Low-temperature microwave sintering of TiN–SiC nanocomposites

Densification kinetics study during microwave sintering of titanium nitride-based nanocomposite has been conducted. A series of TiN–SiC compositions with 1, 3, 5 wt% of silicon carbide were microwave sintered at relatively low sintering temperatures (900–1,300 °C) for 0–30 min. The SiC content influenced on heating uniformity and final density and grain-size achieved. Densification process during microwave sintering obeyed the mechanism of grain-boundary diffusion with activation energy of 235 kJ mol−1. Microwave sintering resulted in fine microstructure (~300 nm) and hence high values of micro hardness (~20 GPa).