Effect of processing parameters on in situ screen printing-assisted synthesis and electrical properties of Ti3SiC2-based structures

Abstract

AbstractThis work reports on the development of pastes containing Ti, TiC, Si, and C elementary powders for in situ synthesis of Ti3SiC2 via screen printing. Four paste compositions were manufactured using two powder mixtures (Ti/Si/C and Ti/TiC/Si/C) with different stoichiometry. The pastes were screen printed onto Al2O3 substrates and sintered at 1400 ℃ in argon varying the dwell time from 1 to 5 h. The printed pastes containing TiC and excess of Si exhibited the lowest surface roughness and after 5 h sintering comprised of Ti3SiC2 as the majority phase. The electrical conductivity of this sample was found to range from 4.63×104 to 2.57×105 S·m–1 in a temperature range of 25–400 ℃.