Effect of powder characteristics on the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of Si 3 N 4 ceramics sintered by Spark plasma sintering

• The effect of powder characteristics on the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) ceramics were investigated systematically by using two α-Si 3 N 4 powders as raw materials and using MgSiN 2 or MgO + Y 2 O 3 as sintering additives. The Si 3 N 4 ceramics with a higher density were obtained by α-Si 3 N 4 powders with lower oxygen content and impurities and using none-oxide sintering additive MgSiN 2 . The α–β phase transformation completely taken place in all the specimen at 1750 °C. The specimens sintered by powders with lower levels of oxygen and impurities show higher mechanical properties than other specimens. The Y 2 O 3 and MgO sintering additives lead to higher flexural strength and fracture toughness than MgSiN 2 . The Vickers’ hardness is just the opposite. The thermal conductivity value of powders with lower oxygen content is higher than that of the materials prepared by the other type of powder at the same conditions. The effects of the Si 3 N 4 particle size, native oxygen and impurities on the thermal conductivity of resultant materials were discussed in detail. This work demonstrates that the improvement in thermal conductivity of Si 3 N 4 can be obtained by using none-oxide sintering additive MgSiN 2 and the Si 3 N 4 powder with lower oxygen content, and impurities.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Metallurgi och metalliska material (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Metallurgy and Metallic Materials (hsv//eng)

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