Electric field effect on texture formation of mullite in spark plasma sintered SiC with Al2O3–SiO2 additive

Nanocrystalline SiC ceramics were sintered by spark plasma sintering, with alumina and quartz powders as additives. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analyses revealed that mullite phase with the preferred orientation of the c-axis perpendicular to the compressive axis was formed in SiC ceramics sintered at 1600 and 1700 °C, while mullite phase with the preferred orientation of the c-axis parallel to the current direction was formed in SiC ceramics sintered at 1800 and 1900 °C.