Silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) particles with different morphologies have been used in many fields. In this work, α-Si 3 N 4 whiskers and granular particles with high-phase purity were successfully tailored by the controllable crystallisation process of amorphous Si 3 N 4 powders under different N 2 pressure. Impressively, α-Si 3 N 4 whiskers were prepared by simply heat treating amorphous Si 3 N 4 powders at 1550 °C for 2 h under the low N 2 pressure of 0.2 MPa, whereas equiaxed α-Si 3 N 4 particles with uniform size of ~280 nm were obtained under an elevated N 2 pressure of 2.0 MPa. With the evaluated N 2 pressures and temperatures, large scale α-Si 3 N 4 whiskers or equiaxed α-Si 3 N 4 particles could be produced. The growth mechanisms of the α-Si 3 N 4 particles with distinct morphologies were rationally proposed, and these consist of two main growth processes. First, amorphous Si 3 N 4 powders decomposed into Si(g) and N 2 (g) under high-temperature treatment. Subsequently, N 2 (g) dominated the recombination of the evaporated chemical with the Si 3 N 4 molecule. The initial N 2 concentration, which plays a key role in tailoring the shape and size of products, was controlled by the N 2 pressure.
Weichu Jia,Jingfei Shangguan,Feng Lang,Duxin Li,Haiyang Yang
Si3N4 whiskers were modified with triethoxysilane as a means to improve the interfacial interaction with a poly-amide imide (PAI). The Si3N4/PAI composites were prepared by in-situ polymerization as an approach to improve the friction behavior and mechanical properties in order to meet the performance needs of electrical transformers and motors in harsh environments. 4,4′-diamino diphenyl ether, m-phenylenediamine, triethylamine, trimellitic anhydride chloride, and Si3N4 whiskers were used to manufacture Si3N4/PAI composite, which was then characterized for friction and mechanical behavior. The research showed that the addition of Si3N4 whiskers improved the mechanical properties and friction properties of PAI. When the whisker content was 10 wt%, the tensile strength of the composite was 137.5 MPa, which is 15% higher than pure PAI, and the wear rate was 0.69 × 10-8 g/N·m, which is 57% lower than pure PAI, and the friction coefficient was 0.47, which was an increase of 9%. In aerospace, machinery, and transportation applications, these materials may have better performance due to their improved combination of properties.
Epoxy resin (EP) composites with satisfactory thermal and tribological performance are highly required for engineering moving components. However, the simple addition of fillers leaded to the serious filler agglomeration and limited promotion in tribological properties. In this work, we constructed a new kind of three-dimensional (3D) reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/Si 3 N 4 hybrid aerogel for EP composites, which was prepared by a facile hydrothermal self-assembly method followed by freeze-drying technique. As a result, the dispersibility of Si 3 N 4 whiskers was greatly improved through wrapping of polydopamine—polyethyleneimine copolymer (PDA—PEI) copolymer and physical spacing of 3D skeleton. Furthermore, benefiting from the synergistic effect of RGO and Si 3 N 4 @PDA—PEI in the thermal network, the thermal conductivity of RGO/Si 3 N 4 hybrid aerogel (GSiA)—EP increased by 45.4% compared to that of the neat EP. In addition, the friction coefficient and wear rate of GSiA—EP decreased by 83.7% and 35.8%, respectively. This work is significant for opening a tribological performance enhancement strategy though constructing 3D hybrid architecture.