Fabrication of textured Ti3SiC2 ceramic by slip casting in a strong magnetic field and pressureless sintering

Sinterable Ti3SiC2 powder was synthesized from a powder mixture with a molar ratio of 1.0Ti:0.3Al:1.2Si:2.0TiC by heating at 1200 degrees C in Ar flow. Almost single-phase peaks of Ti3SiC2 were observed in X-ray diffraction patterns. The powder was dispersed in ethanol using polyethylenimine (PEI) as the polymer dispersant. Textured dense Ti3SiC2 ceramics were successfully fabricated by slip casting in a strong magnetic field followed by pressureless sintering at 1400 degrees C for 2 h. The relative density of these Ti3SiC2 ceramics was 99.4%, and the bending strength, fracture toughness and electrical resistivity were 623 +/- 9 MPa, 5.9 +/- 0.1 MPa.m(1/2) and 0.31 mu Omega.mu, respectively. Compared with those of nontextured pressureless sintered samples of almost full density, the bending strength and fracture toughness of the textured Ti3SiC2 ceramics were increased by factors of 1.6 and 1.4, respectively. (C) 2014 The Ceramic Society of Japan. All rights reserved.