Application of pulse discharge sintering (PDS) technique to rapid synthesis of Ti3SiC2 from Ti/Si/C powders

To synthesize Ti3SiC2 samples, pulse discharge sintering (PDS) technique was utilized to sinter elemental powders of Ti/Si/C with stoichiometric and off-stoichiometric ratios in a temperature range of 1200–1500 °C. The results showed that high purity Ti3SiC2 could not be obtained from the Ti/Si/C powder with molar ratio of 3:1:2, and Ti3SiC2 preferred to form at relatively low sintering temperature for a short time. When 5Ti/2Si/3C and 3Ti/1.5Si/2C powders were sintered for 15 min, the TiC content was respectively decreased to 6.4 and 10 wt.% at 1250–1300 °C. The corresponding relative density of the samples sintered from 5Ti/2Si/3C powder was calculated to be as high as 99% at the temperature above 1300 °C. It is suggested that low-temperature rapid synthesis of Ti3SiC2 would be possible through the PDS technique, provided that the composition of the starting powders should be adjusted to be off-stoichiometric ratio from 3:1:2.