Effect of surface silanisation on the dry pressing behaviour of silicon nitride powder

The influence of surface modification of silicon nitride powders with alkylsilanes on their compaction behaviour was studied with an instrumented compacting tool. The powder–powder interactions were investigated by viscosity measurements additionally. All silanes, even those with short alkyl chains, reduce interparticular interactions (e.g. hydrogen bridging) and therefore improve the compaction behaviour of ceramic granules in general.