Fabrication of high purity Ti3SiC2 from Ti/Si/C with the aids of Al by spark plasma sintering

Ti/Si/C powders were used to fabricate high purity Ti3SiC2 with the aids of Al by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The results showed that the dense Ti3SiC2 samples with <2 wt.% TiC could be rapidly synthesized from Ti/Si/C/Al mixtures at 1280 °C for 6–36 min. The sintering temperature and the sintering time was lower and shorter than that by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) or hot pressing (HP) from Ti/Si/C mixtures. The microstructures of Ti3SiC2 depend on the sintering temperature and holding times of SPS and can be controlled accordingly. The technological implication of this work is that, with the aids of Al, Ti/Si/C can be suggested to be the powder mixture to synthesize high purity Ti3SiC2 in addition to Ti/Si/TiC powder mixture.