Synthesis of Ti2SnC at low-temperature using mechanically activated sintering process

The mechanically activated sintering process has been adopted to synthesize Ti2SnC at low temperature. The mechanically alloyed (MAed) Ti/Sn/C powders and Ti/Sn/MAed-C powders with a stoichiometric composition and a deficient-Sn and -C composition have been sintered in the temperature range of 400–950 °C. The results show that Ti2SnC was synthesized at a relatively low temperature of 650 °C for 1 h, its content increased with increasing temperature, a large amount of Ti2SnC was obtained at 950 °C for 0.5 h. The main reason for the formation of Ti2SnC at such a low temperature is that the MAed powders have large grain boundary areas and short diffusion pathway, which improve the sinterability. The fine powder of C plays a key role in the reaction system, and its effect on the formation of Ti2SnC has been investigated.