Green synthesis, formation mechanism and oxidation of Ti3SiC2 powder from bamboo charcoal, Ti and Si

Using low-cost and highly reactive bamboo charcoal, Ti and Si elemental powders as starting materials, Ti 3 SiC 2 powder was synthesized via a simple and cost-efficient pressureless sintering technique in argon atmosphere. The influences of synthesis temperature, holding time and Si content on the Ti 3 SiC 2 content of the synthesized products were investigated, and the analysis indicated that the relative content of Ti 3 SiC 2 reached 98.9 wt% with a molar ratio of 3Ti/1.2Si/2.2C at 1400 °C for 1.5 h. The Ti 3 SiC 2 with good crystallinity and homogeneous nanolayered structure was synthesized at lower temperatures due to the high reactivity and high specific surface area of bamboo charcoal. The non-isothermal oxidation behavior showed that Ti 3 SiC 2 powder was stable in air below 540 °C. With the temperature increasing up to 1300 °C, continuous and dense TiO 2 and SiO 2 oxidation layers were formed on the surface of Ti 3 SiC 2 particles, which conferred good oxidation resistance to Ti 3 SiC 2 powder.