Synthesis of β-SiAlON: A combined method using sol–gel and SHS processes

β-SiAlON has been prepared by a SHS reaction performed under high nitrogen pressure on a compacted mixture of silicon and mullite. In order to optimise this reaction, the solid mixture was prepared from a liquid solution in which the mullite (2SiO2-3Al2O3) was formed by a sol–gel process. The SHS samples were characterized by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction. A Rietveld refinement performed on the recorded diffractograms revealed a very high formation rate of β-SiAlON (more than 80 wt%) when the reaction was carried out under low nitrogen pressure. From the whole of our results, a mechanism of β-SiAlON formation has been suggested.