Pulsed electric current sintering of TiB2-based ceramics using nitride additives

In this research, various types of nitride additives were incorporated into titanium diboride attaining dense TiB2-based ceramics by field-assisted sintering technique. The addition of different types of nitride additives, namely Si3N4, BN, AlN, and TiN, significantly improved the sinterability of TiB2, achieving near fully dense ceramics. The X-ray diffraction analysis and microstructural evaluation confirmed the presence of the h-BN compound in all specimens. In the TiB2-Si3N4 ceramic, Si3N4 additive reacted with B2O3 oxide, in-situ generating h-BN, and SiO2 phases. Although the h-BN phase was produced in the TiB2-AlN specimen, the main proportion of AlN remained in the sample as an unreacted ex-situ phase. In terms of the TiB2-TiN ceramic, some of the nitrogen and boron atoms could leave the TiN and TiB2 crystalline structures, contributing to the in-situ formation of h-BN.