Processing of Silicon Carbide‐Mullite‐Alumina Nanocomposites

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Abstract
Nanocomposite materials in the form of nanometer‐sized second‐phase particles dispersed in a ceramic matrix have been shown to display enhanced mechanical properties. In spite of this potential, processing methodologies to produce these nanocomposites are not well established. In this paper, we describe a new method for processing SiC‐mullite‐Al2O3 nanocomposites by the reaction sintering of green compacts prepared by colloidal consolidation of a mixture of SiC and Al2O3 powders. In this method, the surface of the SiC particles was first oxidized to produce silicon oxide and to reduce the core of the SiC particles to nanometer size. Next, the surface silicon oxide was reacted with alumina to produce mullite. This process results in particles with two kinds of morphologies: nanometer‐sized SiC particles that are distributed in the mullite phase and mullite whiskers in the SiC phase. Both particle types are immersed in an Al2O3 matrix.

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