction (C_f = 0.17) and low wear rate (K = 1.6 × 10^− 7 mm³/N m). The latter one represents an improvement by a factor of 600 compared to the bare SS410 substrate. The significance of the relationship between the H/E and H³/E_r² ratios and the tribological performance of the nano-composite coatings is discussed.     

Thermal and electrical properties of TiB2–MoSi2

The present communication reports the effect of MoSi₂ addition on high temperature thermal conductivity and room temperature (RT) electrical properties of TiB₂. The thermal diffusivity and the thermal conductivity of the hot pressed TiB₂–MoSi₂ samples were measured over a range from room temperature to 1000 °C using the laser-flash technique, while electrical resistivity was measured at RT using a four linear probe method. The reciprocal of thermal diffusivity of TiB₂ samples exhibit linear dependence on temperature and the measured thermal conductivity of TiB₂-2.5% MoSi₂ composites correlate well with the theoretical predictions from Hashin’s model and Hasselman and Johnson’s model. A common observation is that the thermal conductivity of all the samples slightly increases with temperature (up to 200 °C) and then decreases with further increasing temperature. It is interesting to note that both the thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity of TiB₂ samples enhanced with the addition of 2.5 wt.% MoSi₂ sinter additive. Among all the samples, TiB₂-2.5 wt.% MoSi₂ ceramics measured with high thermal conductivity (77 W/mK) and low electrical resistivity (12 μΩ-cm) at room temperature. Such an improvement in properties can be attributed to its high density and low volume fraction of porosity. On the other hand, both the thermal and electrical properties of TiB₂ were adversely affected with further increasing the amount of MoSi₂ (10 wt.%).     

Mechanochemical synthesis of TiN/TiB2/Ti-silicide nanocomposite powders and their thermal stability

Extremely fine and homogeneous TiN/TiB₂/Ti-silicide composite powders have been synthesized from mixtures of Ti, BN and Si₃N₄ powders by high-energy ball milling through a mechanically activated self-sustaining reaction. They have a microstructure consisting of TiN and TiB₂ crystallites of less than 15 nm embedded in amorphous TiSi₂ or Ti₅Si₃ matrix. When these nanocomposite powders were annealed at high temperatures, the microstructure did not change significantly and TiN and TiB₂ mutually suppressed the grain growth of both phases effectively.     

Titanium diboride composite with improved sintering characteristics

Titanium diboride (TiB₂) and its ceramic composites were prepared by hot pressing process. The sintering process, phase evolution, microstructure and mechanical properties of TiB₂ ceramics prepared by using different milling media materials: tungsten carbide (WC/Co) or SiAlON was studied. It was found that the inclusion of WC/Co significantly improved the sinterability of the TiB₂ ceramics. A core/rim structure with pure TiB₂ as the core and W-rich TiB₂, i.e. (Ti,W)B₂ as the rim was identified. Microstructure analysis revealed that this core/rim structure was formed through a dissolution and re-precipitation process. In addition, silicon carbide (SiC) was also introduced to form TiB₂–SiC composites. The addition of SiC as the secondary phase not only improved the sinterability but also led to greatly enhanced fracture toughness. The optimum mechanical properties with Vickers hardness ~ 22 GPa, and fracture toughness ~ 6 MPa m^1/2 were obtained on TiB₂–SiC composites milled with WC/Co.     

Characterization of hot pressed SiC whisker reinforced TiB2 based composites

TiB₂–SiC ceramic composites, with different contents of SiC whiskers (SiC_w), as a ceramic sinter-additive, were prepared by the hot pressing process at 1850 °C for 2 h under a pressure of 20 MPa. For comparison, a monolithic TiB₂ ceramic was also fabricated under the identical temperature, pressure, atmosphere, and holding time by the hot pressing process. The effects of fabrication process and SiC whiskers on microstructural features, phase evolution and mechanical properties were investigated. Hardness measurements revealed an initial increase in hardness for TiB₂–SiC compared to TiB₂. Also the improvement of the fracture toughness was attributed to the toughening and strengthening effects of SiC whiskers such as crack deflection. The results showed that promoted densification of TiB₂–SiC ceramic composites is due to addition of SiC whiskers and reduction of oxide impurities by reacting with SiC whiskers and removing them from the surface layer of TiB₂ particles. The reaction between TiB₂ particles and SiC whiskers led to in-situ formation of TiC phase in the matrix as well. In general, it is concluded that the sinterability of TiB₂-based composites was remarkably improved by introducing SiC whiskers compared to the single phase TiB₂ ceramic.     

