Synthesis of poly-titanosilazanes and conversion into Si3N4-TiN ceramics

Poly-titanosilazanes were synthesized by chemical modification of commercially available perhydropolpsilazane (PHPS) with TiX4 [X=N(CH3)(2), OCH(CH3)(2)] and the synthesized polymeric precursors were found to contain some N-Ti bonds by chemical structure analyses using IR and H-1 NMR techniques. The poly-titanosilazane derived from PHPS and Ti(N(CH3)(2))(4) yielded Si3N4-TiN ceramics by pyrolysis at 1000 degrees C in NH3, followed by heat treatment at 1800 degrees C in N-2. TiN was observed as particles with diameter of smaller than 100 nm; the poly-titanosilazane was found to be suitable for the synthesis of TIN nanoparticle-dispersed Si3N4-based ceramics.