Spark plasma sintered tantalum carbide-carbon nanotube composite: Effect of pressure, carbon nanotube length and dispersion technique on microstructure and mechanical properties

▶ Spark plasma sintering was used to synthesize 100% dense TaC-CNT composites. ▶ Addition of CNTs aided densification and inhibited grain coarsening. ▶ HRTEM elucidated the effect of very high pressures and temperature on CNTs. ▶ Improvement in the fracture toughness was observed by CNT addition. ▶ A comparison of effect of long and short CNTs on various aspects has been studied.