Fabrication of a multi-phase porous high-temperature Mo–Si–B alloy by in situ reaction synthesis

ABSTRACT

The pore formation process has been studied for a high-temperature porous Mo–Si–B alloy produced by in situ reaction synthesis from elemental starting powders. The expansions, phase transformations, microstructure and pore parameters were investigated systematically as a function of the sintering temperature. For sintering temperatures of 1200°C and above, a multiphase mixture of the oxidation-resistant intermetallic compounds Mo₃Si, Mo₅Si₃ and Mo₅SiB₂ was obtained. It was found that the porous alloys exhibit uniform skeletons with fine grains, high porosities and centred pore size distributions. Characterisation data obtained from samples sintered at temperatures from 1200 to 1600°C are used to deduce the processes which occur at each stage in the reaction synthesis. This helps to explain the formation mechanism for the pores and skeletons in this novel material.

KEYWORDS:

• Porous
• Mo–Si–B
• intermetallics
• reaction synthesis
• interdiffusion

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Yongan Huang was born on April 29th, 1991 in Jiangxi, China. In 2010, he entered Nanchang Hangkong University and graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Technology. Since then he has studied for a doctoral degree at the University of Science and Technology Beijing.

Laiqi Zhang is a Professor in the State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, University of Science and Technology Beijing. He was born on November 1st, 1966 in Shangdong, China. He entered Shangdong University in 1985, received a bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Technology in 1989 and a PhD in 1992. In 1994, he entered the University of Science and Technology Beijing and graduated in 1999 with a doctoral degree in Materials Science and Technology. He spent two years as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He joined the faculty at the University of Science and Technology Beijing in 2002.

Meng Wang was born in Sichuan/China. In 2005, He entered Sichuan University and graduated in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Technology. In 2011, He entered the University of Science and Technology Beijing and graduated in 2014 with a master’s degree in Materials Science and Technology. Since then he has been working as a material engineer at Pangang Group Research Institute Co., Ltd.

Mark Aindow is a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, USA. He was born in Cumbria, UK on June 23rd 1964. He was educated at the University of Liverpool, UK receiving a BEng in Metallurgy and Materials Science in 1985 and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering in 1988. He spent two years as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Case Western Reserve University and then at The Ohio State University. His first faculty appointment was from 1990 to 1999 in the School of Metallurgy and Materials at The University of Birmingham, UK. He joined the faculty at the University of Connecticut in 1999.

ORCID

Mark Aindow http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6617-1409

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant number 50871012; Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under grant number FRF-BR-17-031A; and State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials of the University of Science and Technology Beijing under grant number 2016Z-15.