A novel simple method to stably synthesize Ti3AlC2 powder with high purity

In this work, a novel simple method is presented to synthesize highly pure Ti3AlC2 powder by heating 2TiC/Ti/Al (molar ratio) powder system between 1300 °C and 1400 °C for 15–30 min in flowing argon atmosphere. 2TiC/Ti/Al is selected as the raw material because of its much lower exothermal quantity than elemental 3Ti/Al/2C powder system in reacting process. The purity of Ti3AlC2 is not sensitive to the final temperature, soaking time or raw material scale. Its content is maintained around 97 wt.%, even though the scale of mixed raw materials vary from 5 g to 1000 g. The synthesized samples can be easily ground into powders with a mean particle size of 4.9 μm. Synthesis mechanism shows that both Ti2AlC and Ti3AlC2 will generate from the reaction among TiC, Ti and Al below 1200 °C. Above 1300 °C, Ti2AlC will continue to react with TiC and generate Ti3AlC2. The formation of Al liquid phase above 660 °C is considered as a promoting factor in the reacting process.