Investigation of effect of Chemical composition of the preform on nano-layered Ti3SiC2 max phase synthesis using reactive melt infiltration process (RMI)

Ti3SiC2 bulks were synthesized using Si melt infiltration into porous preforms with different chemical compositions. The initial composition of the preforms was prepared on the basis of the TiC, 2TiC/Ti, 3TiC/0.3Si, 3Ti/2C (carbon active) and 3Ti/2C (graphite) formulations and was pressed into pellet using a cold press method. The Si ingots were weighed 3 times the stoichiometric value and in order to carry out the melt infiltration process were placed on pellets. The melt infiltration process was carried out at a temperature of 1500°C for 1 hour in a vacuum of 10-4torr. Phase analysis, morphological observation and elemental analysis were performed by XRD, FE-SEM and EDS, respectively, and it was observed that the best result was for a sample with 3TiC/0.3Si preform and the samples with 3Ti/2C preform has a lot of impurities. It was also found that the size of the nano layers observed with the FE-SEM analysis is mainly in the range of 20 to 40 nm.