Synthesizinge a novel Zr2Al-GNS MAX phase ceramic with superior electrical properties using pressureless sintering technique.

Abstract

A unique Zr2Al-GNS MAX phase ceramic supported nanographene sheet was prepared using a cost-effective pressureless sintering technique under relatively low temperature. An experimental investigation was conducted to explore the lattice parameters using different temperatures, such as 1000, 1150, and 1300 °C. To characterize the crystal structure of the MAX phase ceramic, X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy imaging, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and selected area diffraction (SAED) were utilized. The results revealed that the pressureless sintering technique was successfully utilized to synthesize the Zr2Al-GNS MAX phase ceramic under 1150 °C with a low impurity ratio of secondary phases such as Zr3AL2, Zr3AL5, and ZrC components. The high percentage of the Zr2Al-GNS MAX phase ceramic was obtained at 49.0% at 1150 °C compared with different temperatures. The BET surface area (SBET), pore volume, and pore size were also investigated. The SBET of the prepared Zr2Al-GNS MAX phase was increased to 30% using graphene nanosheet, while the porosity was highly decreased to 8% from its original value. The electrical properties were also studied in this research for potential applications, such as the absolute value of impedance (Z), absolute value of admittance (Y), induction (L), capacitance (C), resistance (R), conductance (G), susceptibility (B), and phase angle (ϴ). It was found that the capacitance and the phase angle were improved using the prepared Zr2Al-GNS MAX phase ceramic, depending on the frequencies. The results presented here may facilitate the improvements in the features of the MAX phase type of Zr2Al-GNS-enhanced one-layer nanographene sheet for electrical applications ceramic.