Mechanochemical synthesis and shock wave consolidation of TiN(Al) nanostructure solid solution

This paper aims to report the study of the synthesis of a titanium nitride nanostructure solid solution through the reduction of aluminum nitride with titanium based on the stoichiometric reaction of 2Ti + AlN by mechanical alloying (MA) process at a ball-to-powder weight ratio of 15:1. A nanostructure solid solution of in-situ titanium nitride was formed through exchange reaction between Ti and AlN at the initial time of MA. XRD, SEM, EPMA, TEM, and particle size analysis (PSA) were used to characterize the products. It was found that the amount of Al resulting from decomposition of aluminum nitride dissolved in the TiN lattice increased in accordance with milling time, leading to the formation of TiN(Al) solid solution and a reduction of the TiN lattice interplanar distance. The milled powder displayed equiaxed morphology and a narrow size distribution of about 1 μm at the end of the milling process. In-situ TiN(Al) crystallites were of an average size of 6 ± 2 nm. Subsequent to MA, an underwater shock compaction method was applied to the prolonged milled powders to obtain bulk sample. The effect of this shock compaction on the selected sample resulted in the preservation of its nanostructure characteristics with no additional phase transformation which are considered advantageous in the use of high dynamic compaction method for ceramic materials.