Microwave Sintering of Ti3Si(Al)C2 Ceramic

In this work, microwave sintering (MWS) method was successfully applied for fabrication of dense layered ternary Ti3Si(Al)C-2 ceramic. Compared to conventional pressureless approaches, MWS could significantly decrease preparation temperature from 1600 degrees C to 1400 degrees C. The activation energy of the MWS process was estimated as 233 +/- 18kJ/mol, which was much lower than those in previous sintering techniques. The low sintering temperature likely originates from the low activation energy during MWS process. Such low temperature do not only make the as-received Ti3Si(Al)C-2 ceramic much smaller grain size and better mechanical properties, but also indicate higher energy converting efficiency during the sintering processes. Wide application of MWS techniques in MAX phases is expected to promote the practical applications of these materials and contribute to the energy saving during sintering process.