Co-dispersion behavior and interactions of nano-ZrB2 and nano-SiC in a non-aqueous solvent

The co-dispersion behavior and interactions of nano-ZrB2 and nano-SiC in a non-aqueous solvent were investigated. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and oleic acid were adopted as dispersants to study the stable co-dispersion mechanism in a non-aqueous solvent. Because N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) has a relatively high dielectric constant among non-aqueous solvents, NMP was introduced; NMP was found to exhibit a good affinity with dispersants. ZrB2 and SiC were mixed in NMP with or without dispersants. ZrB2 and SiC in a paste without dispersants aggregated due to the poor repulsion force by a double-layer overlapping. The paste with PVDF was more homogeneous than the paste with oleic acid. The steric hindrance effect of PVDF was evaluated using SEM image analysis. FT-IR analysis results show that PVDF and oleic acid were chemically adsorbed onto the particle surface.