Investigations on synthesis of ZrB2 and development of new composites with HfB2 and TiSi2

This paper presents the results of experimental investigations carried out on the synthesis of pure ZrB₂ by boron carbide reduction of ZrO₂ and densification with the addition of HfB₂ and TiSi₂. Process parameters and charge composition were optimized to obtain pure ZrB₂ powder. Monolithic ZrB₂ was hot pressed to full density and characterized. Effects of HfB₂ and TiSi₂ addition on densification and properties of ZrB₂ composites were studied. Four compositions namely monolithic ZrB₂, ZrB₂ + 10% TiSi₂, ZrB₂ + 10% TiSi₂ + 10% HfB₂ and ZrB₂ + 10% TiSi₂ + 20% HfB₂ were prepared by hot pressing. Near theoretical density (99.8%) was obtained in the case of monolithic ZrB₂ by hot pressing at 1850 °C and 35 MPa. Addition of 10 wt.% TiSi₂ resulted in an equally high density of 98.9% at a lower temperature (1650 °C) and pressure (20 MPa). Similar densities were obtained for ZrB₂ + HfB₂ mixtures also with TiSi₂ under similar conditions. The hardness of monolithic ZrB₂ was measured as 23.95 GPa which decreased to 19.45 GPa on addition of 10% TiSi₂. With the addition of 10% HfB₂ to this composition, the hardness increased to 23.08 GPa, close to that of monolithic ZrB₂. Increase of HfB₂ content to 20% did not change the hardness value. Fracture toughness of monolithic sample was measured as 3.31 MPa m^1/2, which increased to 6.36 MPa m^1/2 on addition of 10% TiSi₂. With 10% HfB₂ addition the value of K_IC was measured as 6.44 MPa m^1/2, which further improved to 6.59 MPa m^1/2 with higher addition of HfB₂ (20%). Fracture surface of the dense bodies was examined by scanning electron microscope. Intergranular fracture was found to be a predominant mode in all the samples. Crack propagation in composites has shown considerable deflection indicating high fracture toughness. An oxidation study of ZrB₂ composites was carried out at 900 °C in air for 64 h. Specific weight gain vs time plot was obtained and the oxidized surface was examined by XRD and SEM. ZrB₂ composites have shown a much better resistance to oxidation as compared to monolithic ZrB₂. A protective glassy layer was seen on the oxidized surfaces of the composites.     

Preparation and oxidation protection of CVD SiC/a-BC/SiC coatings for 3D C/SiC composites

An amorphous boron carbide (a-BC) coating was prepared by LPCVD process from BCl₃-CH₄-H₂-Ar system. XPS result showed that the boron concentration was 15.0 at.%, and carbon was 82.0 at.%. One third of boron was distributed to a bonding with carbon and 37.0 at.% was dissolved in graphite lattice. A multiple-layered structure of CVD SiC/a-BC/SiC was coated on 3D C/SiC composites. Oxidation tests were conducted at 700, 1000, and 1200 °C in 14 vol.% H₂O/8 vol.% O₂/78 vol.% Ar atmosphere up to 100 h. The 3D C/SiC composites with the modified coating system had a good oxidation resistance. This resulted in the high strength retained ratio of the composites even after the oxidation.     

Formation of high-density TiN/Ti<Subscript>5</Subscript>Si<Subscript>3</Subscript> ceramic composites using preceramic polymer

The formation, microstructure and properties of high-density TiN/Ti₅Si₃ ceramic composites created by the pyrolysis of preceramic polymer with filler were investigated. Methylpolysiloxane was mixed with TiH₂ as filler and ceramic composites prepared by pyrolysis at 1200°C to 1600°C under N₂, Ar and vacuum were studied. When a specimen with 70 vol.% TiH₂ was pyrolyzed up to 1600°C in a vacuum after a preheat treatment at 850°C in a N₂ atmosphere and subsequently heat-treated at 1600°C for 1 h under Ar at a pressure of 2 MPa, a ceramic composite with full density was obtained. The microstructure of the ceramic composite was composed of TiN and Ti₅Si₃ phases. Under specific pyrolysis conditions, a ceramic composite with a density of 99.2 TD%, a Vickers hardness of 18 GPa, a fracture toughness of 3.5 MPam^1/2, a flexural strength of 270 MPa and a electrical conductivity of 6200 ohm⁻¹·cm⁻¹ was obtained.