Formation and densification of SiAlON materials by reaction bonding and silicothermal reduction routes

Abstract

Samples of β and O-sialon with different levels of substitution (i.e. z1 and 4 for β-sialon and x0.05 and 0.2 for O-sialon) have been synthesized by both reaction bonding and silicothermal reduction techniques in a nitrogen atmosphere. The possibility of obtaining dense sialon materials by these lower cost production methods has been investigated using a statistical design methodology. The influence of different parameters (temperature, gas pressure and additive type) on the densification and decomposition has been studied and will be discussed in this presentation. © 2011 Ceramic Society of Japan.