Synthesis of single-phase metal oxycarbonitride ceramics.

Single-phase titanium-zirconium oxycarbonitride ceramics, prototypically Ti 1/2 Zr 1/2 (C 1/3 N 1/3 O 1/3), was obtained by spark plasma sintering of the corresponding Ti and Zr- oxide, carbide and nitride. It was revealed that a single-phase Ti 1/2 Zr 1/2 (C 1/3 N 1/3 O 1/3) solid solution with rock-salt structure formed at 2000°C, below which the secondary phase of ZrO 2 was evident. The as-sintered ceramics was chemically homogeneous from nanoscale to microscale and the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen contents in Ti 1/2 Zr 1/2 (C 1/3 N 1/3 O 1/3) ceramics were determined to be 5.39wt%, 5.44wt% and 6.00wt%, corresponding to an empirical formula of Ti 0.51 Zr 0.49 (C 0.37 N 0.32 O 0.31). The product possesses a relative density of 95.2% and Vickers hardness of 21.6 ± 2.4 GPa. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]