Effect of aluminum content on synthesis of Ti2AlC and Ti3AlC2 during treatment in a high-energy mill and hot pressing

Treatment of initial powders of titanium, carbon and aluminum in a high-energy mill and pressure sintering are used for synthesizing dense and single-phase Ti 2 AlC and Ti 3 AlC 2 ceramics. The effect of the content of aluminum and of the sintering temperature on the synthesis process is studied. During treatment in the high-energy mill the initial Ti, Al and C react and yield TiC and TiAl x . In the course of subsequent pressure sintering and depending on the content of aluminum, the milled powders interact and form TiC/Ti 2 AlC, Ti 3 AlC 2 ,Ti 2 AlC, and Ti 2 AlC/TiAl.