High fracture toughness of HfC through nano-scale templating and novel sintering aids

An approach to improve the sintering ability and the fracture toughness of hafnium carbide (HfC) ceramic by designing a unique composite structure is reported. The uniform and ultra-fine HfC nanoparticles (similar to 300 nm) are synthesized at 1450 degrees C by vacuum carbonization reaction with the glucose-derived hydrothermal precursor as a carbon source and template. HfC ceramic sintered with a SiCN sintering aid of 15 vol. % possesses a beneficial three-dimensional network microstructure composed of inter-penetrating phases of carbon, SiC and HfC with varied stoichiometry at multi-length scales. The obtained HfC exhibits a higher fracture toughness of 5.5 MPa m(1/2), which can be attributed to the unique composite structure able to promote stress releases in the crack tip and enhance the resistance to crack propagation.