Conventional and microwave sintering of MoSi₂ nanostructured powder: powder and parts characterisation

Abstract

In this paper, MoSi₂ nanostructured powder is characterised by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The powder parts were fabricated by press and sinter process or powder injection moulding in order to investigate the impacts of the sintering process on the microstructure of materials and their properties. Two approaches were investigated for the sintering stage: conventional and microwave sintering. The microwave approach does not necessitate as high temperature as conventional sintering and is much shorter. The sintered specimens were characterised (density, microstructure and phases) to compare the efficiency of the different sintering approaches and their ability to maintain the nanograins of the initial MoSi₂ powder. The microwave sintering resulted in smaller grain size than either press and sinter process or powder injection moulding conventional sintered parts.

Keywords:

• Powder injection moulding
• MoSi₂
• Microwave sintering
• Conventional sintering
• Powder metallurgy
• Characterisation

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to recognise the contribution of the Center for Characterisation and Microscopy of Materials (CM)² for access to the characterisation equipments and Maetta Sciences Inc. for access to processing and characterisation equipments. The authors also acknowledge the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for the financial support.