Synthesis of ternary compounds of the Ti-Al-C system at high pressures and temperatures

Ternary carbides have been synthesized from a mixture of Ti, Al, and C powders taken in the stoichiometric relation 3/1.2/2 under quasihydrostatic pressures and temperatures. The amount of the MAX phase in samples and the material density has been increased by the two-stage synthesis at high pressures (1–2 GPa) and temperatures followed by homogenizing. The material, which had been produced at a pressure of 2 GPa, a temperature of 1200°C and annealed in an argon atmosphere, contained 94.3 Ti3AlC2-4.3 TiC-1.4 Al2O3 wt %. The material density and Vickers microhardness at the load of 4.9 N have been measured to be 4.27 g/cm3 and 3.3 GPa, respectively.