Morphological Evolution Of Titanium Carbide Whiskers

Abstract

AbstractThe early growth of titanium carbide whiskers from mixtures of TiCl4-CH4-H2 was investigated. Fine nickel particles were the catalytic agent in a hot-wall CVD reactor. It was confirmed that whisker growth is initiated by the vapor-liquid-solid mechanism at the growth temperature of 1423 K. The initial growth proceeds by the diffusion of the constituent species through a Ni-Ti liquid droplet and is characterized by a rapid increase in whisker length, the diameter remaining essentially constant. In the later stage, the whiskers grow primarily in the axial direction at a reduced rate with a gradual increase in the diameter. The whisker diameter (D) and its rate of increase are independent of the nickel particle sizes, but increased proportionately to the reactant supersaturations. The whisker length (L) also increased with increasing nickel particle size and reactant supersaturation, resulting in large aspect ratios (L/D = 12.5). The whiskers exhibited extensive branching and kinking and a <100> primary growth direction.