Preparation of TiC-Ti3AlC composite coated graphite flakes and their improved oxidation resistance

The weak oxidation resistance has severely hindered graphite from various high temperature applications, therefore in this paper a molten salt technique was proposed to prepare titanium aluminium carbide based coatings on graphite flakes to overcome this problem. The resultant TiC-Ti₃AlC coated graphite showed higher peak oxidation temperature (~?900?°C) than the uncoated one (700?°C), suggesting that the coatings will afford graphite with superior oxidation resistance. Such improvements can be largely ascribed to not only the homogenous and crack-free TiC-Ti₃AlC coatings and their resultant relicts of TiO₂ and Al₂O₃, but also the molten salt technique for preparing the coatings. Especially the molten salts offer fast dissolution/melting/dispersion of Ti/Al powders, rapid reaction with graphite in the salt melts, and homogenous growth of the carbide coatings on the surface of graphite flakes at as low temperatures as 950–1150?°C.