Preparation and properties of BN-SiO2 composite ceramics

A series of BN-SiO2 composite ceramics with high relative densities have been fabricated by hot pressing of a mixture of hexagonal boron nitride powder and silica sol. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that silica are distributed in the BN matrix as noncrystalline state. Microstructure of as-sintered composite ceramics is observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The influence of the secondary phase on the mechanical properties is studied by varying the silica content from 10 wt% up to 40 wt%. Dielectric properties of composite ceramics are also measured from 1 MHz to 2.0 GHz.