Rapid synthesis, oxidation behavior and electromagnetic wave absorption properties of Ti3AlC2 powder via selective laser melting

Ti 3 AlC 2 , notable for its distinctive combination of metallic and ceramic properties, has attracted significant attention. The rapid synthesis of Ti 3 AlC 2 powders is crucial for mass production. In this study, Ti 3 AlC 2 powders with 85 wt% purity were synthesized efficiently using selective laser melting method, utilizing titanium powder, aluminum powder and titanium carbide particles as starting materials. This innovative method reduces synthesis time by a factor of approximately 30–240 compared to traditional heating techniques. Moreover, the apparent oxidation activation energy ( E ) and the pre-exponential factor of the synthesized Ti 3 AlC 2 were calculated as 53.86 kJ/mol and 12.74, respectively. Additionally, a powder composition containing 45 wt% Ti 3 AlC 2 exhibited a maximum reflection loss of −21.5 dB at 8.2 GHz with a thickness of 2.5 mm, achieving effective electromagnetic wave absorption in the frequency range of 7.4 GHz–9.4 GHz.