• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.308-317
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• 2012

Reactive processing, such as reactive hot pressing (RHP) and reactive spark plasma sintering (R-SPS), is effective densification method to prepare $ZrB_2$-based ultra high temperature ceramics (UHTCs). The present paper reviewed some typical reactive processing of $ZrB_2$-based UHTCs. All the reactions from the starting materials in the reactive processing are thermodynamically favorable, which generate enough energy and driving force for the densification of the final products under a relatively low temperature. Besides, compared with non-reactive processing, anisotropic $ZrB_2$ grains, such as $ZrB_2$ platelets, can only be obtained in the reactive processing, resulting in an improvement of the mechanical properties.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.331-339
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• 2019

While high-temperature ceramic composites consisting of carbides, borides, and nitrides, the so-called ultra-high-temperature ceramics (UHTCs), have been commonly produced through solid-state sintering, melt-solidification is an alternative method for their manufacture. As many UHTCs are binary or ternary eutectic systems, they can be melted and solidified at a relatively low temperature via a eutectic reaction. The microstructure of the eutectic composites is typically rod-like or lamellar, as determined by the volume fraction of the second phase. Directional solidification can help fabricate more sophisticated UHTCs with highly aligned textures. This review describes the fabrication of UHTCs through the eutectic reaction and explains their mechanical properties. The use of melt-solidification has been limited to small specimens; however, the recently developed laser technology can melt large-sized UHTCs, suggesting their potential for practical applications. An example of laser melt-solidification of a eutectic ceramic composite is demonstrated.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.462-466
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• 2015

This paper reports the microstructure of hot-pressed $ZrB_2$-SiC ceramics with added $B_4C$ as characterized by transmission electron microscopy. $ZrB_2$ has a melting point of $3245^{\circ}C$, a relatively low density of $6.1g/cm^3$, and specific mechanical properties at an elevated temperature, making it a candidate for application to environments with ultra-high temperatures which exceed $2000^{\circ}C$. Due to the non-sinterability of $ZrB_2$-based ceramics, research on sintering aids such as $B_4C$ or $MoSi_2$ has become prominent recently. From TEM investigations, an amorphous layer with contaminant oxide is observed in the vicinity of $B_4C$ grains remaining in hot-pressed $ZrB_2$-SiC ceramics with $B_4C$ as an additive. The effect of a $B_4C$ addition on the microstructure of this system is also discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.578-582
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• 2010

$ZrB_2$ has a melting point of $3245^{\circ}C$ and a relatively low density of $6.1\;g/cm^3$, which makes this a candidate for application to ultrahigh temperature environments over $2000^{\circ}C$. Beside these properties, $ZrB_2$ is known to have excellent resistance to thermal shock and oxidation compared with other non-oxide engineering ceramics. In order to enhance such oxidation resistance, SiC was frequently added to $ZrB_2$-based systems. Due to nonsinterability of $ZrB_2$-based ceramics, research on the sintering aids such as $B_4C$ or $MoSi_2$ becomes popular recently. In this study, densification and high-temperature properties of $ZrB_2$-SiC ceramics especially with $B_4C$ are investigated. $ZrB_2$-20 vol% SiC system was selected as a basic composition and $B_4C$ or C was added to this system in some extents. Mixed powders were sintered using hot pressing (HP). With sintered bodies, densification behavior and high-temperature (up to $1400^{\circ}C$) properties such as flexural strength, hardness, and so on were examined.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.410-415
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• 2013

$ZrB_2$-SiC ceramics are fabricated via hot pressing with different ratios of submicron or nano-sized SiC in a $ZrB_2$-20 vol%SiC system, in order to examine the effect of the SiC size ratio on the microstructures and physical properties, such as thermal conductivity, hardness, and flexural strength, of $ZrB_2$-SiC ceramics. Five different $ZrB_2$-SiC ceramics ($ZrB_2$-20 vol%[(1-x)SiC + xnanoSiC] where x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1.0) are prepared in this study. The mean SiC particle sizes in the sintered bodies are highly dependent on the ratio of nano-sized SiC. The thermal conductivities of the $ZrB_2$-SiC ceramics increase with the ratio of nano-sized SiC, which is consistent with the percolation behavior. In addition, the $ZrB_2$-SiC ceramics with smaller mean SiC particle sizes exhibit enhanced mechanical properties, such as hardness and flexural strength, which can be explained using the Hall-Petch relation.