New Strategies for Preparing NanoSized Silicon Nitride Ceramics

We report the preparation of nanosized silicon nitride (Si3N4) ceramics via high‐energy mechanical milling and subsequent spark plasma sintering. A starting powder mixture consisting of ultrafine β‐Si3N4 and sintering additives of 5‐mol% Y2O3 and 2‐mol% Al2O3 was prepared by high‐energy mechanical m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Ceramic Society 2005-04, Vol.88 (4), p.934-937
Main Authors: Xu, Xin, Nishimura, Toshiyuki, Hirosaki, Naoto, Xie, Rong-Jun, Zhu, Yinchun, Yamamoto, Yoshinobu, Tanaka, Hidehiko
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Ball milling
Building materials. Ceramics. Glasses
Ceramic industries
Chemical industry and chemicals
Exact sciences and technology
Mechanical properties
Nanostructured ceramics
Plasma sintering
Silicon nitride
Structural ceramics
Technical ceramics
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Summary:We report the preparation of nanosized silicon nitride (Si3N4) ceramics via high‐energy mechanical milling and subsequent spark plasma sintering. A starting powder mixture consisting of ultrafine β‐Si3N4 and sintering additives of 5‐mol% Y2O3 and 2‐mol% Al2O3 was prepared by high‐energy mechanical milling. After milling, the powder mixture was mostly transformed into a non‐equilibrium amorphous phase containing a large quantity of well‐dispersed nanocrystalline β‐Si3N4 particles. This powder precursor was then consolidated by spark plasma sintering at a temperature as low as 1600°C for 5 min at a heating rate of 300°C/min. The fully densified sample consisted of homogeneous nano‐Si3N4 grains with an average diameter of about 70 nm, which led to noticeable high‐temperature ductility and elevated hardness.
ISSN:0002-7820
1551-2916
DOI:10.1111/j.1551-2916.2005.00187.x