Effects of nitrogen pressure and diluent content on the morphology of gel-cast-foam-assisted combustion synthesis of elongated β-Si3N4 particles

Elongated beta-Si3N4 particles were prepared by gel-cast-foam-assisted combustion synthesis, which is a combination method of gel-casting-foam method and combustion synthesis. Gel-casting-foam method was used to prepare starting powder green body of high porosity and sufficient strength. Combustion synthesis reaction was conducted on the as-made green body. The effects of N-2 pressure and diluent content on the combustion velocity, conversion rate and morphology of the resulting particles are studied. With high porosity (80%), the conversion rate more than > 90% was achieved at low N-2 pressure (1.5 MPa) and low diluent content (even nil). In the epoxy composites, elongated beta-Si3N4 powder was confirmed a better filler than its equiaxed counterpart in improving the thermal conductivities of the resultant composites. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.