A. Chrysanthou et al., A STUDY OF THE COMBUSTION SYNTHESIS OF MOSI2 AND MOSI2-MATRIX COMPOSITES, Journal of Materials Science, 31(16), 1996, pp. 4221-4226
The combustion synthesis of MoSi2 from elemental powders was investiga
ted. Higher completion of the reaction was achieved by the use of prio
r compaction of powders and higher heating rates. The reaction mechani
sm was studied by performing experiments at a heating rate of 20 K/min
. It was established that reaction occurred via capillary motion accom
panying the flow of molten silicon to the molybdenum powder particles.
During the synthesis of MoSi2/TiC composites, two ternary (Mo,Ti) Si-
2 phases were observed, in contradiction to the thermodynamic predicti
ons of the Mo-Si-Ti-C system. Combustion synthesis of (Mo, W) Si-2 yie
lded an inhomogeneous product where the composition of the solid solut
ion varied throughout the sample. These observations were discussed in
terms of the characteristics of the reaction process.