Synthesis of Ti(C,N) ultrafine powders by carbothermal reduction of TiO2 derived from sol–gel process

Experimental results demonstrate that TiC1−XNX ultrafine powders can be synthesized by the sol–gel process. The factors influencing the powder synthesizing process, such as temperature, C/Ti ratio in raw materials, holding time and flow rate of nitrogen gas, are discussed. TiC0.5N0.5 powders with particle sizes less than 100 nm were produced at 1550°C. The microhardness of hot-pressed TiC0.5N0.5 samples at 1750°C was 19.6 GPa and the relative density was 98.9%.