Development of AlN and TiB2 Composites with Nb2O5, Y2O3 and ZrO2 as Sintering Aids

The synthesis of AlN and TiB2 by spark plasma sintering (SPS) and the effect of Nb2O5, Y2O3 and ZrO2 additions on the mechanical properties and densification of the produced composites is reported and discussed. After the SPS process, dense AlN and TiB2 composites with Nb2O5, Y2O3 and ZrO2 were successfully prepared. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that in the AlN composites, the addition of Nb2O5 gives rise to Nb4N3 during sintering. The compound Y3Al5O12 (YAG) was observed as precipitate in the sample with Y2O3. X-ray diffraction analysis of the TiB2 composites showed TiB2 as a single phase in these materials. The maximum Vickers and toughness values were 14.19 ± 1.43 GPa and 27.52 ± 1.75 GPa for the AlN and TiB2 composites, respectively.We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).The authors would like to thank Angel de Pablos Perez, José Jiménez Garcia, Nilo Cornejo Gómez and Sara Sereña Palomares of the Instituto de Cerámica y Vidrio, CSIC-Spain for assistance in measurements of SPS, mechanical properties and SEM. Adriana Tejeda, Gabriel Lara, Omar Novelo of the Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México for XRD and SEM and J. Ma. Rincón from Instituto Eduardo Torroja de Ciencias de la Construcción, CSIC for correcting the draft of this paper