Li2O addition as a means of achieving low-temperature densification of SiC ceramic

In order to achieve low-temperature densification of SiC ceramic, beta-SiC nanopowder was doped with Li2O together with Y2O3-Al2O3-MgO as sintering aids, and then spark plasma sintered at temperatures ranging from 1450 degrees C to 1600 degrees C for 30 min under 30 MPa pressure in argon. The densities, microstructures and mechanical properties of SiC ceramics were systematically investigated, in comparison to the counterparts sintered with Y2O3-Al2O3-MgO additives. Since Li2O has a low melting point, Li2O addition effectively decreased the formation temperature of liquid secondary phase, enabling SiC ceramics to obtain higher density and lower porosity after low-temperature sintering (T <= 1550 degrees C). Besides, Li2O addition was found to decrease the viscosity of liquid phase and enhance grain growth of SiC through dissolution-reprecipitation process. When sintered at 1550 degrees C, Li2O addition led to a remarkable increase of density from 3.03 g/cm(3) to 3.21 g/cm(3) for SiC ceramic. Meanwhile, the SiC ceramic with Li2O addition exhibited a high Vickers hardness of 22.75 +/- 0.35 GPa and a good fracture toughness of 3.83 +/- 0.27 MPa m(1/2). The research results are expected to benefit the low-cost fabrication of SiC ceramics based on pressure-assisted sintering and alleviate the thermal damage of SiC fiber in hot-pressed SiCf/SiC composites.