Diffusion-controlled intercalation approach to synthesize the Ti2AlC MAX phase coatings at low temperature of 550 °C

Abstract

Mn+1AXn (MAX) phase materials have unique nano-laminated structures and exhibit interesting hybrid properties with ceramics and metals. However, high synthesis temperatures, e.g. typically ≥700 °C for Ti2AlC coatings, are the key barriers to their wide application on various substrates. In this study, Ti2AlC MAX phase coatings were firstly fabricated by annealing the pre-designed α-TiC0.65/Al multilayer coatings at temperatures as low as 550 °C till now, which is the lowest synthesis temperature compared to already-reported literatures. Different with the common used short-time annealing (1–3 h), noted that the long-time annealing from 15 h to 400 h was particularly conducted based on the sluggish diffusion kinetics at lower temperature. Moreover, the dependence of structural evolution upon annealing proposed that Al diffusion-controlled intercalation process played the key factor to reduce the the formation temperature of Ti2AlC MAX phase. The results provide a strategy to fabricate high-quality Ti2AlC MAX phase coatings at 550 °C for wide application of temperature-sensitive substrates.