Synthesis of single-phase metal oxycarbonitride ceramics

Abstract Single-phase titanium-zirconium oxycarbonitride ceramics, prototypically Ti1/2Zr1/2(C1/3N1/3O1/3), was obtained by spark plasma sintering of the corresponding Ti and Zr- oxide, carbide and nitride. It was revealed that a single-phase Ti1/2Zr1/2(C1/3N1/3O1/3) solid solution with rock-salt structure formed at 2000 °C, below which the secondary phase of ZrO2 was evident. The as-sintered ceramics was chemically homogeneous from nanoscale to microscale and the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen contents in Ti1/2Zr1/2(C1/3N1/3O1/3) ceramics were determined to be 5.39 wt%, 5.44 wt% and 6.00 wt%, corresponding to an empirical formula of Ti0.51Zr0.49(C0.37N0.32O0.31). The product possesses a relative density of 95.2% and Vickers hardness of 21.6 ± 2.4 GPa.