Pretreatment and sintering of Si3N4 powder synthesized by the high-temperature self-propagation method

Self-propagation high-temperature synthesis (SHS) was applied for the synthesis of low-cost Si3N4 powder. The powder was purified and ground until its particle size reached submicron levels and its purity reached 98%. Using this pretreated powder, with α/β = 60/40 content, fully dense Si3N4 ceramics, having improved mechanical properties, were obtained by liquid-phase sintering in the presence of (Y, La)2O3-AlN. The mechanical properties achieved finally were as follows: strength, 784 MPa; hardness, 15.1 GPa; and fracture toughness, 5.2 MPa m0.5. The behaviors of the SHS-Si3N4 powders before and after the pretreatment were compared. The relation between microstructure and mechanical properties of the sintered specimens and the effect of different β content in the powder on the sintering process of Si3N4 were also studied.