Sintering of nano crystalline α silicon carbide by doping with boron carbide

Sinterable nano silicon carbide powders of mean particle size (37 nm) were prepared by attrition milling and chemical processing of an acheson type alpha silicon carbide having mean particle size of 0.39 μm (390 nm). Pressureless sintering of these powders was achieved by addition of boron carbide of 0.5 wt% together with carbon of 1 wt% at 2050° C at vacuum (3 mbar) for 15 min. Nearly 99% sintered density was obtained. The mechanism of sintering was studied by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. This study shows that the mechanism is a solid-state sintering process. Polytype transformation from 6H to 4H was observed.