Titanium carbide (TiC) production through self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS)

In this study, it is aimed to produce titanium carbide (TiC) ceramic powders, which is a kind of advanced ceramic, by using oxide raw materials (TiO 2 , Mg and C) by the self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS) method and the production conditions have been investigated. This method is particularly suitable for the production of refractory materials, as the process takes place at very high temperatures. Titanium carbide is a ceramic powder that is one of the hardest natural carbides and, it is used in advanced ceramic coating tools. It has very remarkable properties such as high resistance to chemical corrosion, stability at high temperatures, high hardness and electrical conductivity and abrasion resistance. It can be produced by carbothermal reduction, chemical vapor deposition, mechanical alloying and self- propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS) methods. Among these methods, the main advantage of the SHS method is its low energy consumption for synthesis compared to other techniques. In addition, SHS enables the formation of high purity and nano-sized products thanks to its extremely short reaction times. Experimental studies are carried out in two stages, SHS and leaching. For SHS processes, the raw materials prepared as 5 series at different stoichiometric ratios were reacted both under air atmosphere and argon atmosphere after drying at 105°C for 90 minutes. First, the TiO 2 and C ratios were kept constant, the Mg ratio was changed and the optimal Mg stoichiometry was determined as 1.1x. Then, by keeping the TiO 2 and Mg ratio constant, the C stoichiometry was increased and the most suitable C stoichiometry was determined as 3,0x. The obtained SHS products were purified by the second stage leaching process. For the leaching process, 9.3 M HCl was used as an acid. 10 g of SHS product was prepared with a 1/10 solids / liquid ratio and leached for 60 min at room temperature. The filter cake obtained after the process was dried at 105°C for 150 minutes. XRD analysis done as a result of experimental studies showed that; Stoichiometry 1.0xTiO 2 - 1.1xMg - 3.0xC provided the optimum and very similar results both under air and argon atmosphere. Thus, it has been seen that efficient results can be obtained with appropriate stoichiometric ratios under air atmosphere by using SHS method.