Combustion Synthesis of MAX Phase Solid Solution Ti<sub>3</sub>(Al,Sn)C<sub>2</sub>

Abstract

Formation of the Ti3(Al,Sn)C2 solid solutions was studied by combustion synthesis from elemental powder compacts with Al4C3 and TiC additions. Combustion temperatures of 1590–1700 °C and flame-front speeds of 14.2–18.8 mm/s were measured for the Al4C3-added samples. Due to the dilution effect of TiC, the combustion temperature and flame velocity were significantly reduced to 1220–1280 °C and 7.1–9.6 mm/s, respectively, for the TiC-adopted samples. The XRD analysis indicated that MAX solid solutions Ti3(Al1–xSnx)C2 with x = 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 were produced from the Al4C3-adopted samples. Because of the low reaction temperature, the extent of Sn substitution for Al in Ti3(Al1–ySny)C2 was narrowed down to y = 0.4 for the TiC-containing samples. The as-synthesized Ti3(Al,Sn)C2 grains were plate-like and closely stacked into a laminated microstructure.