Synthesis of β-SiAlON powder by carbothermal reduction–nitridation of zeolites with different compositions

β-SiAlON was synthesized from select zeolite Y compositions with different Si/Al ratios by carbothermal reduction–nitridation (CRN), and the correlation between the starting compositions and products was investigated. The carbon content in all of the zeolite samples was fixed at 1.2 times the required stoichiometric value. Zeolite–carbon mixtures were placed in a carbon boat and fired in a furnace at 1300 °C for 0 min, and 1450 °C for 0, 120 min in a N2 flow of 0.5 l/min. The main phase in each of the samples fired at 1450 °C for 120 min was determined from XRD results as β-SiAlON. It was also found that the ratio of β-SiAlON to minor phases such as α-Si3N4 and Si2N2O is typically higher in samples prepared from zeolites rather than from silica–alumina mixtures of the same compositions. This indicates that zeolites are ideal raw materials for the CRN synthesis of high purity β-SiAlONs by CRN with various z values.