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Titanium Aluminum Carbide MAX Phase Ceramics: A Combination of Metal And Ceramics

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Update time : 2020-04-21 15:10:36

The MAX phase (including Ti3SiC2, Ti2AlC, etc.) is a new type of machinable ceramic material that has received a lot of attention.
 

This material includes more than fifty kinds of ternary carbides or nitrides. M represents a transition metal element; A represents the main group element; X represents carbon or nitrogen. The basic chemical formula can be expressed as M (n + 1) AXn, of which Ti3SiC2 is the most widely studied.
 

Ti3SiC2 was synthesized by Professor Barsoum's research group of Drexel University in 1996 by a hot pressing method and found its excellent performance. Due to the unique nano-layered crystal structure, these materials have the properties of self-lubrication, high toughness, and electrical conductivity. Such materials can be widely used as high-temperature structural materials, electrode brush materials, chemical anti-corrosion materials, and high-temperature heating materials. After 1996, research related to such materials has been widely carried out in Japan, Europe, and China.
 

Titanium silicon carbide (Ti3SiC2) is an excellent example of a market application in MAX materials. Titanium silicon carbide has good electrical and thermal conductor properties like metal, easy to process, soft, not sensitive to impact, and high-temperature phenotype is plastic. It also has a ceramic-like function with oxidation resistance and high-temperature resistance, and its high-temperature strength exceeds all high-temperature alloys. It can be described as a beautiful cross-border combination of metal and ceramics. At present, there are already many units in China that can mass-produce this material and invest it in industrial applications.
 

The MAX phase ceramics have the excellent properties of metal materials and ceramic materials, such as good electrical conductivity, high toughness, and good self-lubricating properties, and such materials are in electrode brush materials, high-temperature structural materials, high-temperature heating materials, and chemical anti-corrosion materials have begun to be widely used.

Titanium aluminum carbide is a new type of ternary layered structure ceramic material, which has unique properties and has been widely concerned by materials scientists and physicists.
 

Titanium aluminum carbide (Ti3AlC2, Ti2AlC) belongs to the hexagonal crystal system and has both the characteristics of metals and ceramics. In essence, it has the same electrical and thermal conductivity as metals but also has high elastic modulus and excellent high-temperature mechanical properties similar to ceramics. It also has good thermal shock resistance, damage resistance, and excellent chemical resistance.
 

Laminated magnetic materials have attracted much attention due to their unique structure and potential applications in the field of spintronics. For example, the giant magnetoresistance effect found in layered magnetic materials has completely changed data storage and magnetic recording. At present, researchers are committed to Finding more new magnetic materials to meet the application of materials in different service environments. The MAX phase is a type of nano-layered transition metal compound with a hexagonal lattice structure. The molecular formula is Mn + 1AXn, (where M is generally a metal of the former transition group, A is mainly an element of the main group of 13-15, X is carbon or/and Nitrogen, n takes more values ​​1-3), 1.

Judging from the bonding characteristics of the MAX phase lattice, the overlap of electron clouds between M and X atoms determines the strong ionic and covalent bonds, while the overlap of electron clouds between M and A atoms is weak, which is The physical and chemical properties of element A have some help.

Therefore, if a magnetic element is introduced at the A site in the MAX phase, with the unique nano-layered structure, high stability, and adjustable anisotropy, it is expected to be used as a functional material in spintronic devices. However, previous studies generally believed that post-transition metal elements such as Fe, Co, Ni, and Mn with 3d electrons should exist in the M-atomic lattice site of the MAX phase material, and a magnetic element was synthesized to occupy the A site of the two-dimensional monoatomic layer in the MAX phase. It is considered to be a great challenge.

Recently, the Advanced Energy Materials Engineering Laboratory of Ningbo Institute of Materials has adopted the synthesis strategy of alloy-controlled reaction path, and successfully introduced the magnetic elements Fe / Co / Ni / Mn into the A phase of MAX phase. Theoretical analysis shows that V2SnC is the only thermodynamically stable ternary layered MAX phase in the V-Sn-C system, which can be in phase equilibrium with Sn metal and vanadium carbide. In the case of adding a magnetic element, the V2 (AxSny) C phase can be in phase equilibrium with the VC1-x and AxSny alloy phases, that is, the VC1-x and intermediate liquid AxSny are transformed into V2 (AxSny) C.
 

Compared with the ternary V-Sn-C system, Fe and other magnetic elements have a higher chemical affinity for Sn, so it takes precedence over the V metal combination to form Fe-Sn alloy, which will facilitate the nucleation of VC1-x phase at low temperature and Suppresses the formation of competitive phase of V-Sn alloy. The liquid AxSny alloy and VC1-x nanocrystals further form the V2 (AxSn1-x) C phase through the peritectic reaction. The research team further confirmed that all magnetic elements are distributed in the A-site monoatomic layer through the scanning electron microscope Z-contrast imaging technology and atomic resolution energy spectrum analysis technology, and the M-site is only a single element of vanadium. The introduction of a magnetic element with an outer layer of d electrons at the A site will provide great imagination for the expansion of the function of the MAX phase material.
 

With the deepening of research and the breakthrough of preparation technology, the “family members” of MAX phase materials are continuously expanding, and their performances are constantly being broken through. With the process of high-end equipment, miniaturization, and intensive, the global demand for MAX phase materials is bound to explode, and the spring of MAX phase materials has just arrived.

TRUNNANO (Luoyang Trunnano Tech Co., Ltd ) is a professional Ti3SiC2 manufacturer with over 12 years experience in chemical products research and development. If you are looking for high quality Ti3SiC2, please feel free to contact us and send an inquiry.

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