Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 March 2011
A novel method was developed to produce Al2O3/AlN composite powders. The composite powders were synthesized by the direct nitridation of Al2O3 using various additives by plasma processed with two different types of gas (Ar/N2 and N2 plasma). The effects of these two different plasma gases and additives on the formation of the Al2O3/AlN composites were studied. The x-ray diffraction results in the composite powders showed that the cubic AlN was converted to the major phase while transient γ–Al2O3 was the minor phase when the composite powder was fully melted using nitrogen as the sole working gas. In contrast, the main phase was still α–Al2O3 when the composite powder was not well melted using the mixture of argon and nitrogen as the working gas. Carbon was found as an effective conversion additive to increase the cubic AlN of this composite powder up to 49 vol%. The reaction mechanism of forming this composite powder was also analyzed.