Dense and highly textured coatings obtained by aerosol deposition method from Ti3SiC2 powder: Comparison to a dense material sintered by Spark Plasma Sintering

A commercial Ti3SiC2 MAX-phase powder of micron size was impacted onto glass substrates by aerosol deposition method (ADM) to get dense and adhesive films without sintering and with thicknesses up to 16 μm. The overall grain organization follows a wavelike texture with some significant grain deformation. Individual grains appear elongated and c-oriented. Grain boundaries are made of amorphous phase with small Ti3SiC2 crystallites of a size lower than 10 nm embedded. This structure is similar to that observed at the interface with the substrate where grain fragmentation is more pronounced. Inside grains, Ti3SiC2 typical nano-lamellar structure is clearly seen, as well as some crystal deformations quantified around 2.5%. XRD analyses are in accordance to TEM results and the mean crystallite size calculated evolves with the thickness. It is equal to a few nanometers close to the substrate up to an average of 40–50 nm for thicker films.